How Many Languages Does Melania Really Speak? Here's What We Know
Former first lady Melania Trump has previously stated that she's fluent in six languages, but could this impressive factoid be lost in translation? In a 2016 interview with MSNBC, the ex-first lady said she spoke Italian, French, and German (besides the obvious English and her native Slovenian). Multiple major news outlets have also reported on her linguistic prowess, including CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and CBS News.
However, the exact number of languages Trump speaks varies between sources. CNN's list is the longest and includes all the languages above, plus Serbian, which would mean that Trump speaks five more languages than her English-speaking-only husband, former President Donald Trump. But as formidable as this feat would be, it's also incredibly hard to verify.
While it's difficult to prove someone's fluency in any given language without watching them speak conversationally, there seems to be just as much evidence suggesting Melania isn't fluent in some of the languages she's claimed to speak. Considering previous claims she's made about her resumé, such as her college education background, were later debunked, we did a little digging to try and separate fact from fiction.
Melania Trump's personal and professional background lends some credence to her polyglotism
Former first lady Melania Trump's two main languages, English and Slovenian, need little explanation. Trump lived in Slovenia until she was in her late teens. But even as a Slovene, it would make sense for her to have gained at least a conversational understanding of English as a schoolgirl. According to Nation Master, around 59% of Slovenia can speak basic English. Given the geographical history of her home country, it would also make sense for Trump to be familiar with the Serbian language.
From 1945 to 1992, Slovenia was a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The majority of Trump's early years were spent in the SFRY. Serbo-Croatian was a primary language of Yugoslavia and is understood by much of the older Slovenian population to this day. Moreover, Slovenia shares borders with Italy and Austria, which would make Italian and German crossovers more likely in Trump's home country. (Nation Master estimates around 42% and 12% of Slovenians can speak conversational German and Italian, respectively.)
Finally, her work as an international model could necessitate basic conversational skills in French, Italian, and German. While several videos online show Trump using basic greetings in the first two languages, there is little videographic proof of her continuing the conversations fluently. In most documented cases, Trump relies heavily on an interpreter when speaking to non-English or Slovenian speakers.
Could this be another example of Melania Trump's beefed up resume?
Rome Reports shared a video of Melania Trump visiting Italian children at the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome in May 2017. The former first lady greeted the children and asked how they were in Italian, but she used an incorrectly conjugated version of the Italian phrase "come sta." (When addressing a group, the proper way to say "how are you" is "come state.") Trump spoke in English for the remainder of the visit.
The Telegraph shared a similar video of Trump visiting a French pediatric hospital later that year where Trump said "bonjour" and "je m'appelle Melania," but otherwise, she spoke to the children in English. There seems to be even less proof of the ex-first lady's fluency in German. When she was interviewed by Der Spiegel in December 2018, she spoke in English. These videos seem to suggest a lack of fluency in the languages Trump has claimed to speak — and it wouldn't be the first time she's fabricated parts of her professional resumé.
One of the stranger things about Melania Trump is the 2016 scandal surrounding her educational background. She claimed to have received a bachelor's degree in architecture from an unnamed Slovenian university both on her official biography and in a 2013 court deposition. After these claims were found to be false, Trump's team modified her biography to state she had paused her studies to pursue a modeling career before removing the website altogether.