Public radio’s longest-running daily global news program.
©2025 The World from PRX
PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402.
Why Most Presidential Contenders Hide Their Language Skills
One feature of this election season has been a reticence on the part of most candidates to admit to knowledge of languages other than English. Deep down, though, they may recall a word or two of a foreign tongue.
Republican Party Logo
Foreign languages, especially French, are threatening to the GOP’s Presidential candidates. The World’s Alex Gallafent reports that those who speak another language (ex-candidate Huntsman excepted) don’t fess up to it, apparently for fear of being attacked as unAmerican.
There’s promotional video for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games making the rounds now. It includes Mitt Romney, who headed the Salt Lake Olympic Committee, speaking French to welcome volunteers. The video (below) was made by a Democratic PAC. The translations are not the real translations of what he is saying.