# In what language do Merkel and Sarkozy speak when conversing with each other? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928 "2011-10-27T00:33:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/1 "2011-10-27T00:33:35Z")
[All](http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/images/122/sarkozy_merkel_432.jpg) over the [news](http://www.taubenschlag.de/cms_pics/merkel_sarkozy.jpg) are [pictures](http://www.usanewsexpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/merkel-sarkozy.jpg) of Merkel and Sarkozy conversing, arguing, kissing, etc. What language are they speaking to one another? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/2 "2011-10-27T01:05:54Z")
Merkel speaks French, but she’s more comfortable in English (and more comfortable still in Russian or, of course, German). Sarkozy speaks both English and German fluently. German is the language they could converse in most easily. But if they want a “neutral” language it will be English, or they will use interpreters. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/3 "2011-10-27T01:11:09Z")
OK, I’ll bite. Who are these people? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/4 "2011-10-27T01:19:11Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. Who are these people? The heads of government of two member nations of the G8 and NATO. Sarkozy is the President of France, and Merkel is the Chancellor of Germany. This stuff is hard to stay on top of, but you’ll be fine if you just remember that they’re sort of like the American president, only you don’t need to know who they are, because they’re not American and their countries aren’t very important. And one’s a chick! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lovely_Margo_Lane)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/5 "2011-10-27T01:19:23Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. Who are these people? Heads of state. Germany and France respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/6 "2011-10-27T01:19:47Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. Who are these people? She’s the Chancellor of Germany. He’s the President of France. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/7 "2011-10-27T01:19:59Z")
[Angela Merkel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel), German Chancellor, and [Nicolas Sarkozy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Sarkozy), French President. ETA: Wow, 4 posts with the same time stamp. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lovely_Margo_Lane)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/8 "2011-10-27T01:20:51Z")
They do a killer karaoke duet of _Rio,_ by Duran Duran. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/9 "2011-10-27T01:26:37Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > She’s the Chancellor of Germany. He’s the President of France. Together, they save small indigent European nations. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/10 "2011-10-27T01:30:18Z")
> [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](#): > > Heads of state. Germany and France respectively. Merkel isn’t head of state of Germany, but she’s the head of government. (Sarkozy is head of state of France.) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/11 "2011-10-27T01:38:58Z")
They converse in Swiss, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/12 "2011-10-27T07:32:23Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > (Sarkozy is head of state of France.) But he’s not the head of government. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/13 "2011-10-27T07:37:15Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Sarkozy speaks both English and German fluently. How’s his Hungarian > [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. Who are these people? Suddenly I feel a lot less bad about asking people the difference between New York and Newark ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/14 "2011-10-27T07:49:45Z")
> [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](#): > > Heads of state. Germany and France respectively. > [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > Merkel isn’t head of state of Germany, but she’s the head of government. (Sarkozy is head of state of France.) > [@Floater](#): > > But he’s not the head of government. They’re both their countries’ top dogs (de facto), whatever the particular term for that happens to be. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/15 "2011-10-27T12:30:15Z")
Hm. So I guess it has not be published how they talk to each other. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/16 "2011-10-27T12:32:25Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Suddenly I feel a lot less bad about asking people the difference between New York and Newark I think people get those confused because of the, errr, interesting accents you get up there. Between N’york, Nyork, Nork, Nyark, and on the other side Nwk, Nwok, etc, I’m not surprised people get them consued. 😃 On to the OP: One issue, too, is that for official communication in EU meetings are in - English! Both as a practical matter, and because the British are less involved than the Continental nations, so it means nobody has a specific “home ground” as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/17 "2011-10-27T12:39:05Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > On to the OP: One issue, too, is that for official communication in EU meetings are in - English! Both as a practical matter, and because the British are less involved than the Continental nations, so it means nobody has a specific “home ground” as it were. Yes and no: many meetings are usually in English right now, but the unwritten rules is “just pick the language most people speak” (which right now usually happens to be English) and interpreters (cabin for large meetings, chuchotage\* for small ones) are supposed to be available for any language combination and anybody who needs one. I say supposed because I know there’s some language combos they’re desperate for. - chuchotage, lit. “whispering”: the kind of interpreting where you actually see the interpreter(s) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/18 "2011-10-27T12:46:22Z")
From those pictures, it appears that they are conversing in sign language – or at the very least tallking with their hands. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/19 "2011-10-27T12:55:32Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Hm. So I guess it has not be published how they talk to each other. Up to now probably few people have bothered to wonder about it. My guess is that they probably freely flow between all the languages they have in common, although I’m guessing most of the words would be in English. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928/20 "2011-10-27T13:30:10Z")
I’m going to stick my neck out and say German, as [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Vfg_0cDbU&feature=relmfu) shows Merkel wearing a translator’s earpiece while Sarkozy is talking in French, whereas Sarkozy doesn’t when Merkel speaks in German. Unless Sarkozy wants to make a political point and picks more neutral territory, in which case they could speak English. Which wouldn’t surprise me, as apparently they dislike each other. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-language-do-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak-when-conversing-with-each-other/600928.md?page=2)