82 replies to this topic

[santori]

Drivers or others.

For example, I think Nico Rosberg speaks German, French, English, Italian, Spanish and a little Finnish and Alonso speaks Spanish, Italian, French and English (does he speak any Asturian?).

[alfista]

Originally posted by santori
Drivers or others.

For example, I think Nico Rosberg speaks German, French, English, Italian, Spanish and a little Finnish and Alonso speaks Spanish, Italian, French and English (does he speak any Asturian?).

I guess Spanky speaks Italian, German and French. And English.

[morals]

Alonso's french sucks even more than his english I'd say...

I haven't heard Nico speaking Spanish but I think Sutil speaks a little of it.

Of the current grid I've also heard speaking spanish to Fisichela, Trulli and Barrichelo, and I'm pretty sure Massa can also speak spanish as most of the portuguese speaking people can.

[metz]

Kubica speaks fluent Italian, Polish, English and some German.

[Atreiu]

My english is very good.

[blackgerby]

Originally posted by morals
Alonso's french sucks even more than his english I'd say...

Alonso's English is fine, surely...

[fum3s]

Sooner or later someone's going to say that Kimi can mumble unintelligibly in 57 languages. Stay tuned.

[brunopascal]

Button only speaks english I read long ago in F1 Racing (in a thing about drivers' education or smth)

[The Ragged Edge]

I'm a ex-Policeman, so that will be English & perjury.

[Group B]

I've heard Kimi mumble unintelligibly in 57 languages.

[Suntrek]

Originally posted by Group B
I've heard Kimi mumble unintelligibly in 57 languages.

Kimi speaks excellent German




(OK, I suppose he'd rehearsed a bit beforehand...)

[otoelpiloto]

Originally posted by morals
Alonso's french sucks even more than his english I'd say...

I

what do you expect from somebody who's learnt the language at the age of 18? to speak as fluent as the queen of england? ... his pronunciation might be poor (spanishlised I'd just add) but nothing different of any other average spanish

[shonguiz]

Originally posted by morals
Alonso's french sucks even more than his english I'd say...

He improved his french.

[Phucaigh]

Trulli is fluent in Italian, French, Spanish, English and probably German.

[Victor]

Sooner or later someone's going to say that Hamilton lies in 57 languages. Stay tuned.

[smartie_f1]

Quite shameful that the english drivers speak only one language, while most other drivers speak at least two languages.

Although, i'm surprised Jense doesn;t speak Italian, didn't he spend a lot of time over there in karts?

[otoelpiloto]

Originally posted by smartie_f1
Quite shameful that the english drivers speak only one language, while most other drivers speak at least two languages.

Although, i'm surprised Jense doesn;t speak Italian, didn't he spend a lot of time over there in karts?

that's real life dude...and you have to acknowledge that brits are "slightly lazy" languages-wise my girlfriend is the exception though

[Rob]

Originally posted by smartie_f1
Quite shameful that the english drivers speak only one language, while most other drivers speak at least two languages.

Although, i'm surprised Jense doesn;t speak Italian, didn't he spend a lot of time over there in karts?

British schools don't focus on conversational French or German, their only speciality is being anal about tiny points of grammar and certain "key" topics instead of teaching things that you might actually use in conversation. For instance, I can talk in German about the environment, but I couldn't chat casually to a friend. That and we only start learning other languages at 12. The teaching of languages is really whacked out here and until it changes we're going to be at a disadvantage to the rest of Europe.

[morals]

Originally posted by otoelpiloto


what do you expect from somebody who's learnt the language at the age of 18? to speak as fluent as the queen of england? ... his pronunciation might be poor (spanishlised I'd just add) but nothing different of any other average spanish

His english is way better than the average spanish (including me ) and he sure has no problems at all to comunicate, but listening to all of them I'd say he's one of the worst english speakers of the grid. Some native english speaker should know better, of course

Being spanish Alonso is probably the guy I understand the best when speaking in english with the italians and brazilians after him and kimi in the last place, but of course this has absolutely nothing to do with their english level .

[Gagá Bueno]

Massa can speak "for sure" in at least 3 languages...

[holiday]

Originally posted by Rob


British schools don't focus on conversational French or German, their only speciality is being anal about tiny points of grammar and certain "key" topics instead of teaching things that you might actually use in conversation. For instance, I can talk in German about the environment, but I couldn't chat casually to a friend. That and we only start learning other languages at 12. The teaching of languages is really whacked out here and until it changes we're going to be at a disadvantage to the rest of Europe.

Don't worry. English will become anyway the second language to the EU. Or, hopefully, Latin.

[MCH]

Originally posted by Gagá Bueno
Massa can speak "for sure" in at least 3 languages...

Aaarghh, who started this "for sure" filler thing anyway?

[Sakae]

Originally posted by holiday


Don't worry. English will become anyway the second language to the EU. Or, hopefully, Latin.

Not for mountains goats.

[Phucaigh]

Originally posted by MCH


Aaarghh, who started this "for sure" filler thing anyway?

Michael Schumacher, for sure, it had to be him for sure.

[TickTickBooom]

Originally posted by brunopascal
Button only speaks english I read long ago in F1 Racing (in a thing about drivers' education or smth)

He's been learning Japanese.

Kimi can speak Italian. And when he speaks Finnish, he's much more animated.

[Poltergeistes]

I think the problem is how they learn the other languages, or i shouldn't really call it a problem, i think if you can speak a second language it's great.

The thing is when you actually hire a tutor or something like that, instead of not taking any lessons and just learning it as you go, then you can pick up on annoying slangs that some pop cultures have been using too much, for example, saying "you know" way too much... Althou massas "for sure" can be a little too much, at least it doesn't sound so pop garbage like "you know?"

Then of course there is the fact that the people that are around them speaking with them, in the drivers case, the engineers, Massa's english has improved 100% since his race engineer has been the british from middlesbrough rob smedley, who is a well spoken man on top of being the natural nerd lol.

I would agree that kimi is the funniest, i remember watching his post-race interview after brazil 07, and he sounded the same as he always did, like he was speaking with 2 eggs inside his mouth, that could break at any point, therefor he must not move his jaw and speak up, i swear to god sometimes he only thinks he is speaking but he isn't really.

As far as fluent speaking, hands down to rubens barrichello, his italian and english are perfect, not only he speaks it well but he has a big vocabulary as well, so he is the one driver (non british) who can express himself very well.

PS i see drunk kimi sounds the same as normal kimi but i'm the type that will "speak" the other language better if im... well if i have a buzz.

[BiH]

Originally posted by Gagá Bueno
Massa can speak "for sure" in at least 3 languages...

[LB]

On the lack of ability in foreign languages native English speakers have, I believe that English exposure is much greater overseas than say French, German or Spanish exposure is in the UK and US. With films, music etc being largely in English it has to help. The first time I even heard French was age 12 in class and its too late by then. I had been to Spain before then but basically heard very little Spanish, since everyone spoke English.

Mind you asking direction from a French Cop at 14 on a school trip was great fun at 16 I was conversationalish, now 20 years later I do not have a clue. Complete lack of use unfortunately.

Frank Williams can speak French other than that I have no clue about current drivers.

Better question is can you name anyone in the F1 paddock who can't at least get by in English (like Masters Champion Angel Cabrera!). Tora Takagi and Francois Hesnault are the only two I can think of.

[whitewaterMkII]

Originally posted by LB
On the lack of ability in foreign languages native English speakers have, I believe that English exposure is much greater overseas than say French, German or Spanish exposure is in the UK and US.

Absolutely.
Weird deal for me, my mother was Belgian, so she spoke French and German, no Flemish, and my dad spoke Spanish as he was from Mexico.
Both of them were US immigrants so English was their common language, and therefore my siblings and I grew up in an English language as super important environment.
I truly wish that both of them would have raised us speaking all the languages they spoke.
As a SoCal my Spanglish is passable, and since 90% of our workforce is Mexican I can definitely follow the conversations, although not coherently participate.

Oh, and as to the topic Bourdais' english is excellent, I met him a time or three when he was racing over here.

[AFCA]

Originally posted by TickTickBooom
Kimi can speak Italian.

He can't...

[pUs]

Originally posted by Phucaigh


Michael Schumacher, for sure, it had to be him for sure.

Honestly, I don't believe it was him to be honest, I think Montoya was to blame, honestly

[TickTickBooom]

Originally posted by AFCA


He can't...

I think you'll find he can.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Not terribly well.

[TickTickBooom]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Not terribly well.

Well, obviously not. But at least he's making the effort. Which is more than I can say for Jenson and Lewis and Mark, who just get by on their mother tongue.

People don't seem to realise that Kimi is uncomfortable speaking anything other than Finnish.

[potmotr]

Originally posted by TickTickBooom

Well, obviously not. But at least he's making the effort. Which is more than I can say for Jenson and Lewis and Mark, who just get by on their mother tongue.

Formula One is a sport conducted in English.

You can hardly blame them for not branching out.

I'd be guessing Jenson and Lewis have schoolboy French and perhaps German.

[AFCA]

Originally posted by TickTickBooom

I think you'll find he can.

I've never heard him say anything in Italian to the Italian press apart from buongiorno once...

Originally posted by AFCA
Translated Q&A with Raikkonen:

Q: How many words in Italian do you know ?
Raikkonen: ''Only a few, I understand a few.''

[TickTickBooom]

Originally posted by potmotr
I'd be guessing Jenson and Lewis have schoolboy French and perhaps German.

Jenson doesn't. Can't answer for Hamilton.

I think the English speakers should learn another language, even if it's just so they can do interviews with the media. But English speakers in general are lazy, and don't see the point in learning another language.

[TickTickBooom]

Originally posted by AFCA


I've never heard him say anything in Italian to the Italian press apart from buongiorno once...

I guess that proves your point then.

[potmotr]

Originally posted by TickTickBooom

But English speakers in general are lazy, and don't see the point in learning another language.

I don't think that's true for all, but you can hardly blame English speakers because their language is the most used in the developed world.

[BugTomek]

Originally posted by Rob
British schools don't focus on conversational French or German

Choosing some easier language, like Italian or Spanish, would be helpful too. French and German are pretty hard to learn (and not very practical to be honest).

[smartie_f1]

Originally posted by potmotr


I don't think that's true for all, but you can hardly blame English speakers because their language is the most used in the developed world.

I think its a fault of the education system. I did Spanish at school. I can tell you all about my house and my school, I can describe my teachers and I can do a basic supermarket shop. I couldn't talk about a film on at the cinema or complain about the price of council tax. I couldn't get a plumber or electrician to understand what I need.

Someone up there ^^^ said that when you learn languages at school they get very hung up on on the correct grammar and accent and spend less time teaching conversational language - things that might actually come in useful if you were to visit/live over there.

[Rob]

Originally posted by BugTomek
Choosing some easier language, like Italian or Spanish, would be helpful too. French and German are pretty hard to learn (and not very practical to be honest).

I'd have loved to have learnt Italian. Didn't get the choice :

[kal-el]

Hamilton lies in 57 languages
just had to say it

[postajegenye]

I say hats off to all the drivers whose native language is not English, because they can all speak it reasonably well, some of them almost perfectly. I watch many other sports, but even if we stay with motorsports, I think F1 drivers speak way better English than let's say MotoGP or WRC drivers (on average).

I don't think we should criticize any of them. Someone said "Alonso's French sucks even more than his English", well, he speaks Italian way better than English, he learnt English almost as an adult and I don't think his skills are too bad, and he started to speak French during his time at Renault, not because he needed it but maybe because he thought it would be good to know some French in a French team, and he's been improving ever since.

As for English-speaking drivers - the average native English-speaker doesn't know a foreign language properly (at least that's what I hear from my English friends) so I think it's not a surprise that F1 drivers don't either, (although I've heard Lewis knows some French). They just don't need it.

Anyway, Nico Rosberg seems to have the best language skills by far.

[Jackman]

Originally posted by TickTickBooom
Jenson doesn't. Can't answer for Hamilton.

Lewis can't speak any other languages, and I know that he was quite envious of Nico (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish) and Nelson (Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, Italian, German, Dutch) being able to converse in so many languages because we had a conversation about it. I suggested he should move to Paris, given that his team was based nearby and the best way to learn a language is by immersion: he thought about it for a while and was quite keen, but I think ultimately he realised that he couldn't really afford it.

Of course now he lives in Switzerland, but he spends so little time there that he might as well be in a hotel.

[TickTickBooom]

Originally posted by potmotr


I don't think that's true for all, but you can hardly blame English speakers because their language is the most used in the developed world.

I speak five languages including English (some more fluently than others) and I'm learning a sixth. There is no excuse for not learning to communicate with others. Why should we expect everyone else to just learn English?

[klyster]

Originally posted by TickTickBooom

There is no excuse for not learning to communicate with others. Why should we expect everyone else to just learn English?

Good on you for wanting to learn and having the tenacity to learn multiple languages , but there are many excuses/reasons.

Some people can't even learn their native language properly.

Some people like to dedicate their time to other things they deem as more important.

This goes for all languages, not just English.

[Mauseri]

Originally posted by Rob
British schools don't focus on conversational French or German, their only speciality is being anal about tiny points of grammar and certain "key" topics instead of teaching things that you might actually use in conversation. For instance, I can talk in German about the environment, but I couldn't chat casually to a friend. That and we only start learning other languages at 12. The teaching of languages is really whacked out here and until it changes we're going to be at a disadvantage to the rest of Europe.

Learning languages is often like that, not just for the brits. Brits' problem/advantage is that they dont need any other languages. They can be lazy here and focus on more important issues instead of wasting time.

I wonder if an F1 driver could get a translator if he was unable to speak fluent english? I think some motoGP driver had....

[Gareth]

Originally posted by TickTickBooom

I speak five languages including English (some more fluently than others) and I'm learning a sixth. There is no excuse for not learning to communicate with others. Why should we expect everyone else to just learn English?

It's not about expecting others to do something, it's just recognising that they do do it.

[Galko877]

Originally posted by Phucaigh


Michael Schumacher, for sure, it had to be him for sure.

I thought Schumacher's word was "obviously".

Anyway, he has learnt Italian:

Although I don't know how good it is, but it seems good enough for Rossi to understand.