Cristiano Ronaldo is a global superstar who speaks multiple languages. Like any other soccer athlete, he has been around many different clubs in different countries, providing him with strong reasons to learn different languages throughout his career.
I have traced his professional career to provide a concrete answer about his vocabulary prowess in different languages. I am covering his days from the Portuguese league to the Saudi Pro League,
Native Language of Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo was born on the Portuguese island of Madeira. The native language of Ronaldo is Portuguese. As a child, Ronaldo played for CF Andorinha, which is a club based in Santo António, Funchal, on the island of Madeira.
Ronaldo’s first official season for Andorinha was in 1993/94 and his first official game was on December 19, 1993, wearing the number 7 shirt. He joined the youth academy of Nacional and then moved to the academy of Sporting Lisbon.
Ronaldo moved into the first team of Sporting Lisbon in 2002 after impressing the first-team manager László Bölöni with his dribbling ability. He spent all his formidable years in Portugal where he became fluent in Portuguese.
Move to England – Manchester United
In 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Manchester United after Sir Alex Ferguson snatched him from the hands of other potential suitors like Liverpool, Arsenal, and FC Barcelona.
The move to Manchester United gave the Portuguese star a reason to learn English so early in his career. In the initial stages, Ronaldo hired a Brazilian translator fluent in Portuguese and English, to understand the manager of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson. In the early days, he was helped by his teammates to communicate in post-match interviews.
Ronaldo spent six years in Manchester which gave him ample opportunity to learn the English language. He became fluent in the language over the years which has helped him in increasing his brand power.
Move to Spain – Real Madrid
In 2009, Real Madrid came calling to sign Cristiano Ronaldo as part of their rebuild of a new team full of Galacticos. The Portuguese superstar was the perfect fit for the biggest club in Spain.
Learning Spanish was easier for Ronaldo as he was already fluent in Portuguese. Both the languages have same Latin origins which makes their grammar very similar. After the move to Real Madrid, Ronaldo quickly started giving full interviews in Spanish.
Ronaldo spent nine years in Madrid during which he became fluent in Spanish language. There was also a chance to learn Catalan for Ronaldo which is also prominent in some regions of Spain, however, there is no record of Ronaldo ever learning the Catalan language.
Move to Italy – Juventus
In 2018, Ronaldo took his talents to Serie A with Juventus. Moving to one of the biggest clubs in Italy gave him an incentive to learn Italian as well. The Portuguese superstar already knew some basic Italian due to several vacations in Italy throughout his career.
However, moving to Juventus gave him a push to be fluent in the language. Ronaldo spent three years in Turin for Juventus but didn’t become fluent in the language. He was also accused in the media of being ignorant and not learning Italian.
Ronaldo used to express himself in Spanish in his first two years in Italy, however, he improved his Italian a little in the third year and was seen speaking in Italy in some interviews. He was also speaking Italian with his teammates in the Amazon documentary of Juventus in his third year at the club.
Move to Saudi Arabia – Al Nassr
Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia in 2023 after an unsuccessful second stint with Manchester United (from 2021 – 2022). This was the first time he was moving to a new club outside Europe.
Salam Alaikum 🤩 pic.twitter.com/xGhN51WrZP
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) August 24, 2023
Saudi Arabia posed a difficult challenge for Ronaldo as the Arabic language is a different beast even for a player who already speaks four languages. In his first year at the Saudi club, Ronaldo has made significant efforts in learning Arabic. He has been spotted speaking phrases in Arabic in interviews.
Cristiano speaking in Arabic is the video you least expected today.
— Everything Cristiano 𓃵 (@EverythingCR7_) February 14, 2023
The GOAT can speak any language he wants to speak😂pic.twitter.com/g1QlZfdQ9H
It seems like the whole family of Cristiano Ronaldo is learning Arabic. A video caught buzz on the internet in which the daughter of Ronaldo was showcasing her Arabic skills. Unlike the Italian language, Ronaldo is trying hard to learn Arabic to gel quickly with his teammates.
Can Cristiano Ronaldo speak Russian?
It’s bizarre that there is video evidence in which Ronaldo speaks Russian. It’s unclear when or why Ronaldo learned to speak some broken Russian but I guess we can add it to the list.
The only reason that fits is that Ronaldo learned Russian while being in a five-year-long relationship with Russian model and TV personality, Irina Shayk. The relationship didn’t end well for the former couple but at least Ronaldo learned another language.
Total number of languages spoken by Cristiano Ronaldo
So, there you have it, as per my research Cristiano Ronaldo can speak six languages in total. He is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Meanwhile, he speaks beginner-level Italian and Russian. At present, he is learning Arabic while playing for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
This post will be worth updating when the iconic superstar retires from the sport. Till then,
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