I seem to remember Barry0 claiming at one time that he spoke no foreign languages.
That might not be a foreign language to him ... that might be one of his native tongues.
Here it is, from July 11, 2008:
(DAYTON, OHIO) “I don’t speak a foreign language. It’s embarrassing!” Barack Obama exclaimed today at town hall meeting here. Obama, who often touts his time growing up overseas, made the confession while speaking about the importance of teaching foreign languages in schools.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-502443_162-4254480-502443.html
I wonder how he does Swahili?
He probably spoke Indonesian Malay when he was living there. He seems to echo well. That is he can repeat back a word or phrase in another language exactly as he hears it. Such people learn languages easily when they need them and they lose them just as quickly. I do that. When I was 8 years old and lived in Istanbul I could speak Turkish like a native. I remember almost none of it. When I talk to a Turkish person, if he tries, he can drag phrases out of me that I could not remember on my own. I could not truthfully say I speak any Turkish now.
Soetoro’s earlier perfect recitation of the Muezzin’s call is probably a bit of Arabic that he has consciously maintained. I have no doubt that he also learned some Arabic in school in Indonesia. It is integral with study of the Koran.
Fluent in Arabic