What Languages Does Beyonce Speak?

Being a global legend and the head of the international Beyhive, it’s often assumed that Beyonce can speak multiple languages. Performing on a number of bilingual songs, predominantly in Spanish, but also performing in French over the years, what languages does Beyonce actually speak and how fluent is she?

Let’s dive in and find out more!

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Despite traveling around the world and singing in multiple languages over the years, Beyonce Knowles can only speak one language fluently, which is her native tongue, English.

Although she can speak a few words in other languages, especially when she’s singing internationally, Beyonce is definitely not fluent. All in all, Beyonce speaks two languages, but only one language fluently.

Beyonce’s Language Background

As well as obviously being able to speak English to a fluent level, Beyonce does speak a bit of Spanish. Having sung in Spanish on a number of tracks, and growing up in Texas, Beyonce would’ve learned some of the language in school, on the road, and for collaboration tracks.

While she has performed in French before on an awards show, and her grandparents speak French Creole, it’s not thought that Beyonce can speak French with any fluency or even to a conversational level.

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a cup of tea with a magazine cover of Beyonce

So, Beyonce speaks English fluently and some words and phrases in Spanish, in large part, due to growing up in Texas, a state that has over seven million Spanish speakers. It would’ve been difficult to grow up here and not learn some level of Spanish, whether through school, friends, or other methods.

Does Beyonce Speak Spanish?

Beyonce can speak a small amount of Spanish, but not fluently. She’s said in interviews that although she can speak some Spanish, having learned the language at school, she feels a lot more comfortable singing in Spanish than speaking it.

This might be to do with the rhythm of the language and the fact that you can repeatedly learn a song and perform it, rather than having to deal with the conversational back and forth.

Back in 2007, Beyonce decided to rerecord her entire iconic B’Day album in Spanish. When asked about why she did it, Beyonce said that she had so many Hispanic supporters and fans, and she wanted to give back to them, and this was the best way she could think to do this.

A decade later in 2017, Beyonce did a collaboration in Spanish with international star J Balvin. Having not spoken or performed in Spanish for a while, Beyonce has admitted to being hesitant and worked tirelessly with a Spanish coach before committing to the track.

Central to this was getting Beyonce to truly nail the accent and making it sound as authentic as possible.

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Has Beyonce Sung in Spanish?

Yes, Beyonce has sung in Spanish. As well as recent collaborations with J Balvin, Beyonce has also recorded entire albums in Spanish, as well as performing tracks in Spanish while she’s on tour in Spanish-speaking countries.

There are plenty of video clips online of her performing in Spanish live on different tour dates, this shows that she’s at ease with her songs being in either English or Spanish.

It seems as if she is now pretty confident singing in Spanish, having done it numerous times during her career. You can still buy her 2007 B’Day in Spanish and English, re-recorded to embrace her Hispanic fans.

Growing up in Texas, Spanish language music would’ve been relatively common, which may have had an impact on her embracing the language and performing in it so early in her illustrious solo career.

Can Beyonce Speak French?

Despite her grandparents on her mother’s side being Louisiana Creole, and therefore speaking French as a native language, Beyonce cannot speak French. Her mother, Tina, has said in the past that her parents speak English with a very thick accent and grew up in a bilingual household.

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That being said, there hasn’t been any evidence of Tina speaking French and, as a result, it seems like Beyonce didn’t grow up in a French-speaking or bilingual household, even though her mother did.

She did try to sing in French at the Oscars, but it was poorly received and commented that her accent wasn’t very good at all. After this performance, there haven’t been any more public instances or clips of Beyonce performing in French.

This further leads us to the conclusion that Beyonce cannot speak French with any fluency or even to a conversational level. This is despite her French heritage, with her mother’s side going all the way back to a French military officer, and her Creole grandparents.

Want to Learn to Sing in Spanish Like Beyonce?

Even though Beyonce has been a global megastar for the past couple of decades, and tours all over the world, she can only speak one language fluently, which is her native English.

While she has sung in Spanish a number of times during her career, she claims to be more comfortable singing in Spanish than speaking it. As for French, despite her mother’s side having French Creole roots, it doesn’t seem like Beyonce can speak any French.

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