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For many people, learning a second language may seem like a waste of time. Time better utilized focusing on developing more practical skills. However, learning a foreign language reflects the American spirit of hard work, creativity, and diversity. There are hundreds of international celebrities who are bilingual and multilingual. Celebrities that took the time to master another language did not do so in vain.
DinoLingo conducted an online search to find out what languages famous people (including the US presidents) acquired and here are some of what we discovered.

Celebrities who speak German

• Bill Clinton
• Oscar Wilde ~ also speaks French
• Franklin D. Roosevelt ~ also speaks French
• Kim Cattrall
• Leonardo Di Caprio ~ also speaks Italian
• Gene Simmons ~ also speaks Japanese, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian
• Renée Zellweger
• Sandra Bullock
• Ted Koppel ~ also speaks French
• Theodore Roosevelt ~ also speaks French
• Thomas Jefferson ~ also speaks French, Greek, Italian
• Woodrow Wilson

Celebrities who speak Spanish

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Lupita Nyong’o ~ also speaks Swahili
• Antonio Banderas
• Audrey Hepburn ~ also speaks French, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese
• Christina Aguilera
• Drea De Matteo
• Gwyneth Paltrow
• Jimmy Carter
• Salma Hayek ~ also speaks English, Arabic, and Portuguese
• Matt Damon
• Selena Gomez
• Tatyana Ali ~ and some Hindi
• Will Smith

Celebrities who speak French

• Maya Angelou ~ also speaks Spanish, Hebrew, Spanish, Fanti, Italian
• Alanis Morissette ~ some German
• Prince William ~ also speaks Swahili, Welsh, and Gaelic
• Sandra Oh ~ also speaks Korean
• Bradley Cooper
• Elle Macpherson ~ also speaks some Italian and Spanish
• Emma Watson
• Lady Gaga
• Helena Bonham Carter
• Holly Robinson Peete
• Jane Fonda
• Jodie Foster ~ also speaks Italian, Spanish
• John Quincy Adams ~ also speaks German, Dutch
• John Adams
• Kristin Scott Thomas
• Morgan Freeman
• Roger Federer ~ also speaks Swedish, German, English, Schwyzerdütsch
• Serena Williams ~ also speaks Italian

Celebrities who speak Italian

• Monica Bellucci ~ also speaks French, Spanish, Persian
• Jennifer Connelly ~ also speaks French
• Clint Eastwood
• Novak Djokovic ~ also speaks Serbian, French, German, English
• Colin Firth
• Kobe Bryant ~ also speaks Spanish
• Shakira ~ also speaks French, Spanish and Portuguese

Celebrities who speak Chinese

• Herbert Hoover ~ also speaks Latin
• Jackie Chan ~ also speaks Spanish, Korean, German, Thai, Cantonese, English, Japanese and American Sign Language!
• Mark Zuckerberg ~ also speaks Latin, Ancient Greek, French, Hebrew
• Mira Sorvino ~ also speaks French

Celebrities who speak Hebrew

• Mark Zuckerberg ~ also speaks Latin, Ancient Greek, French, Mandarin
• Natalie Portman ~ also speaks French
• Daniel Kessler ~ also speaks French
• Gene Simmons ~ also speaks Japanese, German, Hungarian, Italian

Celebrities who speak Japanese

• Jon Heder
• Scott Foley
• Edward Norton
• Taylor Swift

Celebrities who speak Russian

• Ralph Fiennes
• Eddie Izzard
• Mila Kunis
• Milla Yovovich
• Christopher Hadfield
• Condoleezza Rice

Celebrities who speak Greek

• James A. Garfield ~ also speaks Latin, German
• James Buchanan ~ also speaks Latin
• Tom Hiddleston ~ also speaks Spanish, Italian, French
• Rutherford B. Hayes ~ also speaks Latin and some French

Celebrities who speak Latin

• James K. Polk ~ also speaks Greek
• James Madison
• Isaac Newton ~ also speaks Greek
• Chester A. Arthur

Other languages

• Mother Teresa ~ also speaks Albanian, Hindi, Bengali, Serbian, English
• Greta Thunburg ~ also speaks English, Swedish
• Charlize Theron ~ also speaks Afrikaans
• Jane Seymour ~ also speaks Dutch
• Martin Van Buren ~ also speaks Dutch, English
• Christiane Amanpour ~ also speaks Persian
• Jordana Brewster ~ also speaks Portuguese
• Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg – (PewDiepie) ~ also speaks Swedish and English
• Malin Ackerman ~ also speaks Swedish
• Colin Powell ~ also speaks Yiddish

There is much conversation on early childhood development, pre-school education, and how to prepare our children for the future.  At DinoLingo, we believe teaching a 2nd language at an early age is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give as it opens a child’s mind to the world around them. Language learning prepares a child for learning!

Your child may not be destined for the stand-up comedian superstar lifestyle of Eddie Izzard or the Rock Star wardrobe and language repertoire of Gene Simmons. Some children may never even need a 2nd language in their career, however, these markets are becoming limited and it is reported that bilinguals earn 5%-20% more money than monolinguals. 

The increasing demands for globalization make learning a language more important than ever before. Doors do open, and ceilings are raised for bilinguals and multilingual across a multitude of industries. And who knows, perhaps someday your youngster will create their own industry! We want to hear from you!  Why language learning matters most to you and how your career has benefited directly or indirectly from those who speak a foreign tongue!

 

 

Online lessons for kids: dinolingo.com