queenofcelts
Courtier
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2006
- Messages
- 581
- City
- Kyiv
- Country
- Ukraine
What languages king Felipe speaks?
Victoria has herself told in many interviews, that her german isn't very good. In January, when she and Daniel visited Germany, the swedish press told that she spoke german with the children and english with the adults.
Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands speaks Dutch, English, French and German.
What languages king Felipe speaks?
When she was queen, Beatrix often spoke English in overseas state visits. She always spoke German though while in Germany and, I don't know why, in her state visit to Spain, she spoke in French.
One episode that also caught my attention was the state banquet held for the queen during her visit to South Africa in 1996, i.e shortly after the end of the apartheid regime. Queen Beatrix began her speech in English, but, at some point, she switched to Dutch, which was quite unusual, but was probably a deference to the white Afrikaners in attendance. You can hear the queen's words in Dutch in the video below starting around 3:30. It would be nice if the Dutch members of the forums could possibly translate it for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i59rGhOdQ-8
Aside from his native Spanish, King Felipe speaks Catalan, French, English and a little Greek (according to Wikipedia). I read that in Spain, it's recommended that everyone speaks Catalan, or at least the majority of the population, as it's the official language of Catalonia. Ibiza, Formentera and Mallorca also speak Catalan IIRC (but Menorca has their own language, I think), however Formentera also has a native dialect. There are also the Basque and Aragonese languages in Spain, but I'm unaware if any members of the SRF can speak them. Basque is very different to the other Spanish languages, whereas Aragonese is a little more similar. Inaki Urdangarin comes from the Basque County, so perhaps he can speak the language, but I don't know.
Aside from his native Spanish, King Felipe speaks Catalan, French, English and a little Greek (according to Wikipedia). I read that in Spain, it's recommended that everyone speaks Catalan, or at least the majority of the population, as it's the official language of Catalonia. Ibiza, Formentera and Mallorca also speak Catalan IIRC (but Menorca has their own language, I think), however Formentera also has a native dialect. There are also the Basque and Aragonese languages in Spain, but I'm unaware if any members of the SRF can speak them. Basque is very different to the other Spanish languages, whereas Aragonese is a little more similar. Inaki Urdangarin comes from the Basque County, so perhaps he can speak the language, but I don't know.
I read that in Spain, it's recommended that everyone speaks Catalan, or at least the majority of the population, as it's the official language of Catalonia. Ibiza, Formentera and Mallorca also speak Catalan IIRC (but Menorca has their own language, I think), however Formentera also has a native dialect
There are also the Basque and Aragonese languages in Spain, but I'm unaware if any members of the SRF can speak them. Basque is very different to the other Spanish languages, whereas Aragonese is a little more similar. Inaki Urdangarin comes from the Basque County, so perhaps he can speak the language, but I don't know
Aside from his native Spanish, King Felipe speaks Catalan, French, English and a little Greek (according to Wikipedia). I read that in Spain, it's recommended that everyone speaks Catalan, or at least the majority of the population, as it's the official language of Catalonia. Ibiza, Formentera and Mallorca also speak Catalan IIRC (but Menorca has their own language, I think), however Formentera also has a native dialect. There are also the Basque and Aragonese languages in Spain, but I'm unaware if any members of the SRF can speak them. Basque is very different to the other Spanish languages, whereas Aragonese is a little more similar. Inaki Urdangarin comes from the Basque County, so perhaps he can speak the language, but I don't know.
She is half German, so you would expect her to have a good grasp on the language.
Immediate intro by the voiceover:
At the banquet a lot of guests had one question: will the queen speak, aside from in english, in dutch as well.
White afrikans had insisted she'd do.
The (dutch) minister of foreign affairs has considered the matter.
And the Queen indeed speaks a few lines in dutch...
Queen Beatrix:
Mr. President, thanks to our mutual history a special bond has grown between our countries.
A recognizable and important element of that is our language.
Even though in South Africa it has developed in it's own direction, for us Netherlands it's a special experience to, in such a faraway country, be able to understand one of it's languages without too much effort.
(audience aplauds)
I actually heard once that South Africa was invited to formally join the Dutch Language Union, but the ANC government, which seems to be very hostile to the Afrikaans language, blocked it. Is that true ?
Even when Silvia speaks german, after all these years, it sounds really strange, you'll find her searching for words or using words that germans wouldnt use.
So what language is the queen fluent in? Can Portuguese be considered her mother tongue? I'm a bit surprised since I always thought her German was good but now you make it out to be worse than her swedish.
Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app
So what language is the queen fluent in? Can Portuguese be considered her mother tongue? I'm a bit surprised since I always thought her German was good but now you make it out to be worse than her swedish.
Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app
But if she is german, how can she even not speak well her own language?
That sounds interesting as well as odd...
Here is an interview with queen Silvia from 1995: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgY82WGVFuAI don't know about her swedish, is it bad?
They have all lived for some period of time in the states so that has helped. If you watch a video of Madeleine from recent speaking in English and compare it to the video posted above there is a certainly a difference. She is learning to speak without a swedish accent.
Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile appo
Swedes nowdays that use their english on a somewhat regular basis have very little accent. And even if we do, it's very much articulation so it makes it easily understandable compared to some other accentsThey were all sent to summer wilderness camp in the US Rockies, mostly throughout their high school years. Plus, Victoria did a year at Yale U I think.
They all speak well with a slight charming touch of accent.
I think that Mett Maritt English is excellent
Hello there! I have a quick question, does anyone know is Princess Beatrice speaks any languages? (Other than English, of course) And could anybody give me a full list of all the languages the members of the British Royal Family speak? Thanks.