Nick Clegg speaking Dutch, Spanish and German
Nick Clegg
by Prospect Magazine
This article was written by Global Graduates, published on 2nd September 2012 and has been read 16279 times.
Nick Clegg has been the leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2007, and is currently Britain's Deputy Prime Minister and MP for Sheffield Hallam. Whatever you may think of his politics, you can't but be impressed by his linguistic skills; he speaks fluent English, French, Dutch, German, and Spanish!
"Once you learn that his mother is Dutch, it should come as little surprise that Nick Clegg speaks the language fluently. A few years back, BBC News did an online feature on an interview he'd given for TV channel Nederland 2, which was of particular interest to me as I'd just taken up Dutch in my first year of university; now almost three years on, it's nice to be able to check it out again and be able to understand him! I thought that other Year Abroaders in the UK - if they weren't already aware - might be interested to discover this lesser-known skill of one of our leading politicians." (Nicky M)"I know that his wife is Spanish and they have brought up their sons bilingually with English & Spanish. Obviously as a politician, he is much more likely to be respected on the continent if he can converse in the language of the region and it no doubt makes his job easier. As second 'leader' of the country, it is a fantastic representation to people in support of language learning and I think it needs to be publicised a lot more! In fact, celebrities with linguistic knowledge should be brought together in a campaign to encourage language learning. If a student sees their hero, favourite sportsman or woman, actor or actress or singer using languages, this could be a catalyst to encourage language learning (especially in the later if the singer or actor produces a song or film in a foreign language.)" (Sam S.)
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