Talk:List of multilingual presidents of the United States

Obama

Obama himself says he does not know any foreign languages. Being able to say hello and name popular foods is not speaking "conversational Indonesian". Bonjour, je t'aime les croissants. Do I speak French? No. I will change the order to put his own words first. 75.6.10.215 (talk) 10:12, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

"knew a foreign language"

The inclusion criteria seem fuzzy to me - what level of competence are we talking about here, fluency, able to hold an comprehensible conversation, able to order beer and a sandwich, able to say "hello" and "goodbye"? – ukexpat (talk) 20:32, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

I simply went with if a reliable source said they knew, spoke, or read a language. As it is right now, the Presidents included could all either at least hold a conversation in the language, or read it very well in the instance of those dead languages such as Latin. かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 22:17, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

"Knew" a forgein language is very bad wording. Had fluency in a foreign language is better. I would move it but there's not button I could find. Lord Jimbo (talk) 02:58, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

The problem with fluency is that it can mean two things as well. Even among the sources I used in the article, fluency means understanding very well in some of them, and in others, not perfect understanding, but the ability to speak it quickly and fluidly. However, it is better than the name now, and I whole-heartedly agree that the article needs a new name; I'm afraid my inspiration juices weren't flowing when I named it. かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 17:12, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

My main problem with the article name wording is the word "knew", which implies that living presidents no longer know the languages. 67.164.61.77 (talk) 06:18, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

On that subject, while the article makes a passing reference to the issue, it might be a good idea to strike a clear distinction between being able to speak a language and being able to read it. As I recall from visiting Monticello, Jefferson could read Italian pretty well, having learned it from books, but couldn't really speak it, as he had nobody to teach him the pronunciation and listen to him speak. The table (a good idea, by the way) is currently set up in a yes-no check mark style. It might be useful to make a green check stand for read(s), writes(wrote), and speaks(spoke) fluently, a yellow check for a good command, and a red check for a conversational level. Blue might indicate reading/writing only, and brown a rudimentary understanding. Naturally, we're dealing with spin-meisters, even for the early presidents, so it may be difficult to gauge somebody's true command of a language, but one works with what one has.--Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 12:33, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

Some clues

Greek and Latin were required for admission to colleges like Harvard and Yale in the 19th century. So Taft (Yale) must have had some training in the classics.

Coolidge (Amherst College, but later) is another possibility.

Didn't West Point require some language education of Eisenhower?

I believe I remember reading that Bill Clinton learned some German -- he enjoyed the fact that Chelsea was taking it and she is said to be fluent in it. See this site. Lots of web sites say this.

Bmclaughlin9 (talk) 01:27, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

used for negotiations

The idea that Wilson or FDR conducted negotiations in German is very hard to believe. This info appears in the summary only. It's not supported by information in the article or by any citation. It's needs to be supported or removed.

Bmclaughlin9 (talk) 01:31, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

It appears I have made a mistake; somewhere in my research for this article, I came across a statement along those lines. I guess I wrote it into the lead without actually including it in the article, and now I don't know where I found it. Anyhow, I'll remove it. かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 01:35, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

Bill Clinton?

Doesn't Bill Clinton speak German? The Bulgarian Wikipedia article on him says he "has an exceptionally good knowledge of German", but no sources are cited. --Магьосник (talk) 11:10, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

If a source can be found, then it would be great to add it! かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 16:56, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

He has been added to the list and chart now; thank you Mr. President for writing an autobiography! かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 08:30, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

Andrew Jackson & Will Harrison

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw_language (which has a source by the way) both Jackson and Harrison spoke the Choctaw language. Shouldn't that be added as Native languages are as important to this page as European or Asian ones? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.125.213.201 (talk) 21:24, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

I will try to find a source for this; however, the wikipedia article cannot be used as a source itself. かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 03:34, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

According to a number of books, Jackson did not speak Choctaw. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=bks:1&q=%22andrew+jackson%22+%22knew+choctaw%22&aq=f&aqi=m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= Calliopejen1 (talk) 03:09, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Why does this page exist?

Seriously, no point really... Soxwon (talk) 05:56, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

What exactly do you object so strongly about this page's existence? It is useful and well referenced. かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 13:35, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm not objecting strongly, it just seems about as useful as, for instance, a list of Presidents who can juggle, or presidents who can play the accordion. Interesting but not really needed. Soxwon (talk) 15:52, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

George W. Bush and Criticism from Left-Wing Non-Expert

A self-authored source from a political opponent whom is not an expert in Spanish (or any other language) ought to not be used to discredit the language skills of a president. No other president is so targetted for criticism and until there is an independent source that can confirm the non-expert Ivins' speculation - recalling that she is notorious for nicknaming the president 'Shrub' while holding to other insulting views - there should be no mentioning of his supposed non-fluency in a language he has been confirmed to be able to speak.

Politics should not enter into the apolitical matter of whether G.W. Bush speaks Spanish. 24.42.94.52 (talk) 03:39, 27 July 2010 (UTC)