MovieChat Forums > Jackie Chan Discussion > Can he speak English yet?

Can he speak English yet?

posted 10 years ago by raf-33
11 replies | jump to latest

He's been working in the US since the 90's yet he is still completely indecipherable in every film he stars in. I'm watching Around the World in 80 days again and every time he speaks all I hear is "ah pluh ah plah huh ploh, ah poohawoo" and the other actors nod and reply as if it is clear to them.

What is his problem? Jet Li spoke the clearest English possible in The One and that was like 2 years after his American debut...

Ya Kirk-loving Spocksucker!

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[–] feng-jiao 10 years ago

First of all, Jackie's first English movie was released in 1980 and not the 90's.
He calls his English "Jackie Chan English". I don't think he ever wanted to master English the way you want him to.
No need to...

[–] zee944 10 years ago

Since he isn't an idiot, I believe he just doesn't have the self-confidence to learn English properly. He decided he can't learn it, so he doesn't try hard thus he didn't improve much in the last thirty years. Probably his English coach sucks too.

[–] raf-33 10 years ago

Yeah, but the guy above says he's been in and out of English-speaking countries for 35 years. You only have to stay in another country for a matter of months to pick up a working dialect and anything after that is polish, he just always sounds like he wears headphones when not filming so always sounds like he's only been in the US for 5 mins.

You only need a coach to do accents, a phrase book and a passport is more than enough to learn a language...

Ya Kirk-loving Spocksucker!

[–] zee944 10 years ago

Yeah, he could have easily mastered English, but as I said, I think he never really believed he could learn it and stopped trying. He probably only talks to his own people in Cantonese, doesn't look for opportunities to improve and for negotiations he carries some sort of interpreter with himself, and only uses his limited English knowledge when it is really important.

[–] jedite1000 9 years ago

I can understand his english just fine

He is like yoda, anyone know what he is talking about even though he jumbles his words

[–] BrickNash 9 years ago

I think we need to remember here that everyone assumes you haven't 'made it' unless you crack Hollywood but let's not forget that Jackie is a superstar in Asia which is a HUGE place with a massive population and his fanbase probably dwarfs most of the Hollywood celebrity's combined.

He probably doesn't want to master English and with his superstar status he really doesn't need to and he doesn't need Hollywood one bit so the drive to learn probably isn't there as he could go back to Hong Kong and live as a screen God for the rest of his life at any time and I think he just likes doing Hollywood films out of his fondness for the old silent movies.

[–] danzaiver 9 years ago

you're neglecting to mention to the most obvious point about this, in that it's part of this character and charm not to speak english properly. If he spoke perfect english it would detract from his character. He'd be like every other american action star. He has a niche in america. If it ain't broke..

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 4 years ago

you're neglecting to mention to the most obvious point about this, in that it's part of this character and charm not to speak english properly. If he spoke perfect english it would detract from his character. He'd be like every other american action star. He has a niche in america. If it ain't broke..

He probably knows more than he lets on. Take Bolo Yeung for instance, the below interview with a Hollywood stuntman proves that a Chinese person can be disingenuous about knowing English if it works to their advantage. It's like a joke...

The set-up: "Another time I remember was on the set, in the lunch room, well after lunch. The room was empty except for John Salvitti (the other choreographer) & I, and some of the stunt fighters were at another table. Bolo and his interpreter came in and sat at the other end of our table. Then as the stunt guys were filtering out, the interpreter got up to run a quick errand. Bolo picked up a Chinese newspaper to read, when a couple of the local stunt fighters we had recruited, walked up to the table and tried to talk to Bolo. As usual, he quickly got confused and didn’t understand, so they politely smiled, nodded and left."

The pay-off: "The room was completely empty now except for us and Bolo. After just a moment, he put down his paper leaned over toward us and asked, in the best English I had ever heard him speak, “So, where do you guys go after this?” Our jaws dropped as he just smiled and we had a nice little conversation. The rest of the shoot, however, Bolo continued to speak in his broken English. That is, whenever he spoke – which was rare. I always took that moment in the lunchroom as an honor – as Bolo’s approval and his gesture of trust in us."

https://bzfilm.com/talks-interviews/enter-the-shootfighter-memories-about-bolo-yeung-exclusive/

[–] aavfreak (3393) 4 years ago

I saw him on one of the late night talk shows decades ago. He sang a bit of country song in absolute perfect English. I know it's different to sing a song that you can mimic than it is to speak fluently, but it does demonstrate that he has the ability to make the sounds and he can if he forced himself to.