# Are there any foreign leaders who speak English better than King Abdullah? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2015, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032 "2015-02-07T08:48:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/21 "2015-02-07T23:15:37Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > So? > > King Abdullah’s mother is [Princess Muna al-Hussein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Muna_al-Hussein), born Antoinette Avril Gardiner in the United Kingdom to U.K. citizens. Color me red. I did not know that! I’m more shamefaced than Brian Williams at a stolen valor convention. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/22 "2015-02-07T23:25:15Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > I would think that Bashar al-Assad and Fidel Castro would be candidates. Assad studied ophthalmology in London, and Castro is famous for his long speeches. > > And for certain values of “leaders” there is also Queen Noor, the widow of King Hussein–she’s actually a native American (“native” in the PROPER sense of the term). Assad speaks English, but his speaking has an accent, and he pales in comparison to King Abdullah of neighboring Jordan. I saw clips of an interview Bashar Assad did with Charlie Rose in 2013, and I thought given his background and what not, his English was pretty bad. Hamid Karzai, the now former president of Afghanistan also spoke English very well. But I don’t if he counts or not since he is no longer in office. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/23 "2015-02-07T23:57:18Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > He certainly speaks better English than [Jean Chrétien](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Chr%C3%A9tien) **!** A Prime Minister who was unintelligible in both official languages. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/24 "2015-02-08T00:05:55Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > A Prime Minister who was unintelligible in both official languages. We’ve had a couple Presidents like that and they only have to fail in one language. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/25 "2015-02-08T00:23:59Z")
> [@Cardboard](#): > > A lot of leaders were educated in the USA, but still speak with super heavy accents. But King Abdullah’s English is without much noticeable accent. It’s a good bet he had English tutors as a child, and his mother was a native speaker, so I don’t see any reason to be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/26 "2015-02-08T00:31:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > We’ve had a couple Presidents like that and they only have to fail in one language. You mean there was a President other than Reagan who sounded like he had a mouth full of hot marbles? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/27 "2015-02-08T02:26:36Z")
> [@Cardboard](#): > > Brezhnev’s counterpart Josef Tito spoke decent English if I recall. Here’s [Tito](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xvgjFtSUF8), starting at one minute. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/28 "2015-02-08T03:04:47Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Bibi Netanyahu. (Oh, never mind. English is an official language.) > > Abdullah’s mother was British. [Albert II of Monaco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_II,_Prince_of_Monaco) (along with his sisters) speaks perfect American English, his mother being [Grace Kelly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Kelly). ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/29 "2015-02-08T04:28:38Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > [Albert II of Monaco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_II,_Prince_of_Monaco) (along with his sisters) speaks perfect American English, his mother being [Grace Kelly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Kelly). American English or [Mid-Atlantic English](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_English) ;)? Grace Kelly ( for whom I’ve always had a low-key, before-my-generation, way-out-of-my-league crush ) had a very affected stage/elite accent which is now effectively dead in the U.S. outside of nostalgic theatrical roles. Wonder if she passed that on to her kids? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/30 "2015-02-08T10:50:31Z")
> [@Cardboard](#): > > A lot of leaders were educated in the USA, but still speak with super heavy accents. But King Abdullah’s English is without much noticeable accent. “Educated” in this case means “went to boarding schools in” - I’ve yet to meet someone who’s gone to English boarding schools who kept a heavy accent. Basically, The guy didn’t live in Jordan most of his formative life, he lived in the Anglosphere. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/31 "2015-02-08T13:14:48Z")
King Harald of Norway spent five years living in the US as a child, because of World War II. He lived in the suburbs of Washington, DC, from the age of 3 through 8 and started school there. Later he studied at Oxford, so usually his English sounds like he’s trying to imitate the BBC World Service accent, but every once in a while his boyhood accent pops up. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, already spoke excellent English when he went off to study at UC Berkeley for a while, and came home with a little bit of California mixed in with his English. I’ve also heard Queen Margrethe of Denmark speak English, and she’s darn good at it - she also spent a couple of years studying in Britain. I can’t imagine that King Carl Gustav of Sweden, to round out the Scandinavian trio, is anything less than decently fluent in English, but I can’t remember ever hearing him speak it. Perhaps some Swedish Doper can come along and confirm? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/32 "2015-02-08T13:38:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Bibi Netanyahu. (Oh, never mind. English is an official language.) English may be an official language, but outside of American immigrant enclaves it’s not widely spoken as a native tongue. Bib’s English is so good because he spent 6 years in Philadelphia as a child, and later went to MIT and Harvard. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/33 "2015-02-08T15:52:14Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > You mean there was a President other than Reagan who sounded like he had a mouth full of hot marbles? [Shrub](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushism#Notable_statements). Each individual word could be clearly heard, but the combinations of words often were unintelligible. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/34 "2015-02-08T16:33:16Z")
Kisstomary to cuss the bride… Moose said that in an old Archie comic, which was published about the time Dubya probably started reading comic books.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/35 "2015-02-08T18:01:06Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > English may be an official language, but outside of American immigrant enclaves it’s not widely spoken as a native tongue. Bib’s English is so good because he spent 6 years in Philadelphia as a child, and later went to MIT and Harvard. English is only a semi-official language in Israel. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/36 "2015-02-08T18:13:28Z")
> [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](#): > > English is only a semi-official language in Israel. Can we see a cite for that? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/37 "2015-02-08T19:16:05Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Can we see a cite for that? Official languages are Hebrew and Arabic. [http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Pages/default.aspx](http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Pages/default.aspx) English is taught in most schools, but not an official language. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/38 "2015-02-08T19:27:21Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Official languages are Hebrew and Arabic. > > [http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Pages/default.aspx](http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Pages/default.aspx) > > English is taught in most schools, but not an official language. Well, I’ll be damned! I could’ve sworn Israel had 3 official languages: Hebrew, Arabic and English. ---
**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/39 "2015-02-08T22:24:35Z")
Kaiser Wilhelm II, if dead heads of state are allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/40 "2015-02-09T03:39:55Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Well, I’ll be damned! I could’ve sworn Israel had 3 official languages: Hebrew, Arabic and English. They tend to have information available in English but that’s simply because it’s what’s most convenient for the immense majority of foreigners. The same applies to a lot of other countries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032.md?page=3)