Have you ever wondered about actors speaking a foreign language in a movie? I bet you think they have been coached to simply deliver those line with a hopefully convincing accent?
Well it would seem plenty of the famous actors who grace the big screen are actually bilingual or better which must make speaking foreign lines easier and certainly pays dividends when collecting awards in another country where English is not the first language.
Some time on Google reveals a veritable red carpet full of bilingual and multilingual celebrities and you may be surprised that their talents go beyond acting.
From Natalie Portman speaking Hebrew as part of her Jewish heritage to Charlize Theron learning Afrikaans as a child to Sandra Bullock becoming fluent in German at her German-born opera singing mother’s knee – these all learned another language as a child.
Actually Natalie Portman also speaks conversational French, Japanese, German, and Spanish and by conversational we mean she can hold a conversation without holding up fingers to demonstrate the number of beers!
American actor Leonardo Dicaprio is of German and Italian descent and courtesy of his father speaks German and some Italian and has learned some Spanish too.
Then there are those who learned exclusively as an adult – like commited fan of all things French Joseph Gordon-Levitt who was inspired by French poetry through to Bradley Cooper who while at Georgetown Universoty getting his English degree and also studied French. During college, he went to France on an exchange program and spent six months with a family in Aix-en-Provence. Johnny Depp picked up French living in the country while travelling helped Shakira (okay a music star rather than actor) learn Spanish, Portuguese, English and Italian – and she sings effortlessly in Spanish and English!
However the prize for motivated learning as an adult must surely go to Colin Firth, who began Italian lessons when he started dating Livia Giuggioli – and it paid off as they are now married with children, and Firth is totally fluent!
What do you think of these actors now you know they are bilingual? Are you impressed? We suspect you are and of course you will impress your loved ones, friends and employers if you too can speak more than your native tongue.
So whether you are a parent wanting to expose your children to another language like Gwyneth Paltrow has with Spanish or whether the love of a language will drive you to learn as an adult like Francophile Joseph Gordon-Levitt – or want to woo a loved one like Colin Firth, you too can impress people with help from the VICI Language Academy.
Contact us today and we’ll soon have you speaking a foreign language fluently!