Brad Pitt has never come across as the brightest bulb in the pack. His reputation as a former (or current?) stoner and burnout proceeds him after such a weed-tastic role in True Romance and those old quotes that always pop up about how Brad thinks pot should be legalized. Granted, I don’t think there’s anything really wrong with being a burnout – but those long-term effects of years of pot-smoking can be devastating. And there’s nothing like trying to learn a new skill to make you re-think old burnout habits. Apparently, Brad’s been trying to learn French, with little success.
Brad Pitt admits his mind isn’t as agile as it once was. The actor, who is currently based in Berlin, is planning to move to France with partner Angelina Jolie and their six kids next year. But he can’t get to grips with the language.
‘Ange and I are trying to learn French,’ he says. ‘But she’s better at it than I am. Some of my brain cells seem to have shut down, so I’m struggling. I can say “merci beaucoup” and that’s about it.’
Adopted son Maddox puts his dad to shame.
‘Our seven-year-old rips it, man,’ Brad, 45, tells Hello! ‘He’s fantastic, so good. It’s really humiliating – but we’re really proud of him.’
[From Now Magazine]
Does anyone find this surprising? The only minor surprise is that Angelina doesn’t already speak French. I thought she was already fluent, but apparently not. Over the past few years Maddox has attended those French-speaking Lycee schools in New York and Los Angeles, schools that are usually for the children of diplomats and internationals. Personally, I think it’s wonderful to expose children to bi-lingual education at such an early age – but it helps if their parents can keep up.
Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Brad at the premiere of “Burn After Reading” at the Venice Film Festival in August. Images thanks to Mavrix.
I think he struggles with a lot of things that require keen intellectual faculties.
I’m not sure why you would say having trouble learning a language at age 40+ is because he’s a burnout. I challenge ANYONE that age to try to learn french and see how they do, pot or no pot. I am bilingual in french and STILL have trouble. Also, it is proven that kids learn languages faster and with greater ease than adults. I’m not even a huge Pitt fan but it seems to be like people will use any excuse to knock down someone they don’t like. Just my 2 cents.
Mags make a big deal of the fact that Angie’s mother was of French descent, making it sound like she was born or grew up there. If anything, she was of French Canadian background, but she was born and always lived in the US. AJ’s connection with France is tenuous, at best, and I’m a fan.
As far as learning languages, some people are better than others. Brad seems OK mentally to me, with his films, producing and acting, his architecture projects, raising the kids and managing to keep it all straight. My guess is that he is doing it for Angie and is just not that interested.
Motivation can make a big difference.
I have been taking French lessons and I can tell you–it’s not easy!
Verbs come first in a sentence, it’s strange. I know basics like sit down, one cup of coffe, where is the bathroom, what time is it.
WTF happened to NOLA? I thought that was their “home”?
the only way you are really going to learn the language is to USE it in everyday life, and be immersed in it. But when you have minions of every type circling you at every hour of the day waiting on you hand and foot.. you are never going to have to “fend for yourself” and actually LEARN the language that will get you functioning within a different culture. Just ain’t gonna happen. He will learn the basics, like “please bring ’round my motorcycle” and such, but other than that, he will never be fluent – pot or no pot.
its terribly hard to learn new languages past a certain age. I rocked at french in high school and I majored in chinese in college and my mind was still a sponge at that point. now Im trying to learn farsi for my fiance, but past a certain age, it just becomes harder and harder to retain. its not because of pot.
plus, the french will just listen to you, bemused at your attempt to speak their language and then answer you back in english after you have tried, so there is no point to his learning it. everyone they will come into contact with will speak english, besides the gardeners or drivers or whoever the seconday paid staff is.
@CJ: “Verbs come first in a sentence”
Only if it’s a question or a command. Otherwise it’s pronoun or noun first, then verb. For me it’s placement and gender tense of the adjectives and objects of verbs that I find mind-boggling.
wow, i thought angie was fluent in every language in the world already. dang…give her a week or so, she’ll get it.
It’s true that learning another language is more difficult with age. Hell, my English is starting to suffer from the effects of age. Bummer.
Young kids learn foreign languages a LOT faster than adults.
If Brad Pitt starts speaking French, I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it. He’s too hot as it is. *sigh*
But he needs to get rid of the creepy goatee.
These two need to go to France and not tell the paparazzi where they are all the time so maybe I’ll miss them eventually. I know way to much information about them and their kids and their sex life, etc. I read gossip pages to laugh at celebrities . But hearing that Brad is having a hard time learning French or Angie is tired from breast feeding is BOOOOORING.
Heh, great pic choice for that caption.
Hang on…..
Do you realize how many people live in the SF bay Area and do not speak any English?
I’m 45 and after 4 years of study, I cn’t spek lick of French.
It’s hard as hell!
I used to be a French teacher (to adults). I could often tell on the very first day if they were really gonna catch on or not. Language is an innate talent to a certain extent. I’d think Pitt would be a natural since he’s an actor and mimics for a living, but I guess I’m wrong.
Hey Brad…if you actually spent some time in France you’d be forced to learn French, don’t you think? Otherwise, buy Rosetta Stone – you’ve got the three hundred bucks.
@CJ: “Verbs come first in a sentence”
Only if it’s a question or a command. Otherwise it’s pronoun or noun first, then verb. For me it’s placement and gender tense of the adjectives and objects of verbs that I find mind-boggling.
etc etc etc… just made the case perfectly. It’s hard to learn any new language as an adult but I think the Pitt-Jolies are taking themselves a little too seriously once again. They can have a quieter life in Nebraska just as much as France without the language difficulties. (insert Nebraska joke here).
Trillion, I agree learning languages comes easier to some people than others. I can speak french but just above basic. I can converse but if someone is not speaking fast. I read it well though.
Brad is think/dumb. It is a well known fact. Some directors in the past complained about him forgetting his lines. However hsi dumbosity has reached new levels in the last couple of years. He can hardly string a sentence together and acts like he is scared of his own shadow.
Hasn’t he been reported to have one of the lowest IQs in tinseltown? I suspect that is one of the reasons JA did not have children with him even to save his marriage. He is just too dumb that he is the only unpaid person who cannot see through his lovers machinations and manipulations. Even BBT would never call Angelina sweet. Only someone so dumb would.
That top picture. He he… says a lot about what his life is today. A joke, disorganised. Generally a caricature.
French grammar is not sooo different from English. If you wanna get confused and get it wrong almost every time, try German. I’m trying to learn German right now and I’m finding it challenging. My mother tongue is Spanish and I’m perfectly fluent in English since I was a child, my French is not bad and I can also speak a little Portuguese and Catalan (regional language in Spain). I like languages and I think I am good at learning them, but German is DIFFICULT.
My mother tongue is French and even I agree French is quite difficult to learn. English is so much easier. And I’ve noticed english native speakers generally have a hard time with the pronunciation even once they get the grammar down.
As for Brad, he’s never been articulate in English I doubt he will be any good at French.
My neighbors have a 4 yr. old and the mother speaks ONLY french to/with her & her father speaks only spanish to her as he is from Brazil (portugese). He is a newscaster on popular spanish channel. It is incredible to see her progression. She is now understanding english and will soon go to school and learn english by immersion. Young minds are so incredible. It’s great that the Pitt’s are teaching their children.
so wouldnt the dad be speaking portugese to her if he is from brazil?
germanic languages, which includes german and english, and chinese are thought to be the two most difficult languages for people to study and learn, due to exceptions, homonyms, etc, and chinese is tonal and pictograph-based and has no alphabet, in which case nothing can be sounded out for spelling.
french, spanish, italian, and portugese are loads easier and once you know one, you can readily figure out the others since there is so much overlap.
and kim, where do you get your statistical information on the IQ levels of actors in hollywood? i didnt know there was a large-scale IQ test performed on everyone that only you have the access to. your comments are ridiculous.
I just love the panicked, deer-caught-in-the-headlights pic that went with this story. LOL….”eeek! Have to learn french…but HOW?”
interesting how brad is the one who is always stuck with the “stoner” label while Aniston gets a free pass who is most def a sometime tocker. Just rent “friends with money”: i feel the role she played was not a big strech, it was herself all the way. but then again, almost all hollywood is on herbal or pharmacautical high ;o) As for learning languages in your 40s, that’s half and half, some can do it and some can’t. as a quatrilingual person, i have encountered folks who were quite at ease with the learning process even though they were older and from an unilingual background.. however, there were others who found it difficult and this was not due to lack of intellect or wheter they were fond of the bong, but just because they had only been exposed to english and since this language relies mostly on the frontal area of the mouth (predominantly the teeth) their back, roof and nasal areas were rarely used or developed, hence their inability to fully access the language.. and there’s always others who have learning dissabilities and/or who have acquired language in a particular way which is not the same everywhere (is that bit of xenophobic tendency which can unconciously prevent some from opening themselves up to different ways of understanding and comprehending the world).
I think I’ve mentioned this before, so forgive me for repeating. A friend of mine who is teaches architecture at USC (or was it UCLA? Anyhow…) worked with Pitt on some design stuff. He was super impressed with him and said he found him to be smart, artistically talented, funny, kind and normal. So there’s that for all you folks guessing what a stupid prick he may be. I still might be, but I’d take my friend’s word since he actually knows the guy.
umm does anyone remember the story about the commercial brad shot where he was supposedly spoke to the children with “perfect french”?
ughhh make up your mind!
This is a great site where French is actually fun to learn.