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Political Leaders and Languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| M-Squared Senior Member United States Joined 7140 days ago 117 posts - 118 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 1 of 142 18 January 2006 at 11:47am | IP Logged |
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There was an article in the US Washington Post today on the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the US that had some notes of interest on language. When Chancellor Merkel met one-on-one with President Bush they used interpreters, as they did in press conferences. However, in Chancellor Merkel's other meetings, including with groups at the White House, she spoke English on her own. The article said this was a departure from prior arrangement. The article also noted that at their first meeting last year Merkel and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice spoke with each other in Russian.
So I am wondering, how many world heads of state typically conduct their diplomacy in a foreign language without an interpreter? Is this common or very unusual? Do they all use interpreters in very important meetings (one-on-one's) and complex situations (like press conferences)? Or, was Chancellor Merkel just using an interpreter because President Bush would have in Germany? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Skandinav Hexaglot Senior Member Denmark Joined 6888 days ago 139 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Danish*, English, German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian | Message 2 of 142 18 January 2006 at 12:32pm | IP Logged |
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I think that most head of states from bigger countries (US, China, Russia, India, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico etc.) and those leaders that are relatively linguistic uneducated use interpreter. Condoleeza Rice are by no way so proficient in Russian that she'd be able to converse with Merkel. This is a mere myth. When she was interviewed by Ekho Moskvy, the interviewer asked her a pretty simple question in Russian, and she didn't get it. I didn't here it myself, but newspapers such as Zavtra and Pravda really made a big fuzz about Rice' inability to speak Russian.
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| Bart Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 7161 days ago 155 posts - 159 votes Speaks: Dutch*, French, English Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese, Swedish | Message 3 of 142 18 January 2006 at 1:32pm | IP Logged |
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The Belgian prime minister was with president Bush just a few days ago and he spoke English.
According to Belgian newspapers the American press was very impressed by our prime minister's language skills, as they wrote "He speaks English, French and another language." pretty funny as that "other language" is Dutch, his mother tongue ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Skandinav Hexaglot Senior Member Denmark Joined 6888 days ago 139 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Danish*, English, German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian | Message 4 of 142 18 January 2006 at 1:51pm | IP Logged |
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Haha, "other language."
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| Steve Diglot Groupie South Africa Joined 6895 days ago 56 posts - 58 votes Speaks: English*, Afrikaans Studies: Norwegian | Message 5 of 142 18 January 2006 at 1:54pm | IP Logged |
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I think Condoleezza Rice speaks broken Russian...
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| Skandinav Hexaglot Senior Member Denmark Joined 6888 days ago 139 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Danish*, English, German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian | Message 6 of 142 18 January 2006 at 2:53pm | IP Logged |
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Steve, I don't know it for sure; I just put my faith in the Russian newspapers and this (Russian) transcription of the interview on Ekho http://www.echo.msk.ru/guests/3459/
EDIT: I learned that even Ekho Moskvy has integrity problems; they edited Rice' last comment from "yes! no, no, no, no!" to just "no!" Here's the article (in english) from Pravda: http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/15326_condy.html Edited by Skandinav on 18 January 2006 at 2:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Steve Diglot Groupie South Africa Joined 6895 days ago 56 posts - 58 votes Speaks: English*, Afrikaans Studies: Norwegian | Message 7 of 142 18 January 2006 at 3:51pm | IP Logged |
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yeah, i read that. But she said that because the interview was being conducted in Russian. She apologised in Russian, saying something like "Russian is very difficult and it's easy to make mistakes". She shouldn't really be doing interviews in the language if she isn't comfortable in it...
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| Skandinav Hexaglot Senior Member Denmark Joined 6888 days ago 139 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Danish*, English, German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian | Message 8 of 142 18 January 2006 at 4:05pm | IP Logged |
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Well, in my opinion the question - "Will you run for presidency in 2008 - was pretty straightforward. For a diplomat there are three options: "yes", "no" or "no comment." From what I've heard she was made a laughing stock in Russian nationalist circles. But then again, who's Rodina, the Communists or LDPR to make fun of anyone?
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