Jennifer Aniston is a household name that rose to fame as the iconic Rachel Green in 90’s hit comedy Friends. Since then, she’s been in numerous Hollywood blockbusters are cemented herself as an A-Lister.
Given how much Jennifer Aniston travels for work, including shooting movies and doing extensive press tours, it might be pretty natural to assume that the actress can speak multiple languages, but is it true?
Let’s dive in and find out just what languages does Jennifer Aniston speak and how fluent is she?
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How Many Languages Does Jennifer Aniston Speak?
Despite being a household name pretty much all over the world, Jennifer Aniston can only speak two languages. In fact, she can only speak one language fluently and that is her native English and some Greek.
This might be surprising to a lot of Jennifer Aniston fans, but given her success in English-language movies and shows, and the fact that many of her projects seem to be shot in the States, the need to learn multiple languages may not be high on her priority list.
What Languages Does Jennifer Aniston Speak?
Jennifer Aniston can speak English fluently and some Greek. Growing up in the United States, English is Jennifer Aniston’s first language and it’s the only language that she is fluent in.
Despite her heritage and living in Greece for a year as a child, Jennifer Aniston can only speak a little bit of Greek. Her skills have been pretty well documented on press tours and in interviews on late-night television.
It doesn’t seem like she’s comfortable speaking Greek in public and admits that she doesn’t know a lot of the language.
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Is Jennifer Aniston Fluent in Greek?
Although she has a Greek father and used to live in Greece in the past, Jennifer Aniston is not fluent in Greek. She can say a few phrases and has spoken about her Greek heritage in interviews before.
Jennifer Aniston has even sworn at her co-star, Owen Wilson, in Greek during the press for their film, Marley and Me. It was all in good fun and designed to be a joke, but it’s clear to see that Jennifer Aniston knows a few words and phrases but isn’t conversational or fluent in Greek.
It might be that like with any skill, language or otherwise if you don’t use it consistently, you lose your abilities. As her father died back in 2022, and she hadn’t lived with him for some time, it’s likely that she hasn’t been using her Greek skills and they’ve gotten a little rusty.
We’ve all been there! Besides, there isn’t a huge call for fluent Greek speakers in Los Angeles where Jennifer Aniston and her family live.
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Why Does Jennifer Aniston Speak Greek?
Jennifer Aniston’s father, John Aniston, known formerly as Yannis Anastassakis, was born in Crete, Greece before moving to the US as a child. It’s likely that he grew up speaking Greek at home and continued that behavior when he had children of his own.
As Jennifer Aniston still has family that lives in Crete, she has been known to visit the island a lot and even lived there when she was five. She stated in interviews that she lived in Crete for six months on their family’s farm and spent another six months living in the capital, Athens.
Jennifer Aniston has spoken a lot about her Greek heritage and her vacations to Crete to visit cousins, aunts, and other relatives who still live in the ancient country. It’s clear that she has a lot of affection for the country and the people who live there.
Whether that’s because of the family connection or the amount of time she spent there as a child or a combination of the two, we don’t know.
The Best Apps for Learning Greek
If you want to learn Greek, there are plenty of amazing apps that can help you achieve your language-learning goals. I love using Drops to build up my vocabulary when I’m on the road. It’s a super pretty flashcard app that’s easy to use and helps you to improve your bank of Greek words and phrases.
Want something that’s a little bit more intensive? Check out Pimsleur, a scientifically backed app that gets you speaking Greek from the very start. It’s designed to teach you conversational language that you’re actually likely to use and has a whole range of native speaker audio and video clips to help you practice your pronunciation.
If you’re looking for a one-to-one tutor but don’t have a ton of available native Greek speakers in your area, check out iTalki. This app connects native tutors and learners from all around the world, allowing them to have one-on-one language learning sessions via video chat.
You can select your tutor based on price, time zone, and previous learner reviews, and set up sessions that suit you both. You get the benefit of private Greek lessons without ever having to leave the house. It’s great!
Ready to Learn a Little Greek Like Jennifer Aniston?
So, to round things up, Jennifer Aniston can speak two languages with varying degrees of fluency. While she’s fluent in her native English, she only knows a few Greek thanks to her father’s background and having lived there for a year when she was a child.
Have you tried to learn Greek? What was your favorite way to learn this wonderful language? Let me know in the comments below!
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Dayna Brockbank is a travel and language-learning blogger who has lived around the world but has now settled in Nice, France. She speaks 3 languages at varying levels of fluency: Spanish, Italian, and French, and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Spanish Education. She and her husband focus on making travel part of life by living cheaply and traveling on a budget.