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What Languages Does Arnold Schwarzenegger Speak? (With Videos)

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American actor, film producer, former bodybuilder and politician who served as the Governor of California between 2003 and 2011.

You may be wondering how many languages does Arnold Schwarzenegger speak? 

He has lived in  different countries and has had huge success so it’s natural to wonder if he also speaks multiple languages.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. This post will go into detail on what languages Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks, how fluent he is in them and how he learnt them.

What Languages Does Arnold Schwarzenegger Speak?

Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks 2 languages fluently. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks German and English.

It’s well known that Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks English in all of his movies but when he first came to America he barely spoke English at all…

Does Arnold Schwarzenegger Speak German?

Yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks German natively. He speaks the Austrian German dialect of the language.

German is actually Schwarzenegger’s first language as he was born in Thal, a small village in Austria, in 1947 to Austrian parents. 

The main language spoken by the majority of people in Austria is German so Arnold grew up speaking this language exclusively. 

One interesting fact is that, despite being fluent in German, Schwarzenegger wasn’t allowed to record the German dub for his hugely successful movie ‘The Terminator’ even though he really wanted to.

The reason for this was because his accent was considered ‘too rural’ for German standards. This is due to him being born in a small Austrian village.

You can hear Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking German in the video below:

Arnold Schwarzenegger can still speak German today despite having lived in the US for more than 50 years.

It has been noted that in recent years when Schwarzenegger speaks German that he has a slight American accent. 

This is likely due to the fact that he has lived in the US since 1968 and uses English now on a daily basis rather than German.

Check out the recent video below which shows Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking German. This video was recorded in 2017 and shows his current German accent:

Does Arnold Schwarzenegger Speak Russian?

No, Arnold Schwarzenegger does not speak Russian.

Many people are often confused on if Schwarzenegger is German or Russian. The truth is that he is neither and is actually Austrian.

German is the official language of Austria and so Schwarzenegger grew up speaking German as his first language.

Does Arnold Schwarzenegger Speak English?

Yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks English fluently.

If you’ve seen any of his films then you’ll know that Schwarzenegger can speak English very well. 

Additionally he has lived in the US since 1968 and even received American citizenship in 1983.

In 1966 at the age of 19, he took his first plane trip to London to take part in the Mr Universe bodybuilding competition. 

One of the judges was so impressed with Schwarzenegger that he offered to coach him and Schwarzenegger stayed with his family in London.

It was during this time that Schwarzenegger massively improved his grasp of the English language. Prior to this he only had a very basic level of English.

When he moved to the US 2 years later to fulfill his dream of becoming an actor, he still wasn’t fully fluent and had a very strong Austrian accent.

When talking about his political views, Arnold shared that in 1968 when he first arrived in the US, he watched the Nixon-Humphrey presidential race on TV but had a friend who spoke both German and English translate it for him.

To improve his English, he signed up for classes at the Santa Monica College in California.

How Well Does Arnold Schwarzenegger Speak English?

He got his first acting role in 1970 in the film ‘Hercules in New York’ however his accent was so thick that his lines were dubbed after production. 

By the mid 1970s Schwarzenegger could speak fluent English with little difficulty.

He can be seen discussing bodybuilding in English in the video below which was recorded in 1975:

He even revealed in an interview in 2015 that he can now speak ‘perfect English’ without an accent but sticks with his iconic Austrian accent because it’s what fans expect and ‘people really enjoy it’.

You can see Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking English in 2018 in the video below:

Arnold isn’t the only Hollywood actor that didn’t speak much English when they first arrived in the US. Charlize Theron also didn’t speak much English when she started her career.


It may not come as a surprise to you that Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks 2 languages fluently. 

His backstory is certainly interesting and he continuously proved people wrong when they said that his accent would stop him from becoming an actor.

Thanks for reading this post which answers the question ‘how many languages does Arnold Schwarzenegger speak?’.

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