Novak Djokovic is a world-class tennis star who has won multiple championships. He’s known for his hilarious impersonations of other professionals on the court, hard work, and dedication to sports in general (as well as being talented with languages!), but it turns out that Novaks, not just one thing.
The top men’s singles tennis player has taken the world by storm, winning over hearts with his boundless charisma and hard work. He is Balkans-born Novak Djokovic who resides in Belgrade, where he was born to parents of Serbo Croat heritage on May 22nd, 1987.
The 34 years old Serbian star plays for Serbia at the International level but can also be found playing matches around Europe against players such as Andy Murray from Great Britain.
Novak Djokovic can speak lots of languages. He is fluent in Serbian, English, and Italian fluently, with the other three able to communicate well enough for essential purposes such as talking or ordering food at a restaurant. These languages aren’t “native” speakers of those languages; Arabic (Djoker spoke this before he was even old enough to hold a racquet), Japanese Spanish, Russian Chinese Portuguese – all these are phrases that Novak knows. Let’s see how many languages he speaks.
German
Being from a small town in Serbia, there were no professional tennis players around when Djokovic was young. When he was four, he took up the sport and left home two years later to attend Nikola Pilic’s academy outside of Berlin, Germany. He became an international player before his sixteenth birthday.
Learning German at a young age for the player was a challenge because at that time we could not find inline German tutors at the platforms like Preply. Novak would have spoken 20 languages now if he had the tool to learn languages as we have now.
Serbian
It is a known fact that Novak Djokovic was born and raised in Serbia, but it’s not what you might think. Many people have described him as a friend with an attitude to life that helps him evolve into the individual he is today, probably because of this general outlook on everything around us. His mother language is Serbian for all of you who want to learn more about him. It means he can speak it fluently.
Despite knowing enough languages to communicate with 75% of the people on earth, Novak Djokovic prefers to speak his native Serbian wherever possible. Listening in on an interview conducted in Serbo-Croatian is quite enjoyable, even if you don’t understand a word that’s said. There are still intricate aspects from which one can glean some understanding when compared against what our hosts say back at us through their translated dialogue.
English
Novak Djokovic has developed a strong understanding of English, the official language on tour. He’s fluent in both languages, and while you may not understand him when he is speaking with his thick accent, it doesn’t sound like anything else.
He proved that his brain is quick-witted enough for anything because of his bilingual talents when he appeared on the Letterman Show. You can see how even when speaking David’s first language (English) with an accent, Serbian doesn’t matter in this clip from 2008.
“I think maybe there are some people out there who have come up against something they’re unqualified to speak about,” says world number one tennis player while talking sports betting machines during a commercial break.”
French
It is one thing to give the word in a new language, but it takes some great skill and talent for someone who speaks more than two languages. From understanding, questions asked worldwide to answer them with ease makes Novak Djokovic a fantastic speaker. He gave an entire press conference in French at the Paris Masters 2019, which thoroughly impressed many native speakers of France’s national language.
Arabic
Novak Djokovic is always trying to learn new languages, and he has made an effort in recent years to improve his Arabic skills. During a trip abroad two years ago where he was meeting people from different cultures at their home turf of Doha (in Qatar), Novack tried out speaking this local dialect.
It happened in front of the Arab audience, who were all listening as if it were something they weren’t used to hearing outside of the country’s borders or what some might call “their mother tongue.”
Italian
You might be surprised to know that the player can speak all of the three most popular Mediterranean languages: Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. He had a full-fledged 13-minute conversation with an opponent in Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini who was commented on what it would take for them both to achieve success at Wimbledon this year.
“I think that when you are from Serbia, and your heritage is from the former Yugoslavia, languages come easily,” said Novak Djokovic. “Serbian was very close to Croatian, so it made sense for me not only because of family ties – but also in terms of feeling like one big country.” As his native language is Italian (a cousin with Spanish & Portuguese), mastering another Romance speaker wasn’t much trouble.
Spanish
For many of us, the idea that Djokovic could have given an entire interview in Spanish seems impossible. But as seen at Madrid Masters last year and this year with his exhibition tour through Argentina again – he learned how to speak correctly by 2013.
What’s even more impressive is just four years later, you can watch him give a speech in front of thousands during one match, too – which shows what kind of mental state someone takes on when they’re playing their best game ever.
Japanese
Novak Djokovic made a sincere effort to learn another Asian language – Japanese. He did this by thanking the crowd in their native tongue during his Tokyo Open trophy presentation ceremony after he won it last year.
Summary
Novak Djokovic is one of the most linguistically talented athletes on earth, with an incredible ability to learn and mastering 11 languages. It says a lot about him as both a tennis player and a man who wants forever to improve himself in every way possible.
