The midfielder knows Luxembourgish, a language spoken by only 600,000 people.
Sarajevo Times reported back in 2011 that Miralem Pjanic spoke six languages: Bosnian (his native), English, German, Luxembourgish, French and Italian. Since then, the midfielder has also picked up Spanish, meaning that he speaks seven languages now. Here’s how it became possible.
Bosnian
Pjanic was born in 1990 in Tuzla, Yugoslavia (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) to Bosnian parents so young Miralem learned Bosnian as it was the language spoken by his family.
Luxembourgish, German, French and English
Pjanic’s family moved to Luxembourg shortly before the outbreak of the Bosnian War in 1992.
Growing up in Luxembourg and being a polyglot is a common thing. The small European country has three official languages: Luxembourgish, German and French. The local educational system is trilingual: the first years of primary school are taught in Luxembourgish and then the students switch to German; in secondary school, the language of instruction is French. English is also a compulsory subject in school.
Since Luxembourgish is spoken by only about 600,000 people, you might not know a whole lot about the languages, so here are a few facts. Luxembourgish is a West Germanic language which means that it has a lot of similarities with Standard German while still remaining an independent language. Because of the proximity, Luxembourgish has borrowed many words from French, although the two tongues are not mutually intelligible.
Pjanic had the chance to perfect his French during his spell in Ligue 1, having played for Metz between 2007 and 2008 and for Lyon between 2008 and 2011. During his time at Juventus, he revealed that he would speak German to Sami Khedira.
Italian
In 2011, the Bosnian joined Roma and, naturally, ended up learning the local language. During an interview with Express from back in 2018, Pjanic revealed that Italian was the language of communication in the Juventus dressing room as well as the language the players would use while on the pitch.
Spanish
During the same interview, Miralem said that he was thinking of starting learning Spanish because the number of Argentinian players at the club and how prevalent it was in football. It’s not clear a what point in time the 30-year-old started studying it but it’s known that he arrived at Barcelona already speaking Spanish.
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