Seven Supermodels with Brains, Beauty, and Secret Multilingual Skills
When the most beautiful women in the world gathered at Fashion Weeks in glamorous cities around the globe in 2018, Babbel highlighted seven extraordinary supermodels who showed the world that they have both beauty and brains. These women are living proof that they are more than just pretty faces.
1. Gisele Bündchen
Born in Brazil, Gisele is a native Portuguese speaker but has learned an impressive five other languages during her travels abroad: English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German. A passionate music lover, she credits old Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey tapes with helping her speak English fluently. While her American husband is monolingual, she raises her children to speak both Portuguese and English fluently.
2. Candice Swanepoel
Candice Swanepoel hails from South Africa, from a Dutch-African family. She speaks English and Afrikaans. With the help of her Brazilian partner (namorado brasilerio in Portuguese), she also speaks Portuguese. She is the mother of a 2-year-old boy, with another little boy on the way, and there’s no doubt her children will be raised in a bilingual household in a similar way.
3. Helena Christensen
With a Peruvian mother and a Danish father, Helena Christensen grew up in a multilingual home where everyone spoke a bit of English, Spanish, and Danish. As a student, she learned two more languages: French and German. A true language lover, Helena believes in the power of words – that a word in one language can convey an emotion or concept better than the same word in another language.
4. Jessica Hart
Australian supermodel Jessica Hart decided to learn French to connect with her multilingual partner. Although she has since said adieu (goodbye in French) to the billionaire shipping heir, she will always be able to enjoy Paris (and everything French) thanks to her language skills.
5. Megan Gale
Australian actress and model Megan Gale came into the spotlight after appearing in an Italian telecommunications commercial. Her new fame took her to Milan and Rome, where she learned the language. Initially, as an English speaker, Megan tried to learn Italian and quickly became fluent as she started getting more radio and public engagements.
6. Milla Jovovich
Milica “Milla” Jovovich was born in Kyiv and grew up bilingual. Since then, she has added two more languages. In addition to her native Russian and Serbian (her mother is Russian from Ukraine and her father is Serbian from Montenegro), the model—also an actress—speaks fluent English and has mastered French during her two-year marriage to French filmmaker Luc Besson.
7. Adriana Karembeu
The Slovak supermodel—actress, TV presenter, and former Guinness World Record holder for the longest legs among female models—was discovered while studying medicine in Prague. Alongside her exceptional career, she has remarkable language skills. Adriana speaks six languages: Slovak, Czech, Russian, French (she was married to French footballer Christian Karembeu), Spanish (she lived in Madrid for a while), and English. Today, she is married to an Armenian businessman and lives in Morocco, so it’s likely she will soon speak an Arabic language as well.
