Charlize Theron is a South African and American actress and producer.
You may be wondering how many languages does Charlize Theron speak?
She has lived in several different countries so it’s natural to wonder if she also speaks multiple languages.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. This post will go into detail on what languages Charlize Theron speaks, how fluent she is in them and how she learnt them.
Table of Contents
What Languages Does Charlize Theron Speak?
Charlize Theron speaks 2 languages to varying levels. Charlize Theron speaks English and Afrikaans.
Charlize Theron does speak English fluently, but English isn’t actually her first language…
Does Charlize Theron Speak Afrikaans?
Yes, Charlize Theron speaks Afrikaans fluently. Afrikaans is actually Charlize Theron’s first language.
Charlize Theron was born in the town of Benoni in South Africa in 1975 where she grew up on her parents farm.
Charlize comes from an Afrikaner family, with her ancestry being mainly Dutch with some French and German.
Afrikaners are a South African ethnic group that are mainly descended from Dutch settlers who first arrived in South Africa back in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The mother tongue of most Afrikaners is Afrikaans which is actually South Africa’s third most spoken home language.
It evolved from the Dutch language and shares many similarities.
Charlize spent the first 16 years of her life living in South Africa before moving to Europe at age 16, then to the US a year later.
You can see Charlize Theron speaking Afrikaans in the video below in an interview:
Charlize Theron still speaks Afrikaans on a daily basis with her mother.
She even once confessed in an interview with James Corden that they use the language in public to talk about other people without them being able to understand.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Charlize Theron taught us some Afrikaans slang terms. Check it out in the video below:
Did you know? Charlize Theron isn’t the only famous South African. Elon Musk can also speak some Afrikaans as can Trevor Noah.
How Did Charlize Theron Learn English?
Charlize Theron learned to speak basic English in school when she grew up in South Africa.
She once revealed that her English was ‘actually very bad’ until she arrived in the US at age 17 as she didn’t use it much back in South Africa.
She went on to say that the reason she has an American accent now is because she actually learnt to speak English properly in the US.
She mentioned in an interview that she felt like she was ‘pushed into a corner’ when she first arrived in the US.
She said her English was very poor and the feedback she received when auditioning for movie roles was ‘she’s great but she needs to speak English’.
In an interview with SAPeople, Charlize Theron said that she improved her English by watching as many movies and TV shows in English as possible.
When Charlize Theron spoke English earlier in her career, she had a noticeable South African accent however today she has more of an American accent.
Now she speaks fluent English and sounds just as good as a native speaker.
After living and working in the US for decades, she finally became an American citizen in 2008, however she also still retains her South African citizenship.
Does Charlize Theron Speak French?
No, Charlize Theron does not speak French.
Some people believe that she is a French speaker however this is untrue. Charlize Theron never learnt to speak French.
What Are Charlize Theron’s Views On Learning Languages?
Other than English, it looks like Charlize Theron hasn’t learnt any other languages. Granted, she probably didn’t have much time when she started her acting career.
Charlize Theron can also understand Dutch due to its huge similarities with Afrikaans. Around 95% of words in Afrikaans come from Dutch so there is a massive overlap.
Charlize Theron can understand Dutch, however she cannot speak it.
She demonstrated this ability whilst doing an interview with a Dutch-speaking reporter.
The reporter asked her questions in Dutch and she responded in Afrikaans, but the two were able to understand each other.
Check this out in the video below:
It may surprise you that Charlize Theron speaks 2 languages. It surprised us too!
We’re super impressed that Charlize Theron learnt to speak English properly when she moved to the US because she sounds just like a native!
Thanks for reading this post which answers the question ‘how many languages does Charlize Theron speak?’.
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