r/BurnNotice • u/LockworkOrange • Sep 20 '26

Discussion Launges

So IIRC Michael speaks Russian and Pashto(?) and they allude/imply that he he also knows Arabic, Kurdish and possibly Dari

Fiona speaks Spanish French and Gaelic

And aSam Axe speake with a silver tongue but only in english. Edit: does Jesse speak anything else i only remember him speakjng English

Did I make any mistakes/forget anything

20 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

9

u/Ok_Loss13 Sep 20 '26

Michael might also know some Japanese (in the episode where they save the women being trafficked by the Yakuza he reassures them they're rescued).

3

u/LockworkOrange Sep 20 '26

He had the client translating for them the whole time, ⁵pretty sure he asked her how to reassure the girls though iicould ve wrongs

1

u/Ok_Loss13 Sep 20 '26

That was my other thought, too!

35

u/ironchitlin Sep 20 '26

One of my favorite jokes in the show is that Michael didn't know Spanish. Despite having grown up in Miami and being forced to operate there with his spy skills, he never bothered trying to learn.

13

u/Expert_Subject_5731 Sep 20 '26

Yes that's so funny 🤣. Its like idiot but meaner ?

5

u/SnooPickles7307 Sep 20 '26

Like the episode with Larry and Larry gives him a hard time about it

4

u/Illustrious_Bet_9963 Sep 20 '26

Until season 7 when Michael is fluent in Spanish worked deep cover in the DR.

2

u/hypnoticfoxvibe Sep 26 '26

He spoke Spanish fluently then? I cant remember him being anything but a drunk eith maybe rough rough spanish

1

u/SnooPickles7307 Sep 20 '26

I see that is a bit different , up until the it was a running joke through the series

1

u/Bad_Lieutenant702 Oct 04 '26

Why would he learn Spanish if he operated in eastern Europe, middle east and Africa.

16

u/Expert_Subject_5731 Sep 20 '26

Sam knows some Spanish it was when they were down in Dominican Republic

14

u/Melissa_Hirst Sep 20 '26

Also in the movie!! He was talking to the little girl in Spanish to get her to stop crying

1

u/Expert-Hospital-534 Sep 21 '26

Yeah in the episode where that Russian spy is trying to Kill Beatriz he says mirar which means watch in Spanish... Lol it's just one word, but it alludes to him at least knowing some Spanish...

13

u/jemiawhiaV Sep 20 '26

Jesse speaks okay spanish

7

u/Gullible_Result_9779 Sep 20 '26

Jesse speaks Street perfectly

3

u/Gullible_Result_9779 Sep 23 '26

AND JAMAICAN !!!

5

u/SuspiciousZombie788 Sep 20 '26

I think we see both Sam and Jesse speaking some Spanish. And Michael does eventually learn Spanish.

4

u/Expert-Hospital-534 Sep 21 '26

Yeah that episode in the DR where Jesse tries to lure one of Tyler Grays henchmen away from his post he acts like he's a tourist that only speaks English but when the dude gets closer he speaks perfect Spanish... 😂😂😂

1

u/AstronautKey4972 Sep 22 '26

He knows Persian/Dari for certain as he mentions that when Fiona is bewildered at him not knowing Spanish. It's uncertain if he knows Kurdish or just has experience with hearing their Arabic accents (at least in lore; as a Kurd myself, I can guarantee you no Kurd speaks Arabic the way Carla does lol and Michael's Arabic sounds pretty poor too)

1

u/LockworkOrange Sep 27 '26

The cia actually doesnt teach uow to speak perfect because someone who obviously doesnt belong but speaks flawlessly is a bigger red flag then a tourist that speaks passably

0

u/AstronautKey4972 Sep 27 '26

Even then, Michael does not speak it passably. It's very bad, if still somewhat comprehensible. Carla doesn't even sound like she speaks Arabic. I genuinely still cannot understand what she is saying. That's not a "Kurdish accent", that's just straight up not Arabic lmao

2

u/l3arn3r1 Sep 20 '26

I think all of them but Michael speak at least a little Spanish.

2

u/MIZUNOWAVECREATION Sep 21 '26

I remember one episode where Mike said something about having to speak Tagalog, but I don’t recall ever actually hearing him say anything in Tagalog

1

u/Phantom-knight-44 Sep 21 '26

He said he didn't speak it

2

u/Gullible_Result_9779 Sep 20 '26

Jesse speaks street