Russia’s Putin says grandchildren fluent in Mandarin Chinese, but English still matters
Amid growing Sino-Russian ties, Putin revealed his family’s fluency in Mandarin, while urging schoolchildren not to neglect English
Putin has two daughters with his ex-wife Lyudmila, and they speak Russian, English, German, and French. Putin, who divorced his wife in 2014, rarely speaks about his family but has at least three grandchildren, according to Russian media.
“Some of my family members, the little ones, speak Chinese too – they speak it fluently,” Putin told pupils of Secondary School No. 20 in Kyzyl, Tuva, about 4,500km (2,800 miles) east of Moscow.
Putin, who speaks fluent German but has also taken lessons to improve his English, said that pupils should not forget the importance of English.
“English is a great language, it has given humanity a great deal in terms of combining knowledge and uniting people in the field of culture, and so on,” Putin said.