Roger Federer was born to a Swiss-German father and a South African mother and grew up in Basel. Having to hear and learn various languages from his parents helped him to be loved by fans around the world when he turned tennis pro and won several titles in many renowned cities.
The Swiss tennis star was ruthless in the early 21st century with his exceptional all-around game and dominated the sport, winning a record eight Wimbledon titles, and in 2018 he became the first player to claim 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles.
How many languages does Roger Federer speak?
Roger Federer’s talent and genius exceed those on the tennis court. The Swiss star is fluent in six languages and often communicates in them. He is known to speak his native Swiss, English, German, and French. In recent weeks, Federer has tried to speak Italian and Mandarin during the Italian Open and Shanghai Masters.
Born and raised in Basel, Switzerland Roger Federer often prefers to speak in Swiss, as it is his native language but during interviews or as the occasion commands, he speaks in other languages. The 42-year-old star had admitted that he talks with his family in Swiss and that the language feels like home to him.
Roger Federer has also admitted that he is most comfortable speaking English. English is the most used and recognized language on the ATP tour. Recently, the 42-year-old Swiss star has shown his great sense of humor during interviews in English at the Laver Cup, especially during an extensive interview with Jim Courier.
Roger Federer was raised in the capital Basel, Switzerland, which is close to the borders of Germany and France. Federer learned German at a young age, as Swiss-German was spoken a lot in Switzerland. When he turned 14, the Swiss relocated to a French-speaking region of Switzerland in order to join a tennis academy, which helped him become fluent in French.
Roger Federer opens up on his incredible multi-lingual skills
Roger Federer is one of the most beloved tennis legends when it comes to speaking to the press. Before retiring in 2022 , the Swiss attends the mandatory press conference and always does exclusive interviews with radios, TVs, or newspapers and he does it in different languages!
Federer recently spoke about his “language” skills: “When I speak French, I am more in the world of tennis, technique, and physical fitness because I always do my technical training in French with Pierre Paganini’, he said. ‘It makes me think of school also. When I was 14 or 16 years old, I was in Lausanne at school.”
“When I speak French, I always feel I’m a teenager. I sort of got stuck in the good times of the ’90s. When I speak English, it’s easygoing, it’s relaxed. We talk a lot of English at home, too. It’s just easy. It’s the whole world. It’s traveling.”
“Swiss-German is my family, it’s me. It’s home. It’s who I am really, I believe. But you’re right, I’m different according to the language I’m speaking. It’s interesting. I realize I’m saying different things according to the different languages.”
What do you think of Federer’s multilingual skills? And on top of that, how many languages do you speak? Make sure to tell us in the comments section.
