J. M. G. Le Clezio Quotes

Though my father was Norwegian, he always wrote his diaries in perfect English.

I had the luck that my parents educated me in three languages. With my mother I spoke Dutch, with my father Italian, and in the school I learned German. But my host language is Italian.

I write in English because I was raised in the States and educated in this language.

I might do something in Arabic. I might do something in Hebrew.

It is asked of me that I give my first speech in this house in a language [English] other than my mother tongue [French.] …. Even if I knew English as intimately as I knew French, I would still give my first speech in the language of my French Canadian compatriots

I speak English, so I am no longer cute. My tongue itches for French.

I spent ten years in London; I trained there. But because I started in English, it kind of feels the most natural to me, to act in English, which is a strange thing. My language is Spanish; I grew up in Argentina. I speak to my family in Spanish, but if you were to ask me what language I connect with, it'd be English in some weird way.

My primary and secondary education was in French, which had a lasting influence on my life.

In English, I'm a little bit limited. I speak English as a second language, and that's a little limitation that I have to work around and I have to use it to my favor. So, yes, that's why I end up wanting to do more things in Latin America.

I really love Anglo music, and the language as well. Like, my kids, they - born here, Miami. So I just - a little bit more familiar with the language.

Even if I think in English, it's more a language of acting than French.

I speak English without an accent, and I speak Spanish without an accent. I really do have the best of both worlds.

I learned Spanish at home and, since half my family doesn't speak English, it's my first language.

I speak Spanish to my children and they speak it better than me.

French was my first language.

My parents were both Spanish-speakers and they used to speak to me and my siblings in Spanish and we'd answer them in English.

I studied in American school, so yes, I grew up speaking English and Spanish. Obviously, Spanish is my first language.

My first languages are German and Spanish because I was brought up by a Spanish mother and a German father, so I always spoke both languages at home. I'm very thankful that I was brought up in a bilingual house.

I grew up in a community that was bilingual. I've done it for a while, singing in both languages.

I didn't move to Miami to live in a Spanish-speaking province.

I grew up speaking Spanish. The woman who helped raise me was only Spanish-speaking, so it was one of my primary languages as a kid. And I lived in Spain for a while.

Most of my family doesn't speak English. It's so important for the baby. He's going to know all his American roots, but he also needs to know about his Brazilian side.

I realized over the years if I'm writing about humor, irony, satire, I much prefer to do that in English. And if there is sorrow, melancholy, longing, I much prefer to do that in Turkish. Each language has its own strength to me, and I feel connected and attached to both Turkish and English. I dream in more than one language.

When I was 10 years old, we moved to Spain with my mother. I learned Spanish before I learned English. But the English language stayed with me.

If I could talk in only one language for the rest of my life, it'd be Tamil.