How many languages does Pete Buttigieg speak?
PETE BUTTIGIEG has been picked as Joe Biden's transport secretary when the President Elect takes office from January 2021.
But , 38 - who is considered to be the first openly gay member of any presidential cabinet - can speak a host of foreign languages.
How many languages does Pete Buttigieg speak?
The former Mayor of South Bend,, is what is described as a polyglot - or someone that can understand, speak and even read multiple languages.
These include:
1.Norwegian
He reportedly taught himself the language so he could Norweigan fiction.
2. Spanish
Buttigeig grew up in El Paso, Texas, where 83% of the population is Hispanic or Latino.
3. Italian
It is not known why Mr Buttigieg speaks Italian - but a of him answering questions from an Italian journalist in Italian in April 2019 went viral.
4. Maltese
Buttigieg would have learnt the language from his father, who was a Maltese immigrant and was born there in 1947.
5. Arabic
The former Mayor Buttigieg studied Arabic in college and may have been exposed to it while overseas during his time in Afghanistan as well.
6. Dari
Buttigieg learnt Darim in order to communicate with locals when he was posted to Afghanistan for eight months as a US Navy Reserve.
7. French
Again it is not known how or why Buttigeig learnt French - but he delivered a perfect of example of the language when he addressed the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire in April 2019.
What is the Norwegian story?
The story of how Mr Buttigieg learnt Norwegian has been a subject of interest during 2020.
While he was a student at Harvard University in the early two-thousands, Pete Buttigieg taught himself Norwegian in order to read more books by author Erlend Loe.
He reportedly stumbled across the English translation of a 1996 novel called “Naïve. Super" by the writer, who is considered one of the country's literary greats.
And when Pete was introduced to a Norwegian reporter in Texas, he began speaking to her in her native language.
In 2019, after an event in Columbia, South Carolina, Buttigeig was also filmed by a Washington Post reporter addressing a reporter in Norwegian.
Are any other US politicians multilingual?
Yes, but it is rare that they can speak other languages aside from English.
During this 2020 election campaign season, other Democratic candidates have embraced the Spanish language and used their ability to speak the language to appeal to a broader swathe of voters.
Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke of Texas has launched Spanish campaign adverts.
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey has done the same.
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John Kerry is fluent in French, yet he decided to hide his ability to speak the language when he was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2004.
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Mitt Romney can also speak French.
George W Bush also speaks passable Spanish but he is an exception among presidents.