Interesting piece on news site 20Minutos, reflecting the story that broke when Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, President of the PP since 2022, was interviewed by Pablo Motos, presenter of Spanish TV chat show, El Hormiguero, and revealed that he didn’t know a single word of English. By contrast, his interviewer noted Pedro Sánchez’s fluency in the language, which assisted him when meeting other world leaders in international fora.
Not only that, but Feijóo has shown no interest in learning the language, despite his aspiration to lead this country and engage with other world leaders.
Carmelo Encinas, columnist on 20minutos, said he, like Feijóo, belonged to that generation that, until the end of 1977, had French, not English, in its high school curriculum. “In those years, and with the exception of a privileged few, we didn’t have the opportunity to spend our summers abroad, ….(and) lacked (the chance) to master the language at the age when the brain is like a sponge”. Apparently less than 20% of Spaniards speak fluent English and 96% of the 60+s have no knowledge of the language whatsoever.
But he did make reference to the attempt by former PP Prime Minister, José María Aznar, to acquire sufficient English ahead of his meeting with George Bush Jr. in the Azores in March 2003. Apparently he committed five hours a day to studying the language, which Encinas described as “a remarkable sacrifice that allowed him to express himself in somewhat broken English, but enough to give lectures around the world and make himself understood in the media empire of the owner of Fox, where he has earned more than 5 million dollars in the last 20 years”!
Learning a language as an adult, especially as a ‘mayor’, does require tremendous effort, and many shy away. But the benefits, particularly for those of us living in a different linguistic area to the one in which we were brought up, are immense – not only in terms of affiliation with our neighbours and restauranteurs, but in our sense of being part of and feeling at home in this beautiful country.
Which leaves Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as he explained on Antena 3, with his mobile phone’s translator. Not very beautiful or professional when meeting the leader of another country!
Read the article (in Spanish), here.
Picture above; Alberto Núñez Feijóo. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.