# 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:** 3
**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 9, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/41 "2015-02-09T03:58:49Z")
> [@Apollon](#): > > Kaiser Wilhelm II, if dead heads of state are allowed. I can’t find any recordings of him speaking English, but here’s an English interview with his [son](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPCJiNWyUfQ), the (former, at the time) Crown Prince. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/42 "2015-02-09T04:05:32Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > 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. How well do Spanish Royals speak English? Is Filipe atypical? ---
**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, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/43 "2015-02-09T04:23:24Z")
No, Felipe is pretty typical not just of his family but of “Spaniards who have actually worked at their English” in general. We still can detect each other across a full train wagon (I can actually hear slips in that particular speech you linked, for example), but there comes a point where that’s got more to do with being obsessive about it than with our English actually being “bad”; him and most of the Spanish royal family are there or one point below. Juan Carlos has a speech defect in Spanish, I assume it will show in his English as well, but it boils down to “if he’s not careful, he sounds like he’s got his mouth full”; his grammar, vocabulary and usage will still be perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/44 "2015-02-09T04:56:49Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > How well do Spanish Royals speak English? Is Filipe atypical? Royals are generally reared with good language skills because (a) it’s foreseeable from early in life that this will be useful to them, and (b) they tend to come from families which are, linguistically speaking, fairly cosmopolitan. With elected heads of government and heads of state, it tends to be a bit more hit-and-miss. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/45 "2015-02-09T06:35:38Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > 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? [He’s not _very_ good.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZUpnXWFdnA) [Slightly better here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUKg8tAyoYk) Pretty heavy accent. So, yeah, he speaks English about as well as his wife speaks Swedish… ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/46 "2015-02-09T07:06:50Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Royals are generally reared with good language skills because (a) it’s foreseeable from early in life that this will be useful to them, and (b) they tend to come from families which are, linguistically speaking, fairly cosmopolitan. > > With elected heads of government and heads of state, it tends to be a bit more hit-and-miss. True dat. Wonder how consort’s English is then. Queen Letizia was a commoner , but a former newscaster. Hers might be good. How do Dutch/Belgian/ Scandinavian consorts hold up. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/47 "2015-02-09T08:13:48Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > How do Dutch/Belgian/ Scandinavian consorts hold up. [Henrik, the Prince Consort of Denmark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik,_Prince_Consort_of_Denmark), mainly refuses to speak English, [“so as not to feel colonised.”](https://books.google.dk/books?id=GWogmLUxw0kC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=prinsgemalen+engelsk&source=bl&ots=ZP4MLGNs3I&sig=f2SL1Ds0T9YSnvgHcsO9uGQ9edo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LGvYVLH1IsvtapbOgfAM&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=prinsgemalen%20engelsk&f=false) The guy is French, if that makes a difference… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/48 "2015-02-09T09:30:25Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Royals are generally reared with good language skills because (a) it’s foreseeable from early in life that this will be useful to them, and (b) they tend to come from families which are, linguistically speaking, fairly cosmopolitan. > > With elected heads of government and heads of state, it tends to be a bit more hit-and-miss. execpt in Belgium, where the royals seem to have trouble learning the language of half their population(Flemish) ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/49 "2015-02-09T09:37:25Z")
[Mark Rutte](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZqzFs13eoM) speaks English fairly well. [Fredrik Reinfeldt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6If5-tHlAJQ) the former Swedish PM also speaks fairly flawless English. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/50 "2015-02-09T09:46:49Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > [Helle Thorning speaks it fairly well.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6wMTxo3tx4) Her husband is British. That’s an understatement, she sounds like a native British English speaker. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/51 "2015-02-09T13:24:07Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > That’s an understatement, she sounds like a native British English speaker. I hear a clear Danish accent there. Same with Reinfeldt - a very clear Swedish accent. Also, fun moment when he says “ninety-nine point _fem_, uh, five, percent,” _fem_ being the Swedish word for five. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/52 "2015-02-10T22:24:21Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Merriam-Webster– > “Belonging to a particular place by birth.” > > I felt it necessary to point that out, due to the PC crowd who has hijacked the term “native American” and twisted it to mean only a certain ethnic group. Usually if you’re referring to the ethnic group, you’d capitalize the N in native, and/or use a hyphen (i.e. “native-american”). Political correctness aside, with so many companies outsourcing their tech support and customer service call centers to India, it’s no longer obvious which “Indians” a person is referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/53 "2015-02-11T03:12:12Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > True dat. Wonder how consort’s English is then. Queen Letizia was a commoner , but a former newscaster. Hers might be good. My response about the Spanish royal family included consorts and ex-consort (Marichalar’s English is better than Elena’s, or at least it was before his TIA). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/54 "2015-02-11T03:49:41Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Merriam-Webster– > “Belonging to a particular place by birth.” > > I felt it necessary to point that out, due to the PC crowd who has hijacked the term “native American” and twisted it to mean only a certain ethnic group. Untrue, of course. The term native American does not mean an American Indian. A Native American is something different. Merriam Webster: Native American : a member of any of the aboriginal peoples of the western hemisphere; especially : a Native American of North America and especially the United States — compare american indian As far a the term being “hijacked by the PC crowd,” the first use of Native American in the above sense was in 1737. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/55 "2015-02-11T09:57:34Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > That’s an understatement, she sounds like a native British English speaker. Not quite - the accent is still there and I don’t think I would ever take her to be British but the word choice and grammar in conversation - not just in a set speech - is spot on. See [this clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWLYQb3n1Qo) where she is talking to Kirsty Walk on Newsnight . ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/56 "2015-02-11T10:05:44Z")
Really? I don’t think she sounds like a typical Dane speaking English. Where her accent does come through the pronunciation is well within the normal range of British accents. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/57 "2015-02-11T19:11:17Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > “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. I went to English boarding schools until I was 14, but I have an American accent. I developed it _after_ boarding school, though. Beyond that, there were lots of kinds from Hong Kong at the schools I attended who never lost their accents (though they became less pronounced.) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/58 "2015-02-12T03:30:30Z")
I remember one news reporter (Mike Wallace?) commenting that 1970s West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt spoke very good English, except for slightly mispronouncing the word “deaf”. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/59 "2015-02-12T07:18:47Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Really? I don’t think she sounds like a typical Dane speaking English. Where her accent does come through the pronunciation is well within the normal range of British accents. Her Danish accent is very obvious to me. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032/60 "2015-02-12T07:30:53Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > You mean there was a President other than Reagan who sounded like he had a mouth full of hot marbles? When listening to George W. Bush you really need a Bush to English dictionary at hand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-foreign-leaders-who-speak-english-better-than-king-abdullah/712032.md?page=2)