Talking the Talk

A guide to world leaders who have overcome language barriers to rule.

BY KEDAR PAVGI | DECEMBER 12, 2011


After 540 days of negotiations, Belgium finally chose a government last week, just in time to help it address its mounting economic concerns. The leader to emerge from over a year of negotiations is 60-year-old Socialist  Elio Di Rupo, a Wallonian chemist who is also Belgium's first openly gay prime minister. The bowtie-wearing son of poor Italian immigrants, Di Rupo has had a long political career, and is known in the country as the "regent of the kingdom" because of his role in bridging the gap between Belgium's culturally diverse regions. The first French-speaking prime minister in nearly 40 years, Di Rupo's rise has highlighted Belgium's linguistic divides (the country has three official languages -- Dutch, French, and German -- with the majority speaking Dutch). Right out of the gate, Di Rupo faced questions about his Dutch after he botched an interview with a reporter due to language barriers.  Di Rupo assures supporters that he will "speak Dutch to parliament" and will seek to improve his language skills in the coming days.

Di Rupo isn't the only leader to confront linguistic challenges on the path to power. Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien did not know a single word of English when he left Francophone Quebec in 1967 to enter the halls of English-speaking Ottawa. More recently, former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who was born in Saudi Arabia and educated in French schools, had his linguistic baptism-by-fire during a mangled speech in Arabic in front of the Lebanese parliament. As for the United States, the last President not to have spoken English as their first language was Martin Van Buren  in 1837 (he spoke Dutch).

While many world leaders are well-versed in several languages (Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso and Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai, for starters) there are, of course, others who have faced the daunting task of governing while taking a crash course in the native tongue. Here are a few leaders who have trouble talking the talk.

VIRGINIE LEFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

 SUBJECTS:
 

Kedar Pavgi is an editorial researcher at Foreign Policy.

XTIANGODLOKI

10:25 PM ET

December 12, 2011

dubya

:)

 

VODKA

1:28 PM ET

December 13, 2011

George Bush

am wondering why Bush isn't included in here since he can't COMPOSE one complete sentence in English, can't tell left hand from right, doesn't know what OBGNY is and he has all the shades of being an illiterate president if u may............

 

ANYA KHAN

7:59 AM ET

December 14, 2011

Were you paid for this

Were you paid for this drivel?

 

NOSTASHKINA

5:45 PM ET

December 23, 2011

Uncorrect Information

Dear Author and Readers of the article!
Please, be aware that there is only 1 official language in Ukraine, and that is Ukrainian. Russian (spoken by around 70% of the population as native) is not only unofficial but prohibited to be spoken by politicians, and in some areas by even ordinary citizens (who fear to be physically assaulted). The language and ethnic situation in Ukraine is terrible: Ukrainian nationalists do everything to take away a wonderful Russian language and culture from those Ukrainian citizens who are of Russian nationality. Again, there is more that 70% of them!

 

ACOMPANHANTESR7G

6:02 AM ET

December 13, 2011

Good Work!

thanks for sharing!

 

MCORNN

8:31 AM ET

December 13, 2011

Evo Morales error

"President Evo Morales' ... was the first Latin American leader of indigenous decent to be elected to a country's highest office. "

Evo Morales was the first Bolivian president of indigenous descent. Benito Juarez, a Zapotec Indian, was the first indigenous president in all of Latin America.

 

KEDAR PAVGI

9:03 AM ET

December 13, 2011

Fixed. Thank you!

Fixed. Thank you!

 

KINGFELIX

7:58 PM ET

December 13, 2011

Not just the factual angle

But why include Evo Morales at all? The lead-in to the article says, "Here are a few leaders who have trouble talking the talk."

Does Evo Morales' Spanish fit that description?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYPM-ghlFxQ (from 3 minutes or so)

Hardly.

 

MUSAKAREEMBUTT

12:11 PM ET

December 13, 2011

Cool

Wow this is great picture taken here. ;)
Language makes us human, but how do we use it and how do children learn it? Talking the Talk is an introduction to the psychology of language. Written for the reader with no background in the area or knowledge of psychology, it explains how we actually "do" language: how we speak, listen, and read.

This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to psycholinguistics, the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It shows how it’s possible to study language experimentally, and how psychologists use these experiments to build models of language processing. The book focuses on controversy in modern psycholinguistics, and covers the all the main topics, including how children acquire language, how language is related to the brain, and what can go wrong – and what can be done when something does go wrong. Structured around questions that people often ask about language, the emphasis of Talking the Talk is how scientific knowledge can be applied to practical problems. It also stresses how language is related to other aspects of psychology, particularly in whether animals can learn language, and the relation between language and thought.

Lively and amusing, the book will be essential reading for all undergraduate students and those new to the topic, as well as the interested lay reader.

Language makes us human, but how do we use it and how do children learn it? Talking the Talk is an introduction to the psychology of language. Written for the reader with no background in the area or knowledge of psychology, it explains how we actually "do" language: how we speak, listen, and read.

This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to psycholinguistics, the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It shows how it’s possible to study language experimentally, and how psychologists use these experiments to build models of language processing. The book focuses on controversy in modern psycholinguistics, and covers the all the main topics, including how children acquire language, how language is related to the brain, and what can go wrong – and what can be done when something does go wrong. Structured around questions that people often ask about language, the emphasis of Talking the Talk is how scientific knowledge can be applied to practical problems. It also stresses how language is related to other aspects of psychology, particularly in whether animals can learn language, and the relation between language and thought.

Lively and amusing, the book will be essential reading for all undergraduate students and those new to the topic, as well as the interested lay reader.

Language makes us human, but how do we use it and how do children learn it? Talking the Talk is an introduction to the psychology of language. Written for the reader with no background in the area or knowledge of psychology, it explains how we actually "do" language: how we speak, listen, and read.

This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to psycholinguistics, the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It shows how it’s possible to study language experimentally, and how psychologists use these experiments to build models of language processing. The book focuses on controversy in modern psycholinguistics, and covers the all the main topics, including how children acquire language, how language is related to the brain, and what can go wrong – and what can be done when something does go wrong. Structured around questions that people often ask about language, the emphasis of Talking the Talk is how scientific knowledge can be applied to practical problems. It also stresses how language is related to other aspects of psychology, particularly in whether animals can learn language, and the relation between language and thought.

Lively and amusing, the book will be essential reading for all undergraduate students and those new to the topic, as well as the interested lay reader.

Language makes us human, but how do we use it and how do children learn it? Talking the Talk is an introduction to the psychology of language. Written for the reader with no background in the area or knowledge of psychology, it explains how we actually "do" language: how we speak, listen, and read.

This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to psycholinguistics, the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It shows how it’s possible to study language experimentally, and how psychologists use these experiments to build models of language processing. The book focuses on controversy in modern psycholinguistics, and covers the all the main topics, including how children acquire language, how language is related to the brain, and what can go wrong – and what can be done when something does go wrong. Structured around questions that people often ask about language, the emphasis of Talking the Talk is how scientific knowledge can be applied to practical problems. It also stresses how language is related to other aspects of psychology, particularly in whether animals can learn language, and the relation between language and thought.

Lively and amusing, the book will be essential reading for all undergraduate students and those new to the topic, as well as the interested lay reader.

Language makes us human, but how do we use it and how do children learn it? Talking the Talk is an introduction to the psychology of language. Written for the reader with no background in the area or knowledge of psychology, it explains how we actually "do" language: how we speak, listen, and read.

This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to psycholinguistics, the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It shows how it’s possible to study language experimentally, and how psychologists use these experiments to build models of language processing. The book focuses on controversy in modern psycholinguistics, and covers the all the main topics, including how children acquire language, how language is related to the brain, and what can go wrong – and what can be done when something does go wrong. Structured around questions that people often ask about language, the emphasis of Talking the Talk is how scientific knowledge can be applied to practical problems. It also stresses how language is related to other aspects of psychology, particularly in whether animals can learn language, and the relation between language and thought.

Lively and amusing, the book will be essential reading for all undergraduate students and those new to the topic, as well as the interested lay reader.

Language makes us human, but how do we use it and how do children learn it? Talking the Talk is an introduction to the psychology of language. Written for the reader with no background in the area or knowledge of psychology, it explains how we actually "do" language: how we speak, listen, and read.

This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to psycholinguistics, the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It shows how it’s possible to study language experimentally, and how psychologists use these experiments to build models of language processing. The book focuses on controversy in modern psycholinguistics, and covers the all the main topics, including how children acquire language, how language is related to the brain, and what can go wrong – and what can be done when something does go wrong. Structured around questions that people often ask about language, the emphasis of Talking the Talk is how scientific knowledge can be applied to practical problems. It also stresses how language is related to other aspects of psychology, particularly in whether animals can learn language, and the relation between language and thought.

Lively and amusing, the book will be essential reading for all undergraduate students and those new to the topic, as well as the interested lay reader.

Language makes us human, but how do we use it and how do children learn it? Talking the Talk is an introduction to the psychology of language. Written for the reader with no background in the area or knowledge of psychology, it explains how we actually "do" language: how we speak, listen, and read.

This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to psycholinguistics, the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It shows how it’s possible to study language experimentally, and how psychologists use these experiments to build models of language processing. The book focuses on controversy in modern psycholinguistics, and covers the all the main topics, including how children acquire language, how language is related to the brain, and what can go wrong – and what can be done when something does go wrong. Structured around questions that people often ask about language, the emphasis of Talking the Talk is how scientific knowledge can be applied to practical problems. It also stresses how language is related to other aspects of psychology, particularly in whether animals can learn language, and the relation between language and thought.

Lively and amusing, the book will be essential reading for all undergraduate students and those new to the topic, as well as the interested lay reader.

Thanks

Admin of Clocks | Electric kettles

 

MIKEJUDDY

2:21 PM ET

December 13, 2011

Quality working. I would

Quality working. I would appreciate to make more posts in foreign policy. :)

 

DOMINOES

6:58 PM ET

January 8, 2012

something worth reading

It seems like all of the news is so tragic of late, and I do not know how to get rid of depression but when a post like this comes out that talks about the good stuff in life, and someone who has to overcome some difficult things in their life. Talk about inspiration...this guy knows how to dress, i wonder who he uses for his collection agency to pick out those dapper clothes....nice job FP.

 

YARINSIZ

12:00 AM ET

January 10, 2012

This book provides an

This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to psycholinguistics, the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It shows how it’s possible to study language experimentally, and how psychologists use these experiments to build models of language processing. seslichat The book focuses on controversy in modern psycholinguistics, and covers the all the main topics, including how children acquire language, how language is related to the brain, and what can go wrong – and what can be done when something does go wrong. Structured around questions that people often ask about language, the emphasis of Talking the Talk is how scientific knowledge can be applied to practical problems. It also stresses how language is related to other aspects of psychology, particularly in whether animals can learn language, and the relation between language and thought.