L’Équipe have sought to explain in today’s edition where Kylian Mbappé’s affinity for the English language has come from in his short but very successful football career thus far.
He impressed journalists last week Sunday in the post-match press conference after victory over Poland with his perfect English and will have no trouble understanding the English players communicating with each other during tonight’s quarter-final.
Very early on, Mbappé began to plan how to become one of the greatest footballers in the world. At secondary school, he chose English and Spanish. A good student at school, he was particularly strong in languages, and it came naturally to him.
Secondly, he is a very big fan of American culture. Outside of the classroom, he would watch TV shows and documentaries in their English language, but most importantly he would watch interview after interview given by US sports stars. The latter has helped him improve the most when it comes to his own English-language interviews.
Mbappé has always viewed LeBron James as a massive source of inspiration in terms of how best to manage his career. A source close to him adds: “For a few years now, it has become close to an obsession.”
This is where his American English accent comes from, which brings hilarity on social media. The quality of his English has accelerated in recent years, as, owing to commercial contracts, Mbappé is making increasingly regular trips to the United States in summer. Last summer, he spent a very large portion of his holidays in America, between New York and Los Angeles.
It has also been through exposure to different players in the PSG dressing room that has enabled Mbappé to speak multiple languages. Mbappé’s Spanish was first developed at Monaco, but has helped him have very strong relationships with Achraf Hakimi and Sergio Ramos more recently. He uses English to speak with Neymar.
He intends to be able to speak 5 or 6 languages by the time his career is over – it is not uncommon for him to riff a couple of Portuguese phrases to his Brazilian team-mates these days.
James Thorpe | GFFN
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