Melania Trump's claim to speak six languages slammed by expert including 'fake Italian'
Melania Trump has claimed to be fluent in six languages, but a language expert has cast doubt on her proficiency in French and Italian, which she has rarely been seen speaking in public
Melania Trump, first lady and wife of President Donald Trump, has stated she speaks multiple languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, and her native Slovenian. Yet, there's limited proof of her command of these languages apart from Slovenian and English.
Her son Barron Trump is also reportedly fluent in several languages, although he's never been heard speaking them publicly. Melania has rarely been observed conversing in German, French or Italian in public settings.
In reality, her supposed skill in one of these languages was once questioned by a linguistics expert. John Aravosis analyzed Melania's language abilities in a 2017 YouTube video, concentrating on French and Italian, both of which he speaks.
Aravosis voiced unease about his observations, calling them "disturbing though perhaps not surprising."
The AMERICAblog founder looked at Melania's trip to a Paris school, where he felt she had a perfect opportunity to display her French competence. Although Melania greeted herself to the students in French, Aravosis contended that a fluent speaker would have communicated more than simply their name, reports the Irish Star.
He proposed that if Melania genuinely spoke French, she would have taken advantage of the chance to demonstrate her language skills overseas, noting: "Wouldn't she want to show sort of how classy she is, how she's this first First Lady in a long time to be fluent in all these languages."
According to Aravosis, Melania's French didn't even meet "French 101" standards, but resembled "the first day of French class". Melania drew scrutiny previously when she relied on a translator during French President Emmanuel Macron's address at the G7 summit.
A linguistics expert observed a comparable incident during Melania and Trump's trip to Italy.
He described how the First Lady toured a children's hospital, welcomed the children in Italian, but then reverted to English for the remainder of her visit.
The expert condemned Melania's employment of "fake Italian", declaring: "It's not what somebody who knows Italian would do."
He contended that a proficient speaker would comfort the children by communicating in their native tongue.
The expert also maintained Melania committed a fundamental mistake in her salutation, speaking to a single child rather than addressing the entire group.
He additionally remarked: "This is really rudimentary Italian it's the kind of thing you would learn on your first week in a class, and were fluent in the language."
He suggested that Melania persisted in speaking English to the children when she had the option to use Italian.
Questions about Melania's linguistic abilities also emerged during her and Trump's audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In a video recording from the encounter, Melania is seen consulting the translator to understand the Pope's remarks. Mr Aravosis also noted that despite his research, he was unable to locate any recordings of Melania speaking German.