Polyglot Reacts: 10 Celebs Speaking French

[@storylearning]

French can be tricky for English speakers. Check out this video for 5 languages that are much EASIER for native speakers of English 👉🏼 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oInJm2h4gMmNeaM

[@k.5425]

I couldn't hear anything in the 1st Jodie Forester clip.

[@multilingual972]

Olly, could we get an example of you speaking French?

[@PeterStanton]

The vocabulary overlap between English and French is so enormous, I strongly feel French is just about the EASIEST language for English speakers to master and fully understand, ONCE you get over the spelling and pronunciation hurdles. For the five languages in your video, they may have lower barriers to entry for beginning learners, but the road to building up all of the advanced vocabulary is going to be much longer.

[@ameliesarah9662]

@@PeterStanton as a French Canadian, there is an overlap, but it’s w very basic words that actually aren’t used that much in French. Having English as a first language puts u at a disadvantage when learning English bc ur learning a Latin language and English is a Germanic language, so the two are arguably quite different

[@PeterStanton]

@@ameliesarah9662 Je parle français et j'ai enseigné le français de temps en temps aux États Unis. Je suis habitué aux étudiants américains qui me disent « Le français, c'est plus difficile que l'espagnol, n'est pas ?» donc il me fallait expliquer comment le français est plus facile, après que l'on comprend l'alphabet et comment ça fonctionne. À la fin, je crois qu'il est beaucoup plus difficile pour un francophone d'apprendre l'anglais. Je suis heureux que je l'ai fait à l'invers !

[@remy2718]

Fun Fact: Johnny Depp was actually with Vanessa Paradis (French singer/model/actress) for 14 years and they raised their two kids in France for the most part. So that's how he learned French. As for the stuttering, searching for words and the speed of his speech, that's fairly normal for him, even in English because he gets rather nervous when he has to speak in front of an audience.

[@lisanarramore222]

And what an angelic voice she has for listening to French songs.

[@ivylasangrienta6093]

Yes, he speaks like that in most interviews, no matter the language.

[@drts6955]

I get the impression with Johnny Depp and others that they're having trouble speaking the language on the spot. Depp's accent is quite good for someone who searches for words. Then again that might be an actor's ability to mimic...

[@SandfordSmythe]

The Dieppe's were French Huguenot refugees who settle in Virginia in the early1700's

[@clemencerossi8994]

Sa vie est partie en sucette depuis qu’il a quitté Vanessa Paradis! Never leave a French woman!

[@Maxippouce]

Jodie Foster is at a native level, accent, pronunciation, c est juste incroyable.

[@storylearning]

Seemed that way to me!

[@parizashah7305]

I don't know if it's just me but that old clip is muted in the video. I can't hear it but I can hear the sounds in he room from the mic

[@racheleraanan5133]

@@storylearning - Jody Foster is an excellent example of the benefits of total immersion in a second (or third, fourth) language from a very young age.

[@lucienbruzzese2514]

Agreed, she's the best

[@pequadcob2009]

I believe that she went to a French school and majored in French, but I could be remembering wrong.

[@Clem20033]

Jodi Foster actually does the French translations of her movies, she’s native level.

[@chalokun1]

almost

[@eolsunder]

he has a big smile on his face watching Jodi Foster talking. who wouldn't she is amazing.

[@Jmvars]

@@chalokun1 There's a certain expectation you have to put on people learning a second language. If you're speaking "almost native level" as a non-native, then that should be considered native level. I see this all the time as a speaker of a minority language, native speakers bashing non-native speakers for minor slip-ups calling it botched speech resulting in no one winning.

[@aumelb]

​@Jmvars agree. Especially considering that few native speakers have 100% command of their own language, so when a fluent speaker is criticised for not sounding native people usually mean the accent. That's the case with my English. I used to be bothered by that until I realised there are so many English accents even within UK itself that sometimes, native English speakers are unable to understand each other. So, as long as I am understood, it's good enough for me and the critics can go hang.

[@masterman1001]

@@aumelb this whole idea of having to not have a foreign accent has always been silly. But some languages' speakers sure reinforce it much more than others. (Germans, French) What should count is whether you can understand what the person is saying, native or not, and whether it is congruent with what they WANTED to say. And like you said yourself, most native speakers actually know their own language worse than many second language learners. Just look at how many english speakers constantly mistake "your/you're", or don't know that it's "could've" and not "could of", as it derives from "could have". or how germans often mistake "das/dass"(the/that) and "seid/seit" ('plural' you are/since). Yet they go around bashing people who want to learn their language to better comunicate with the natives, or just because they're passionate about the language.

[@xJessie181x]

Serena’s French has improved significantly since that clip. She’s had a French coach since 2014, so that was when she first learned it properly (she was able to give a speech when she first won Roland Garros, but her French was very limited back then). She spends a lot of time training in France (more often before having her baby), so she’s able to immerse herself in it, which is always the best way to learn the language and get better.

[@CyrilleParis]

I'm French. Nobody beats Jody Foster. When she speaks French, she is French. Impossible to tell, even when you listen carefully, that she is not French. Mick Jagger, I understand why you are impressed, but he used to be married with a French woman. Even if his French is really really good, he still has a very recognisable english accent, audible at the first syllable.

[@synkaan2167]

Jodie fait des petites erreurs typiques des anglophones comme les mélanges entre un/une donc en faisant attention on peut voir et donc deviner qu'elle n'est pas française. Mais son niveau est vraiment ouf notamment dans son passage au JT lorsqu'elle avait 28 ans elle était vraiment au top à ce moment la, une expression et un accent parfait, un vocabulaire recherché, enfin c'est juste la classe ^^

[@Skynet666officialchannel]

@@synkaan2167 jodie fait des petites erreurs mais putain son francais pourrait en tromper plus d'un. Ma femme est americaine, et en 6 ans de vie commune elle est tres loin du niveau de jodie Foster. Le francais est une langage tres dur pour les anglophones.

[@legios07]

Yul Brynner aussi ---> kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZfPhGVtmbSogcU

[@turar99]

true..nothng can beat Jodie..im French and her French is better than mine actually

[@CyrilleParis]

@@legios07 Incroyable!

[@elfeling7187]

As a French native speaker, I do confirm that Jodie Foster is absolutely breathtakingly remarkable. She sounds like a native and I can't remember having ever spotted her making a mistake. She is an inspiration indeed!

[@mabo4165]

She does make mistakes but her accent is so breathtaking that people don't notice them.

[@marineenfoncezemmour8113]

I love her posh accent lol

[@eektwomice]

@@mabo4165 Indeed, "du même façon que moi" being the most obvious one. No native speaker would ever make that kind of mistake, but it's true her accent and fluency are incredible.

[@Nehmi]

@@eektwomice ah, would it be "du meme facon comme moi"?

[@eektwomice]

@@Nehmi de la même façon que moi

[@charlyf9980]

as a french native, jodie foster was super impressive. in the first interview i couldn't even recognize her and thought she was a native.

[@storylearning]

That’s what I thought too!

[@jaysterling26]

Ms Foster actually dubs herself in French . I don't know how the French actors union allowed that(?).

[@alice_hml]

@@jaysterling26 American actors and screenwriters unions are quite particular, I don’t think French unions care about this at all.

[@wendycairoli3964]

Here's what makes people sound French : - the "liaison": listen to Viggo Mortensen saying "les États-Unis". He says "les z-États-z-Unis". - cutting words: Jodie Foster does it perfectly. She says "j'sais pas" instead of "je ne sais pas". Also, she uses "ouais" and not "oui". That's what makes French hard to understand. It is very different from what you learn in a classroom. - using the right gender: that's a tough one. It is the only clue that Jodie Foster in not French. - the "R" sound: John Malkovich and Christoph Waltz don't do it very well. Their R's sound too harsh and they linger too much on it. A french person will "swallow" the R when speaking. Anyway, a bad pronunciation is better than none so don't feel ashamed of making mistakes. My english accent is only halfway decent too. I think everyone in this video is awesome for having the guts to go out there and speak a foreign language ! Joseph Gordon Levitt speaks French too by the way. As does Sting. ✌️

[@DrWhom]

good points

[@lindildeev5721]

And Helena Bonham-Carter and her accent is nearly perfect.

[@wendycairoli3964]

@@lindildeev5721 She speaks French ? Cool, I didn't know that !

[@JustinCase99999]

Jodie Foster should stop saying "ouais" though. She has too much class for that, and "ouais" sounds too vulgar for her. One thing I've noticed, when foreigners use slang words or swear words in a language that's not their first language, it always sounds a bit off, a bit wrong. Like a Frenchman saying "sheeeeet" or a Brit saying "maird", if you see what I mean. When you speak a foreign language, it's not only ok to stick to the normal and formal language, it's expected and recommended.

[@wendycairoli3964]

@@JustinCase99999 Being "vulgar" is part of speaking a language. I don't mind personally. To me it's more of a sign that you are comfortable with the language and use it the way the native speakers do. So maird (although I would rather recommend "putain") and sheeet all the way haha

[@sue-annaubry9306]

I love how he had something nice to say about everyone. And as a french native speaker, they're all amazing

[@alice_hml]

Jodie Foster is clearly at another level. Even though John Malkovich went to the same school and lived longer in France, he isn’t as good as her. She’s incredible.

[@BP-or2iu]

I don’t think John Malkovich went to that school. He’s from Chicago and spent his whole life there and stayed in Illinois through college. I think he has wrong information.

[@bettymackey379]

Foster was valedictorian of her class at the French American school

[@vincentblondeau2129]

Both of them are incredibles

[@korail4]

Her french is amazing, I couldn't tell she's american.

[@karynebouquineuse1751]

Jodie Foster speaking French is insane, she's like a totally different person! It's so strange to me to know her as having one particular accent in English and then speaking French like a native. The whole timbre of her voice seems different. Language is incredible.

[@jejejewiwiw2904]

She sounds a tad Belgian for some reason :D

[@benhouddine]

From a French native, Jodie Foster is absolutely astonishing and i'm totally speechless... No offense to the others who are also really impressive French speakers !!!

[@keidanekeith668]

Best way to improve listening?

[@alexandratalbot3427]

I love Olly Richard’s positivity about language learning! So refreshing… and enjoying all the little short stories so much ♥️

[@zcomme]

I can tell you that Jodie Foster speak definitely like a native but she also speak BETTER than lot of native. Her way of spealing french is very very very well educated! I remember seeing her on french tv show when she started doing french film as a child. she is brilliant. Second place is definitely win by Viggo Mortensen.

[@spmarei]

I sold Viggo a Lakota-English dictionary when he was filming in South Dakota. Very nice guy and so talented...

[@doriandd4648]

Jodie is native as far as I’m concerned. I know French people who don’t speak French at that level. It’s sophisticated French too. She could easily be a journalist on French tv. Brad Cooper and Highmore are perfectly fluent. You can just tell they don’t use the language as often as they would if they were living in a French speaking country. I didn’t understand what Serena was saying but her level of comfort shows she understands it well and knows what she’s trying to say. Just struggles with pronunciation quite a bit still.

[@klevens5496]

Even I could understand some of the stuff Serena said and I’m not a native French speaker so how could you not understand her?

[@__judi.ace__4163]

I am French and I think that the most impressive one was Jodie Foster. It was really hard for me to believe that she wasn't french.

[@Serebei7]

In France we have a strong culture of dubbing in french foreign film and tv show (we created one of the best technique for this, the rythmo band). This requires a perfect prononciation of the voice actor. Jodie Foster is the only one in this list who can dubs herself in French-language versions of her English-language films. She did in Inside Man, Panic Room and a dozen more.

[@carlosrabino5125]

By far, and probably because she uses the language more often, Jodie Foster is at the top of the list.

[@gaelworld]

Jodie Foster's french is PERFECT. She is certainly the best real foreigner that can speak french so perfectly. Special mention to Freddie Highmore. Very impressive.

[@experienceexperte3096]

Celebrity* There’s certainly better... there’s always better...

[@lissandrafreljord7913]

What about Diane Kruger?

[@girlwhomustnotbenamed4139]

Yes but it's bc she basically acquired the lg as opposed to learning it while she was still a child. That is an entirely different animal than learning it as a 2nd lg as an adult. She is still great though😊

[@portraitbyelise2309]

Jodie Foster 100% get a native French pronounciation and accent, you'll never believe she's not a native speaker when listening to her French, it's so so impressive ! She's just so good she's doing her own French dubded for her movies. If someone is super picky and point out a "mistake" when she talks, I can tell you it's not the kind of mistake wich will make a French person assume she's not a native speaker, we'll think she's just a normal French person making a very relatable French mistake as we all do all the times (also I think if she does some mistakes when talking it would be the kind of mistake you do when you are a native speaker but live abroad for some time and then have to talk your native language again all the time and got some understandable tiny mix up on your first days back home).

[@clairegittens3707]

“You’re gonna find a way to say it.” Definitely. This is how I was able to have fluent conversations in Chinese after 5 months of watching Taiwanese drama. Like now, obviously, the pandemic comes up a lot, and obviously that is not vocabulary that is in your average textbook, but I was able to talk about it with things like, “the sickness” . There’s always a way to say it. Also speaking in front of people... I have spoken Japanese every day for 14 years. Every single time I speak on stage or on radio, I stutter like a boat engine. The same is not true of my French and Spanish. Maybe it is a confidence thing, or maybe that I have never studied Japanese in school.

[@nicoleraheem1195]

Did you memorize phrases

[@cynquenneville2553]

As a French Canadian I can also attest that Jodie Foster sounds like a native. The only "mistake" I picked up on is when she says "il travaillait DU même façon que moi" while façon is feminine so this is not a mistake we are likely to hear from native French speakers but her accent is perfect and she absolutely sounds like a native.

[@Kafei2006]

Actually Jodie Foster usually dubs herself in French dubs of films in which she stars. Another actress known to do that is Kristin Scott Thomas, she dubbed herself in the French dub of Four Weddings and a Funeral, although she has a perceivable English accent whereas Jodie mostly doesn't. Kristin also starred in a few French movies, where the whole filming was therefore held in French, which is very impressive.

[@thuantran610]

Kristin Scott is in a new French movie called “Dans la Maison “. Her French is great in that film.

[@lindildeev5721]

@@thuantran610 Viggo did a movie in French movie too, it's called "Loin des hommes".

[@LeFeroceLapin]

@Olly Richards Hello, Being myself French, I can say that Jodie Foster has any accent when she speaks French, not once with an accent. If we don't know, then we think she's French. She doesn't stop to search for words, or only as a native Frenchman might do in a conversation. Her flow is fast and completely fluid. At this level, few people can access it, unless they've lived in France for a very, very long time, and again, even foreigners living here for many, many years, often never reach this level. Her fluency in French is particularly impressive here. This is also the case of the English stand-up comedian Paul Taylor who also has this particular talent of being able to switch from one language to another in an interview by instantly adopting the accent that suits the change of language. It's troubling.

[@tailyn]

I'm french and i had quite a hard time finding a "flaw" in jodie foster's pronunciation. if i didn't know she wasn't a native however i might never notice it, the only thing i found is that she tends to get a little quiet around "r" sounds and that's a thing a lot of foreigners do. But her french is absolutely amazing and sounds absolutely natural

[@Insaneronald]

Jodie Foster hands down, pretty much native. Highmore second. You can still clearly tell he's a foreigner but his french is great and improved as an adult. Mortensen kinda slow but super.impressive as well

[@bobduvar]

Viggo voice is a french ASMR for us the french !!! I loooove his voice... His accent... Everything !

[@Lwena]

Freddie Highmore's french is really good, impressive !

[@headacheman6778]

his Spanish even better

[@stonecrazy]

The absolute best are Jodie Foster (really amazing french, almost flawless) and Viggo Mortensen. They can build phrases without searching for words and with a pretty good vocabulary (even better than some natives). Freddie Highmore is also very good. Really impressive. The clip chosen from Bradley Cooper is not the best. In this clip he doesn't seem to speak a very good french, but I've heard him a few times on french tv and his french is very good. The English accent of Mick Jagger is really strong, but his french is pretty good too.

[@Phuskooz]

Johnny Depp used to live in Paris for a number of years, Vigo Mortensen can speak at least 5 languages and Jodie Foster can do anything she attempts

[@lifu._]

Love your positiveness about language learning. Wish my university French teacher was like that.

[@moonyollie6977]

Jodie Foster having learned French as a child honestly has no foreign accent, she speaks like a native for me. The only thing that might tip a native off would be a lack of regional accent, but I'm pants at recognising subtle accents despite the fact that French is my first language so I can't quite confirm it. It's kind of like Paul Taylor, although I do feel like Jodie's accent is even better

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

True story: When Marlon Brando visited France for the first time, he didn't know a word of French. But he spent a few days listening to French people talk. Then he repeated some of the French he'd heard in a long stream of gibberish. Though he didn't know what the words meant, his accent was perfect, and that's usually the hardest part of learning a language!

[@DeathLacooda]

Omelette du fromage oui oui

[@lindildeev5721]

He learnt French just because he wanted to speak with the others.

[@carthkaras6449]

@@DeathLacooda Omelette au fromage not du.

[@DeathLacooda]

@@carthkaras6449 omelette de la fromage then?

[@carthkaras6449]

@@DeathLacooda Omelette au fromage. Feminine or masculine you just said omelette from the cheese. And I know the Dexter reference...

[@jonathanwalls6760]

The thing my Russian professor said that has stuck with me now for years is "circumlocution is the most valuable skill you'll ever learn", and now any time someone is learning a language that's always something I tell them. It's one of the keys to sounding totally fluent that seems to go unnoticed

[@samantham3290]

Would you mind explaining what circumlocution is?

[@jonathanwalls6760]

@@samantham3290 of course! It just means "talking around something" and I find it's one of the best skills to have because people will often supply the word you're looking for

[@pequadcob2009]

@@samantham3290 It would like when you are trying to say the word “computer” but you can’t remember the word so you say “the machine that people use for the internet” instead of just saying the word in English.

[@jamesbrowny9488]

@@pequadcob2009 So, concretely it’s « vocabulary » righ ?

[@DrWhom]

yep, my language teachers also said this. btw when you move to a new country and face this total immersion environment for the first time, this constant searching in your head for workarounds leaves you exhausted at the end of the day

[@bobduvar]

Viggo Mortensen parle un français impeccable avec un accent américain certes mais un français impeccable quand même... John Malkovich habite à Lacoste dans le sud de la France et Bradley Cooper a étudié à Aix en Provence...

[@NarquelieNarmo]

Avec un accent danois, plutôt ?

[@valeriadeloscasares624]

@@NarquelieNarmo ou argentin

[@lindildeev5721]

@@NarquelieNarmo Ni l'un ni l'autre : il avait appris le français pour mieux comprendre les commentaires des matchs de son équipe de hockey préférée, les Canadiens. Étant né au nord des États-Unis, il en a gardé le petit accent québécois qui fait tout son charme dans les interviews.

[@ericacousins9786]

It's really good to see that even if their language skills aren't the best, you still appreciate how difficult it is to do in the first place!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

A great list, and you've made my life a bit easier for who to do a breakdown of next on my channel. Just the fact that these celebrities try should give all learners hope and motivation!

[@storylearning]

Indeed!

[@Secretsongs20]

Bradley Cooper does speak French, however in that piece, he had so many grammar errors that it was hard to understand what he really meant to say. It wasn’t a good example, he can do better than this.

[@libbysenglish]

Yeah I don't find it very good. Olly was being very complimentary. Bradley's confidence though is really awesome and if he was to spend some more time in France, because of that he would surely improve because he doesn't seem to have a fear of making mistakes.

[@karimb.]

His recent interview in "Quotidien" was much better: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6aulmmkrN1pesU

[@sollamander2206]

I find French pronunciation incredibly intimidating. I find it super hard to mentally transcribe the words when someone is speaking French. I'm only able to manage it with the Quebec accent. To your point about how important it is to even try and fail to connect in a the language of your audience, a family friend played football internationally and his career with his team and their fanbase was irreparably damaged by his phobia of speaking the local language on camera (grew up doing very poorly academically so he lacked confidence in his intelligence despite taking lessons)

[@Armyan8300]

5:13 one of the most common mistake made by English who speak French. They say "pour" (for) instead of "pendant" (during) ! Jodie Foster speaks the best french of all, she sounds like a native with a soft regional accent !

[@jenningbernard]

Cool video. I'm surprised you didn't add more sportsmen speaking french. I have always been amazed by their ability to learn langages in general. Especially footballers. Take a guy like Pogba, for example, who managed to pick up italian or spanish in a few months. That's very impressive.

[@Robob0027]

@Jennings, not really that impressive. Italian and Spanish are both Latin languages and as such would come easier to him than German or Dutch for example. He also speaks English having played for a Premier League team in the UK. I speak French almost perfectly and Italian fluently and so can also get along in Spanish but added to this I can understand Romanian and Portugal when they are spoken slowly and face to face.

[@louispaquet8185]

When you learn new languages, you become a better listener, so you are able to understand almost all the accents, I have become very good at understanding pretty much all English accents (except a few very tick ones), and to this day, I can't find any French accents that I can't understand.

[@Comprends-ton-Dim]

But you are native French speaker non ?

[@louispaquet8185]

@@Comprends-ton-Dim Yes I am

[@giuliettamassina7787]

I love your support for all learners, despite their level. There is a lot of judgement, especially in the French learning community, that doesn't help people advance.

[@VaimeY]

Jodie foster's french is really really impressive. She sounds exactly like a native person its just crazy how she can reach this level of excellence

[@victoriasellitto9395]

I’m just a beginner in French but have been exposed to French forever living in Canada, and to me, Jodie foster is the most sounding French person out of the bunch. Not to slow, cool and confident, great pronunciation!

[@eel324]

I love how positive your commentary is !

[@xiaolong201280]

Jodie Foster is definitely the best out there! Her French is impeccable! (Every once in a while, she may let out tiny little hints that she’s not 100% native, but her French is almost PERFECT!)

[@xiaolong201280]

I don’t understand how John Malkovich can speak French so fluently and yet how he’s never been able to put on a proper French accent while playing English speaking French characters…

[@DieSama95]

Hi, i'm a native french speaker living near Paris and I can assure you than Jodie Foster's french is perfect. If I didn't know, i would thought she's French. Absolutely no foreign accent at all, unbelievable 😱

[@ameliesarah9662]

Slight correction: its living and not leaving! Apart ca, ton anglais n’est pas trop mal (venant d'une quebecoise), merde j'arrive pas a mettre les accents sur mon ordi mdrr

[@DieSama95]

@@ameliesarah9662 Effectivement, erreur stupide :p Merci pour la correction

[@ritatatam3068]

Waoh, first I’m absolutely delighted to discover your channel. Second: as a french person, Jodie Foster is absolutely perfect in her way to speak french: she knows exactly how to use the different levels of language (formal, complex, slang…) with a perfect accent, like a french born person, it’s astonishing !!! I do totally agree that making an effort to express yourself in another language that isn’t your born one (oops yeah, I’m also trying) is always beautiful, whatever the result is. Taking risks to communicate in a spontaneous way is always marvelous 🤩 (especially in a language you don’t know really well).

[@CouchPolyglot]

Something a lot of people do not know is that Viggo Mortensen also speaks Catalan, and quite well actually 😊. Jodie Foster's French is crazy good! 😍

[@jjgf8412]

I mean if you speak spanish french and italian catalán comes very easy.

[@CouchPolyglot]

@@jjgf8412 yeah, that is true. I speak Catalan, Spanish and French, so learning Italian has not been much of a challenge so far :)

[@lissandrafreljord7913]

He also speaks Elvish.

[@deepdarkmidnight]

Christoph Waltz was raised in Austria. He's not only fluent in German, it's his first language.

[@hiranom20]

Serena did pretty well. I agree with Olly's assessment of her French.

[@nneichan9353]

My reason for learning a language is to take advantage using the brain to stem off dementia. Keeping the brain busy with a beautiful language like French is a wonderful thing.

[@yogurtmale1862]

that’s crazyy😂😂 thats why i’m doing it too

[@laplumedemaat6374]

"French pronunciation can be quite challenging ?" : what about English pronunciation for a french native speaking? Very challenging !

[@Brazpastrop]

When you start to learn english the prononciation doesn't seem so complicated but when you speak ,read ,learn english in more the details the english prononciation can be a nightmare it can be really confusing!

[@DeathLacooda]

Verrrhrry 🤓

[@monah5532]

The nice thing is that English always sounds more interesting with an accent :)

[@estherHoneyPie]

I think Viggo Mortensen has a very impressive level of french! His grammar and vocabulary are really good, true he speaks quite slowly but almost every actor does in that video except Jodie Fosterof course whose french is impeccable.

[@chadbailey7038]

Great video Olly! Loving this new line of content. Sidenote: Jodie was flowing in French wasn’t she?! 🤩 She was cooking! 🔥 haha. Too good 👍🏾

[@storylearning]

Far too good!

[@guyvekeman1094]

Hello Olly, thanks for that video. As many others I am most impressed by Jody Foster speaking French flawlessly. Peculiarity: the woman interviewing John Malkovich isn't speaking French any better than he does.

[@storylearning]

Yes I did wonder who that interviewer was… she sounded English to me!

[@elfeling7187]

@@storylearning She certainly was not a French native speaker. John Malkovitch sound much more fluent than the interviewer who sounded like she was struggling. One wonders why that journalist was sent to interview him in French. His French doesn't have the natural flow of Jodie Foster's but he doing a beautiful job, very poised and recherché.

[@TangoIndiaMike144]

This is awesome Olly, really enjoyed this, especially with your insight into languages.

[@storylearning]

Glad you liked it. I’ll have to do more!

[@turmat01]

from a native french speaker (rating: 100%: native speaker 60%:passable, you can get the message through with a struggle): Waltz obviously searches for his words a lot, but overall he is pretty good, if he could just solidify his vocabulary a little bit, he would be amazing, he has good foundations. Also his accent is absolutely beautiful, I love it, love it, love it!! 60% Serena Williams has a very thick accent but she speaks very very good french, she makes a lot of mistakes but everything is very easy to understand, which is what matters in a conversation. I don't care that you make mistakes. If I can understand everything you say and you don't search for your words too much, that's perfectly good enough! 80% Cooper is amazing. There is nothing else to say, this guy speaks french. Yes, he has an accent and makes a few mistakes... But I consider his VERY fluent, he speaks a LOT better than most people who have immigrated here decades ago... 85% Highmore: just like Cooper, if not even better. 80% Jodie Foster: Native speaker level! She's incredible... She makes some VERY rare mistakes that gives it away, but she could, for the most part, pass for a French girl. I'm sure she would fool ANY any non-native speaker thinking she is native. In the second interview, I noticed ONE mistake that a native speaker wouldn't really do: 8:30 "Lui, il travaillait DU meme facon que moi" (should have been DE LA instead of DU). This really is the only thing in that clip that doesn't sound native! 99.999% Depp: very good too, almost a french accent, but makes some errors that gives him away, but he has good foundations, and a pretty good vocabulary. 70% Aragorn (:P) : He is very, very fluent. he has an accent, but a really nice accent. Some minor mistakes, but amazing overall. Not Jodie Foster level, but that's a solid 90-95%. Malkovitch: He is very very good too, very fluent, thick accent, and makes a lot of the classic mistakes, but he is very easy to understand. Good pronunciation too. 85% Harry Potter doesn't speak a damn word of French. But hey, like you said, he was a good sport and ended up pronouncing it somewhat right! 10 points to Griffindor. Jagger: I had zero clue this guy speaks french, He has good foundations, makes some of the classic mistakes and has a strong accent, but his vocabulary and delivery are very good! 80%

[@NadegeTDulot-qm9dn]

Bradley Cooper speaks Frenglish. He has poise, he picked up the prosody (although he's over doing it, it's not very subtle because not varied), but what he said there was gibberish. You can tell the guy hasn't lived, thought, read in French much or in a while. He's "acting" it.

[@gabrielseaborn257]

Not that I'm any expert of the French language, but I have seen another clip of him on a French talk show, and he seemed wayyyy more in control of the language there. This seemed to be a bad clip.

[@babelbabel2419]

@@gabrielseaborn257 You're right. He can do much better (but nowhere near Jodie Foster's level)

[@jamiawilson8515]

Angela Davis is also an amazing French speaker. Check out some of her interviews. She and Jodie F are my inspiration.

[@atur8012]

Très intéressant! Merci beaucoup. J’adore Angela Davis!

[@Nekoala]

Jodie Foster is obviously the best one. She speaks just like a French person would. She sometimes make some tiny mistakes, but French people do too. She was immersed into french language and culture at the young age of 13 though. Viggo Mortensen's level is excellent, too (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation....).

[@drewmccormack]

The Stones and Jagger were famously exiled to France too. A quintessential English band with a very French twist 😀

[@jooocha]

I was like "I'm not impress, I speak a way better than them" until Joddy Foster second interview... Ffs, she speaks a cleaner french than I! And it’s my native language!

[@miriamspandereta]

What a great video! Both fascinating and inspiring. Great job Olly!

[@Rescue162]

I was pretty surprised to find out Mick Jagger speaks French. John Malkovich (whom I know from Con Air fame) speaking French is quite fascinating.

[@DanielBarham-ej7yj]

Don't forget that John Malkovich was the French claimant to the British throne in Johnny English! His French accent speaking English was actually pretty good too.

[@mariliemarilie6442]

WoW, I speak French from Quebec and I can say that all of these impress me a lot. As I can speak 4 languages myself, I know the time you have to work to achieve a descent goal. Chapeau! ;)

[@planetspadez]

Hat?

[@jeffp1370]

@@planetspadez "Chapeau" (hat) can mean "Bravo" (well done) in French. Like take your hat off to someone.

[@vinzetti22]

Christoph waltz is one of the best. My favorite actor

[@storylearning]

He’s awesome!

[@dutchreagan3676]

@@storylearning If I'm not mistaken he speaks French, English, German and (some, fake) Italian in that movie (Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarentino). That alone is amazing!

[@pestrat_]

Viggo's French just sounded like he had a semi-thick accent, I didn't have to stop and repeat the clip to understand what he was saying. Soo.. Good enough? ☺

[@feshberd]

It's probably a bit of a Quebecois accent coming out since he started learning French by listening to broadcasts of the Montreal Canadiens Hockey games. Overall to my ears his accent sounds more metropolitan French, but some words sound more Quebecois to me.

[@stevienewm4950]

Agreed.

[@jeffp1370]

To me, he sound more french canadian (quebecois) than french from France...

[@gentleeyes]

I only want to say that John Malkovich has the same halted manner of speaking in English too, so it is probably more a matter of personality.

[@gchelem]

Johnny Wilkinson's French is amazing too. He is the English that impresses me the most, I am probably biased because he is my favourite rugby player of all time. I am French and can stand the English rugby team.

[@ffederel]

Jodie Foster is indeed most impressive. I'm speechless as well. She sounds nearly native. When she was a kid, she had an almost imperceptible accent, but I'd say the main giveaway is an inconstant "register." There's a mixture of colloquialism and literary (bookish) French. For instance, she says "un bout d'temps", that is colloquial, but she systematically says "je", never eating the "e" sound (j'crois). In the second clip, she makes two gender mistakes ("un surdoué" and "du même façon que moi") but her French sounds a tad bit more colloquial ("j'étais pas" instead of "je n'étais pas", etc). Her register is more homogeneous.

[@DrWhom]

surdoué est bien du masculin - c'est surdouée qui est du féminin

[@ffederel]

@@DrWhom Je ne dis pas le contraire 😃 Mais Jodie Foster étant une femme, elle devrait dire "je n'étais pas une surdouée", or elle dit "je n'étais pas un surdoué." She could even say "je n'étais pas surdouée", dropping the article.

[@lesimprosdulezardvert1342]

Jodie Forster has a really great french accent, it's amazing. As a french, I'm amazed, even if I can hear some little irregularities. Viggo Mortensen is really good too. For Radcliff, it's pretty hard to say "rejoignez-moi". So the best was Jodie Forster, she had a so beautiful accent. I'm quite charmed

[@sebmii393]

J Foster is the most impressive, she is 100% fluent in french!

[@TheAvenger62]

Christopher Lee spoke fluent French, he even did a heavy metal album about Charlemagne lol

[@foreverlearningfrench]

Super vidéo Olly. Mick Jagger était une surprise. Il est tellement cool ! Gwyneth Paltrow parle aussi français.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Mick Jagger est peut-être la personne la plus décontracté en parlant français que j'ai jamais vu, haha.

[@ssissigui8846]

Without watching ! I could tell you that Jodie foster is the best ! I'm amazed !

[@marsukarhu9477]

The more languages you know, the easier it gets to learn new ones.

[@timedconway6999]

If I may suggest another example with Emma Watson, who's French is quite charming shall we say... 😯

[@esmeraldagomezkucawca7043]

Olly, Viggo speaks perfect Rio de la Plata Spanish with Bueno Aires or “porteño” intonation. He lived and went to school in Argentina for many years. A special favour: change the Spanish flag for the Argentine flag, if possible. 😀

[@jjgf8412]

Señora el idoma es castellano o español, la bandera del idioma es la bandera del país en el que se creo, es lo que hay.

[@roucoupse]

Mike Jegger lives in France actually, near Chambord (château de Fourchette).

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

He must be a lot better now then, all these years later!

[@maniak1768]

I'm learning French since I'm 12 years old and it's still a bloody mess. I always felt that the pronounciation is the easiest part of it, since my grandma is a native French, but I guess that is only partly right when you chop all of the sentences up into unconnected words, which you are always inclined to do as a native German like me. I had little to zero clues what is going on with the grammar, also since it just didn't get into my head why French had these weird habits of using tenses. What really helped me was actually the crash course in Latin I took a year ago, which went just against every natural instinct of my body, because it consists solely of learning grammar. Retrospectively, I think I just never accepted the things my French teachers told me at face value and tried to make sense of it in my own language, which is a really bad mistake. When you come to understand Latin grammar, you actually start to see why the French subjunctive or conditional tenses should never be confused with the German 'Konjunktiv' tenses, which I of course did all the time. I'd say that I speak English quit decently since I lived with native English speakers for a long time, but it's incredibly hard to make the German sounds disappear from my accent, since German has these incredibly rough and coarse fricatives that our language is so known for, they are very unforgiving if you're trying to subtly blend into a crowd of foreign language speakers. The softer g-sounds of a native English speaker for instance are close to impossible, even after years and years of daily practice and conversation, even if you're aware of the issue.

[@gabrielmyre]

Diane Kruger, German born model and actress also speaks beautiful french

[@Onute77]

I am a french teacher, I finished my french philology degree this year. So, I liked Freddie and Jodie. They sounded so good and I could not find any mistakes. I also liked how Bradly Cooper was so confident and tried to speak good in french. He was nice but he said" J' adore des livres" instead of "J' adore les livres". I don' t think it is a big deal to speak perfectly in other languages. I speak in french, spanish, english, russian and yes, I do mistakes sometimes. It is normal. Even if you do mistakes, I am proud of you❤🇨🇵 remember if you read this.

[@williamleblanc2623]

They're all fairly good to different extents, but Jodie is a whole different level. As a French speaker if I didn't know the actress, I wouldn't think twice about her being French. I spotted maybe one mistake, but that's all. Viggo is very good too.

[@0racle999]

I'm a Quebecer and obviously I don't speak french with the same accent as people from France, but Jodie is just amazing. She doesn't have an accent what so ever?! The only mistake she made I noticed was "Il travaillait du même façon que moi" instead of "Il travaillait de la même façon que moi", but the accent was perfect french, she could be born in France for all I know

[@jaydu26]

Jodie Foster just kills the game!! Outstanding level of French!!! She almost makes me cry each time she speaks French! Long live the Queen!!

[@harmoseriesaddict4121]

Jodie Foster is at a native level, she's the one doing her french version of the movies she played in (with a few exceptions) and viewers could not tell she wasn't a French speaking person :) A few other celebrities speak French too (Gwyneth Paltrow and Stana Katic (who actually speks 6 languages if I remember correctly) come to mind)...

[@mike200017]

For Jodie Foster, I would say it's nearly perfect. A few odd sounds here and there would have clued me in to the fact that she isn't native (if I didn't know), but it's barely noticeable. Also, she speaks almost too perfectly, lacking the sort of sloppiness or contractions of a native accent or a regional dialect, which would also be a clue (but maybe she was making an effort to speak really properly for TV, and maybe she can speak more casually in real life). For Viggo Mortensen, I thought it was really cool to hear him speak French with a Spanish accent. His true native language reveals itself in the accent he has when speaking another language that he does master as well as English or Danish (I've had the exact same issue, when I speak English (almost perfectly), people just assume it's my first language, but then if I speak Spanish (not so well), people can immediately tell that French is my native language, which has surprised some people who expected an English accent). For Freddie Highmore, my immediate reaction was that he might have grown up with a French parent because he had really good pronunciation but lacking grammar and vocabulary. Typical of someone who has known a language from an early age but doesn't speak it often (or much beyond childhood). On the opposite end, John Malkovic seemed very fluent and comfortable speaking French, in terms of grammar and vocabulary, but still with a somewhat strong English accent. Typical of someone who learned a language later in life but speaks it regularly.

[@karynebouquineuse1751]

Also, I knew Freddie Highmore studied a languages in uni but I was still really impressed by his French.

[@headacheman6778]

he studied French in high school only, in Uni he studied Spanish and Arabic.

[@Kendah1978]

Jodie foster 😭😭😭 what a beautiful French she speaks et en plus elle était et toujours est très belle et le français lui va très bien

[@damienkennedy5814]

This is giving me life today! I love it - there's something particularly great about seeing native anglophones having the humility and respect to use other languages. Inspirational stuff! I've seen Jodie Foster speak French before - her interviews were one of my resources when I was learning French :-) Mick Jagger - wow!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

How did you go about using Jodie's interviews as a learning resource?

[@damienkennedy5814]

@@FrenchinPlainSight Hi, it wasn't anything really specific to the content. I used them for listening practice, for transcription practice and they were just good to keep me inspired.

[@519djw6]

This was an interesting video. However, I'd like to hear from people (celebrities or non-celebrities) who did *not* attend a French Immersion School int their youth--or who do *not* own a chateaux in South of France. To speak any language without these advantages would be truly impressive.

[@ameliesarah9662]

First off its chateau, chateaux is plural. Second, lycée Francais is not an immersion school bc kids are taking all their classes in french every single day, whereas immersion kids would only spend part of the time in French.

[@519djw6]

@@ameliesarah9662 As to "chateau" vs. "chateaux," I am aware of the difference. It was a careless mistake on my part. Also, I'm sure you know that in the USA there are "full-immersion schools" and "semi-immersion schools."

[@malvaashdown]

I suggest to listen to Alex Lawther speaking French. I think he learned it for a film with just some basics from high school. It’s quite impressive.

[@guytellitstrait4504]

Jodie Foster was by far the best! WOW!!!

[@leseize26]

Well....i'm french and i "reste sur le cul" when i hear Jodie Foster speaking french !!!!! Incredible !!!!!

[@omendjadi]

I love how you lift people up

[@mistylee717]

Oh. So now I know why I’m having trouble learning spanish. No drive. Where do I get me some of this drive you speak of?

[@haggismonster92]

Would be great to see more like this with different languages

[@clairegittens3707]

There is a Spanish one with US politicians, but yeah, I would love to see more.

[@ameliesarah9662]

@@clairegittens3707 And an Italian one too

[@clairegittens3707]

@@ameliesarah9662 Yes, the Italian one is new. Hopefully we’ll see more of Olly’s languages.