Ruth Westheimer Quotes

I grew up, as many Indians do, in an archipelago of tongues. My maternal grandfather, who was a surgeon in the city of Madras, was fluent in at least four languages and used each of them daily.

Neither of my parents had English as a first language.

Afrikaans is my first language, although you would never know, as my English accent has more of an American-British thing going on from all my years of travelling.

It is asked of me that I give my first speech in this house in a language [English] other than my mother tongue [French.] …. Even if I knew English as intimately as I knew French, I would still give my first speech in the language of my French Canadian compatriots

I grew up with a grandmother from another country and having a different language in my house. That gave me an ear for accents.

A young man who is here speaks the Panis language, and in many other respects, is preferable.

I'm three quarters Scottish, but I sound English. I don't really see British as a race.

I've always been more in touch with my Ecuadorian side. I speak Spanish.

Before doing 'Midnight's Children,' I didn't really have a chance to explore my Indian side. The Indian side of my heritage was always present, but it did not particularly define my identity. Being English was more an identity-defining status. I was born and brought up in London. Yes, my father is Parsi.

I grew up speaking both languages, and for me that's really important.

I had the luck that my parents educated me in three languages. With my mother I spoke Dutch, with my father Italian, and in the school I learned German. But my host language is Italian.

I speak English without an accent, and I speak Spanish without an accent. I really do have the best of both worlds.

Well, my first languages are German and Spanish because I was brought up by a Spanish mother and a German father, so I always spoke both languages at home. I'm very thankful that I was brought up in a bilingual house.

I have a funny accent in every language.

I have Czech, I have Russian, I have English, I have Italian. Uh, what am I missing? A little bit of Irish. The Russian is Jewish. So I'm your classic American mutt.

My first language is both English and Spanish. My mom was raised in Los Angeles, so with her we spoke English, but my father was born in Cuba, so with him we spoke Spanish.

I do not consider myself a Hispanic writer.

I always identified myself as non-Swedish. I was never discriminated against, because I looked Swedish and speak without an accent. But I had an outsider's perspective.

There is a pride in speaking this language.

My biggest regret is that I didn't teach my two children how to speak Spanish.

My parents are both Belgian-born, and so am I, actually. I'm bilingual, so I had experience with French.

I spoke English at school and Spanish at home, and I'm always eating Dominican food, listening to Dominican music.

My first languages are German and Spanish because I was brought up by a Spanish mother and a German father, so I always spoke both languages at home. I'm very thankful that I was brought up in a bilingual house.

I grew up in a community that was bilingual. I've done it for a while, singing in both languages.

America has had an influence on me, as has going out with a Cuban-American guy and having lots of American friends. But I am still fundamentally British and speak with a British accent and feel very English.