How Charlize Theron Learned English | Late Night with Conan O’Brien
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- čas přidán 8. 08. 2023
- (Original Air Date: 11/20/98) Charlize Theron talks about the secret to losing her South African accent, her childhood on a farm, working with Woody Allen, and the downsides to acting with a mechanical gorilla.
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Running from 1993-2009, Late Night with Conan O’Brien is one of the most beloved late night shows in television history. Known for its absurdist humor, hilarious celebrity interviews and featuring the best stand-up comedians and musical acts of the ‘90s and early 2000s. Hosted by Conan O’Brien alongside sidekick Andy Richter and house band Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg 7, Late Night with Conan O’Brien featured unforgettable segments like “If They Mated”, “In the Year 2000”, “Desk Drive”, and made a breakout star of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. - Komedie
Afrikaans is her first language but English is one of the 12 official languages in South Africa. I am sure she was exposed at an early age. Conan was talking about learning the language but Charlize's response was about acquiring the American accent. Two very different things.
yes
He asked about her having no accent, and she talked about learning English by watching American TV. Re-watch.
@rojoeditor He said "I grew up in this country and I never had to learn another language." He might be impressed by the fact that she learned different languages in her country. However, he later asked "how did you learn English so well?" Not "how did you learn the American accent?" Conan went to Harvard so I'm sure he knows that English is spoken in South Africa but....
@@trinidadinternational he asked/commented about both the language and the accent, and her answer encompassed both.
@rojoeditor exactly! I'm sure he wouldn't have asked an English guy with an American accent how he learned English. It would have been focused on the accent. She was being polite.
I’m South African, Charlize and I are the same age, South Africa is/was bilingual Afrikaans and English when she lived there, everyone speaks both languages, she didn’t learn English in America. She already spoke it, she learned and adopted the American accent.
Yes, that's what she said. The interviewer kind of implied that she learned English from zero but we all knew what she actually did was adopt the American accent
@@user-xh2so8ef3o if I were fluent in English, no matter what accent, I think I wouldn't try to get another accent especially American. I think that the American accent is a second class accent while the British accent is a high class accent. I'm Russian and I've been learning English from zero level and still far from caring about accents. I just want to speak well enough.
Everyone who is white, be specific, there's more to South africa than white folks
My mom is from Mexico and she learned some English in school. When she married my American dad and moved to New York, she became fluent in English by watching soap operas mostly.
I will never understand how people can marry with someone whose language they don’t speak! How do they even get to have deep conversations before getting married? So strange!!!
Maybe her husband knows spanish
@@Monninaq1what's wrong with that. Love is blind. Action is more touching than language. Language is no barrier for two people make a relationship.
@@Monninaq1 lol my dad was fluent in Spanish. He learned it by working in the border patrol.
@Abdi_sulaiman Bro, it's hard to understand someone even when you know their language. Imagine if you don't.
I've lived in Japan for over 20 years, and I seriously first learned Japanese from renting tons of daytime dramas and just watching them nonstop. They say that TV rots your brain, but it's gotta be the world's single best language-learning tool. P.S. Let's cut Conan some slack; I'm SURE he meant to say, "how did you learn AMERICAN English so well?" He's smart as well as funny, but he was also sitting just a few feet away from Charlize Theron. 😁
My cousin speaks cartoon Japanese, it's a very special dialect, I'm sure you know of it. I can always tell even though I don't speak any Japanese....
i lived in Okinawa only for a couple years and liked the nightime Samuri soaps didnt understand many times we make our own script
I only know a few Japanese words but a few year back I was watching a Japanese movie and understood everything when I realised I wasn't reading the subtitles and understood everything I lost it and had to read the subtitles the brain is an amazing thing that we Know little about
That's interesting William, did you use subtitles or just tried to work out what they were saying?
25 years later and she's still a knockout! 👍😎
Even hotter!
Absofuckinlutely!
@@kaypee1972 There is no competition with youth. Those puffy cheecks/lips and firm body.
her appearance, yes!.. but her soul? do you think?
@@eheheheheheheheh .. Yeah she's a good person.
I am from Ankara Turkey I became fluent in English at age 19 and fluent in Chinese at age 28.. Throughout my journey of studying these two foreign languages I have to admit that there is a difference between learning a language and acquiring a language .. I certainly acquired these two foreign languages by living in the USA and China for many many years and immersing myself deeply in these cultures and using the languages every single day day in day out.. So , if you are studying any foreign language right now try to distinguish the difference between learning and acquiring and move yourself towards acquiring that language.
Wow! That's very impressive, may I ask you how did you recall the new vocabulary that you learned?
@@Rheasreality By using, I guess.
-speaking, writing, listening, etc like the actress said in the video.
Hello.
Sorry, I didn't understand your term. What does "language acquisition" mean? What then is meant by study?
Why would you call it Chinese then? It's Mandarin. Fishy.
When they came to the US, my parents picked up their English from movies. They never adjusted their voice boxes, though. Their accents remained.
Conan went to Harvard and he doesn’t know South Africa was a British Colony until 1960 and therefore we all speak English…
He’s a comedian who plays dumb ~90% of the time and he makes fun of nerdy celebrities and coworkers like Schlansky and Blaeyart. He studied history so I’m sure he’s passionate about these topics just trying to be unpretentious.
He’s clearly referring to the developing of an American accent and avoiding certain things that make up local dialects or creoles in a way because if you come from a country like South Africa, there are a lot of slang or informal loan words integrated into English from older forms of the language, and Dutch, French and native African language influence. Its present everywhere to a less significant extent - East Asian countries and the Indian subcontinent have their own small differences when they speak English - for example I’m from Sri Lanka (former British colony) and we call flip-flops and certain sandals “slippers” locally. Obviously these nuances and distinctions would make the lighthearted talk show dull for a studio audience, hence the simplifications.
Conan was never appreciated for his interviewing skills back in these days. He knew how to connect with so many young actors.
He was being a bit too ambitious here frankly, awkward pokes at sexual references
I would not praise him for this interview though. He smoothly got Charlize talking about several insteresting subjects, she always got me really interested what she's have to say, and then Conan always cut her before she said half of what she aimed to on that subject - instead of letting her talk or following up. So he pissed me off here multiple times.
That is how I learned to speak American English, watching American tv. It's a great way to learn.
She speaks English, she just needed to learn American accent.
I thought that was gonna be the joke when I clicked it.. but no she didnt call him out
She spoke Afrikaans
@ariellaryner7740 Afrikaans was her first language, but she would have known English from a young age. She's talking about losing her strong Afrikaans accent. There's an interview of her speaking with it when she was a model. I'm South African (and I'm guessing other people saying this are as well). She grew up in an Afrikaans area, but the nearby big city (Johannesburg) would have had an overwhelming majority of first-language English speakers at the time.
I was really surprised when I first met two people from South Africa who spoke English with a weird accent so I’ve learned that some of them are born and raised speaking Afrikaans and English was their second language.
Charlize is an ageless as well as a talented wonder!
She is still very attractive, but looks nothing like this, from 1998. Without a description, I wouldn't have guessed it was her.
she aged....and she aged beautifully....
The time before she patented her bad ass character😊
It's interesting that Charlize has an American accent (vs. British/Australian/South African, etc.). But her explanation about watching American TV series explains it.
You don't lose an accent from watching TV... 🤦♂
I have a Norwegian friend (born, raised, still lives there) who’s 35 and has an almost perfect American accent from watching Seinfeld 😂
Often it will slip when they lose their temper. Must be a constant struggle for a long time.
her fluid transition from accent to accent is as magical as her divine and ageless beauty.
She chose to learn it so she could act in the US. I remember her saying it would be harder to switch between accents than to just have it be her new accent.
OMG she is so beautiful in her youth and still is can't believe this gorgeous girl would become Furiosa ❤
If there's such a thing as a FLAWLESS face... Charlize definitely got it. 😍
Her and Jessica Alba! Lucky ladies
Shes like a hybrid of jenna elfman and elisha cuthbert.
Tinge of tea leoni too
Her, Jessica Alba and Catherine Zeta Jones!
@@calico27 CZJ and Salma Hayek and Halle Berry, for me.
I've always found her stunning and she indeed is, even with that haircut omg❤
I learned English by watching Hollywood movie. Determination is the key.
She did only learn the dialect (American pronunciation) from television. In South Africa if you are in an Afrikaans school you have English as a subject throughout your school career so she did not only learn English from television.
i believe the focus was on losing the South African 'accent'.
@@aldosigmann419 He kept on saying "learning english", so it's reasonable to assume that he doesn't think people speak English in South Africa, when English is arguably the most spoken language in South Africa. English is the most dominant language in South African government and south african media.
Actually, English is the native language of many people in South Africa. Not all learn it in school, but I assume most know English there just like their native tongue.
As far as mother tongue is concerned English only rank around 5th or 6th in South Africa. Most South African's do however speak English as part of daily communication with others who do not share our specific mother tongue as we have 12 official languages
@@francoisdreyer thanks for the info
I learned English watching "Three's Company" and "Mork and Mindy". Oh and the reruns of "Get Smart". South Africa is such an amazing country. I had a choice of emigrating there but chose not to at that time. I got a chance to go there for work ten years ago and that was a great experience.
Thanks for your honest comment, I am South African based in New Zealand but I still feel like rsa is an amazing country. It does it downside like any other countries.
Conan auditioned for the part of the giant gorilla, but they said he was too tall.
She learned English from reruns of Dynasty just like Sona
Yeah it was hard for someone born on foreign Armenian soil
@@gilbertodepiento8521 she floated here in a basket
@@christoph9510 and her brother is made out of clay
See the clip. And you will get the answer😅
She didn’t learn English from TV, she learned American English accent from TV. That’s quite different.
How can someone be so gorgeous?
Make sure you're not operating heavy machinery while watching this clip.
@@jerrynkathy Facts 😂
HBD Charlize. 48 now.
She is so smart! Not only extremely beautiful 😍
I just realized, even though Charlize has never looked really old (and doesn’t now), I have never seen her young as in, like, young, before this clip. Where had she been before she became popular?
She must have crazy amounts of plastic surgery and botox treatment to basically not age, and her face also looks very different now... :/
South Africa
She became popular when she played Aileen Wournos till then she was relatively unknown
Her first role in an American movie was in "Two Days in the Valley" from 1996.
There was a story about a farmer who list his farm and all the neighbors bought everything and gave it back to them. There is hope. There is hope.
Why didn't anybody ever clarify with her that South Africans generally are not limited to speaking in Afrikaans but also speak English but with a heavy accent? Anybody remember Lethal Weapon 2?
I think she learned to speak 'American English' sans accent from American TV. I believe she could already speak English.
"툴리" 정말 감명깊게 봤어요~ 코난과 샤를리즈 두 분 다 정말 멋지고 인간적인 분들입니다❤
Pure class
this was pre-'Mighty Joe Young' - the first movie i remember seeing her in!
RIP Bill Paxton. Game over man.
oddly enough in my youth i thought he was another and you were lara croft ; sensational cinema skill you both
Charlie Theron was much prettier than most actresses in 2024.
I have my ESL students watch shows like The Brady Bunch, it works.
She's stunning in 2024 but it's ridiculously insane what a knockout she was in 1998.
She's so young, and looks absolutely the same!
Odd how Conan refers to learning an American accent as "learning English", as if he thinks Theron was previously trying to get acting jobs in USA while knowing only Afrikaans.
It was probably just a mistake. No biggie.
@@BKNY84 But the title of this clip is "How Charlize Theron Learned English", so if the people running this channel know it is a mistake then they must think it's a funny enough mistake to justify repeating as a misleading title. Perhaps someone thinks it's a joke?
@@Cimreau Maybe you could have looked it up if it was so important to you. Per Wikipedia: "Although Theron is fluent in English, her first language is Afrikaans."
Can we move on now? Lol
Absolutely gorgeous.
young chalize is 🤩
as most women she looked more gorgeous without surgeries
oh god she is gorgeous; she has this type of beauty that will never ever "age"; the elegancy, the, the.. womanship, idk, I just can't express it with words
Oh! hey~ Andy! You were there!
I guessed that English isn't known accurately. 😅 Because when questions that aren't prepared is asked, eyebrows are frowned. 😅 😅 😅
She is so awesome and a true elegant professional
I am Afrikaans and have a more comprehensive vocabulary than most English speakers. However when I open my mouth people place me within the first sentence. I don’t know how she did it.
It's no small feat, she did great.
I learned Afrikaans in South African radio station OFM chat room and listening to Radio Sonder Grense on the Internet. Maybe one day, I'll get to South Africa.
I learned English, by watching FRIENDS 😊
Learned to lose the accent from watching "Love Boat"? Then it's good she watched Bernie Kopel as Doc instead of as Siegfried on "Get Smart".😊 Or just as bad, Don Adams speaking in Maxwell Smart's "very distinctive and unique voice"(Max's words).😂
How did Elon Musk learn English?
He hasn't.
She touched his leg a couple of times. Hell yeah.
From the preview image, I thought was Jennie Garth circa 1996
What did Wopdy say in respnse to what she said aboutbthe dancing scene?
We will never know because Conan interrupts too much and cut off her story.
This interview is just lovely. I have a large wall in my house with 72 photographs of people that I very much admire, I consider "super humans"...Charlize is one of the photos, she's right next to Bob Dylan and Meg White.
Have you seen the Robin Williams movie "One Hour Photo"? I'm not sure if you should, but...
@@badad0166 I have not see that film...I'm guessing a killer person has a wall of photos of people he wants to kill?
Is Conan one of the 72?
...and i dont get, why "Mighty Joe Young" is not available on 4K or BD ...or Stream. Great Movie. Great Actors
She's very in-depth.
Love to hear Charlize say "woody."
She's top 5 all time beauty-wise, ridiculously pretty.
Great lady love her movies. 😄😀🌞😁🌹🥰
I had that same haircut when I was 18/19. I did not look as good as her.
No "surf wave" on Conan's head in this clip. Totally didn't remember when it started...
Conan is the best host ever.
That's exactly how I learned English. That 24/7 bit is what I used to tell people when they asked how many hours a day I watched Hollywood movies 😂 My professors and classmates all thought I was pulling their legs when I said I wasn't born in the US
it's English an official second language in South Africa?
I love her
Holy crap, this was 25 years ago.
Charlize looking good, from a glance while scrolling I thought it was Christina Applegate
Ikr
I watched Disney channel with my kids to learn 😊 Lizzie McGuire, that’s so raven…. Cartoons lol
'can we be a little ..you know..politically correct here....... Monk..... Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla'
Nicely saved...no one noticed that.
Charlize Theron is one of the few Hollywood actresses that are (were) naturally pretty.
11/20/98
wow
Jill Young. My first crush❤
I haven't been to America, I've been to Europe, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, but it seems to me that women in America have their own temperament, which attracts them like a magnet, it is necessary to go to the States, I will learn English😍
There is something very unpretentious and natural about Charlize.
She seems comfortable in her own skin.
I can't imagine her not getting any attention. I would never blink if I was working with her.
Here in South Africa they start English as a second language when you're 6 years old and its a mandatory subject until you graduate high school. If you fail a language, you fail your year (at least when I was in school lol)
Thank you! She is MY GIRL. So cool and beautiful and smart! Watch just about everything I run into that she's involved with!
South African here. There's no way she didn't learn English in the good ol' days. If you were Afrikaans, you had to learn English as a second language at school and vice versa.
I will marry a woman that looks like her. Anyone in here? 🥰 Oh and you have to be very wealthy and talented too.
It’s how my mom learned English.
Conan is SUCH A ‘dou..’. How he ever got a job akin to Johnny Carson is a complete MYSTERY !
She’s so attractive and intelligent.
😅 I'm getting distracted through "this hair". 😅 My English creeps on the ground for now.
She grew up in South Africa so obviously she learnt English by socialisation and at school. The accent is what she probably picked up from TV.
It's how I learned as well.😂 Well, the details and all. The different accents in America. But I was exposed to English since I was 2. So...kinda always communicated in English. As a child it's so easy. But the correct grammar? Aaaaall by watching MTV 😂 MTV Masters, MTV cribs etc
I wanna see her as Clea in Dr. Strange.
Perfection…
When Love Boat is exposed extremely, you adopt even this hair. 😁
I think she played a South African in Monster
So, did she just learn the American accent or did she learn English? I’m confused.
Pretty obvious she watched mostly, if not only, American shows
@@cece6652 this doesn’t answer the question at all lol
Clearly she learned only the accent from watching TV and was speaking English before. English is one of the many official languages in ZA and the primary spoken language there.
Okay well I know she speaks Afrikaans, first of all. And second, the title says “learned English, not learned an American accent”. Get why I asked?
She learned the American accent, not how to speak English. In South Africa we all have to learn English and Afrikaans. She is the same age as me so even though Afrikaans is her mother tongue she definitely learned to speak English at school. My mother tongue is English but I had Afrikaans as my second language that I had to learn.
The title is very misleading. I saw a video interview with her when she was a model back in the early 90's when she was just a model and she spoke perfect English with a heavy South African accent, the same way an Irish speaks perfect English with an accent. All she did is lost the accent. That's why she sounds like a native speaker now. It's impossible to learn English at 18 y/o and sound like a native speaker in just few years.
Believe she's received much flack back in her native country for switching to the American accent.
She is such a beautiful lady.
She could speak and understand English perfectly. She only learned the AMERICAN ACCENT from TV. Most Afrikaans people speak English because of TV.
SHAPE SHIFTERS
Later on she would learn French by doing commercials such as J'adour which she learnt that it meant she had all her clothes own.
J'adore* (French = "I adore") / she had all her clothes on*.
When I saw the thumbnail I thought it was Jenna Elfman.
In South Africa they speak English too Conan lol
I've noticed her touching him at 5:50 and 6:16 and her biting her lip at 6:10. I like that she can really appreciate good sense of humor. That can be seen in her other interviews as well.
She's the only L2 English speaker I know of who has absolutely no accent whatsoever, I don't even know how that happens. I guess being an actress she's really good at reproducing sound. The American accent makes sense, most L2 speakers adopt American accents because of pop culture and because it's easier to understand and a much more straightforward interpretation of English phonetics, no offense to Brits.
Mila Kunis is another
@@thatlisamarie3525 No she came to the US as a child.
I don't think English is her second language. English is the first language of about 10% of South Africans, and probably much more than that for white South Africans.
No, her native language is Afrikaans, she's said so.
I couldn't disagree more. If you can't understand an English person using "received pronunciation" then you aren't going to understand any other flavour of english. Unaccented english, in as much as there is such a thing, is as neutral as it is possible to get. An American accent is not neutral.
White southafricans speak africans as first language, but English is the first language for black southafricans (at least for many of them), so, is very present in the everyday life.
what are u smoking
@@phaizell4143 oh, what a great argument...
English is the most spoken language in South Africa and the official language of business. English is to Afrikaans in South Africa what English is to French in Quebec. A lot of bilingual speakers. That said, English is very few people's first language. It's sort of the common denominator.