Character languages

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Every character on Lost speaks some form or variant of a language. The predominant language spoken on the original broadcasts of the show is American English, though variants of this language, as well as entirely different languages are used, often with English subtitles. Every main character on the show speaks at least some English. Several characters can speak up to four other languages on the show besides English (Naomi, Mikhail and Danielle).

1 Character Languages
2 Accents
3 Language barriers
4 Keeping a language a secret

Character Languages

Below is a list of important characters who speak languages other than English.

Character	Languages
Ana Lucia Cortez	Languages: English, Spanish Ana Lucia primarily speaks English. She also speaks Spanish fluently, as shown in a conversation with her mother. ("Collision") It is unknown which is her native language.
Benjamin Linus	Languages: English, Turkish, Arabic Ben primarily speaks English. However, he was also shown to speak Turkish when he was confronted by two Bedouins, and also speaks Arabic. ("The Shape of Things to Come")
Charlotte Lewis	Languages: English, Korean, FrenchCharlotte primarily speaks English. However, she has been shown to read in several different languages, including French ("Confirmed Dead"), and also speaks Korean, as shown when confronted by Jin. ("Something Nice Back Home")
Danielle Rousseau	Languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish Rousseau was first heard speaking French over a distress signal ("Pilot, Part 2"), and it is presumed to be her native language. She was also shown to know several other languages when questioning Sayid. ("Solitary") However, she also speaks English fluently, and uses it to communicate with the other survivors regularly.
Mr. Eko	Languages: English, Nigerian Though he generaly uses English, even while talking with other Nigerians, Eko also speaks or at least understands Nigerian, as he was able to understand a guerilla, who ordered his brother to kill an elderly man ("The 23rd Psalm").
Hugo "Hurley" Reyes	Languages: English, Spanish Though he prominently speaks English, Hurley has also been shown to know Spanish, as he is the original owner of the Spanish comic book, and understands what Naomi says when she arrives on the Island ("The Brig").
Jin-Soo Kwon	Languages: English, Korean Jin's primary language was Korean, as he had grown up and lived in Korea all his life, never having the need to speak another language. This caused a language barrier between him and other English speakers on the island. After his wife revealed that she could speak English ("...In Translation"), he was initially enraged, but finally accepted the fact, and allowed her to begin to teach him. ("Exodus, Part 2") By season four, he was showing almost fluent understanding of English, and speaking in fractured but understandable sentences.
Mikhail Bakunin	Languages: English, Portugese (?), Russian, Ukrainian Mikhail generally speaks English, and uses this to communicate which his fellow Others and the survivors. However, he has also used Russian to speak with Beatrice Klugh so that the survivors would not understand their exchange. ("Enter 77") He also was able to translate Naomi's Portugese, though he did so incorrectly. ("D.O.C.") Mikhail is Ukrainian, so it is most likely that he also knows Ukrainian.("Enter 77")
Nadia	Languages: Arabic, English Nadia's native language is presumably Iraqi, as he was shown living there and speaking the language. ("Solitary") However, she was also seen in America on multiple occasions, speaking English fluently.
Naomi Dorrit	Languages: English, Portugese, Chinese, Spanish, Italian Naomi's primary language is English, and she uses it to communicate with the survivors. However, she also seen speaking in several different languages, such as Portugese, Chinese, and Spanish. ("D.O.C.")
Mr. Paik	Languages: Korean Mr. Paik's native language is Korean. He has never been shown to speak any other languages.
Sayid Jarrah	Languages: English, Arabic, German Sayid's native language is presumably Iraqi, as he was shown living there and speaking the language. ("Solitary") However, he also speaks perfect English, and uses this primarily on the island. He also speaks a little German as seen as his meeting with Elsa in a cafe. ("The Economist")
Shannon Rutherford	Languages: English, French Shannon primarily speaks English. She also learned some French, and was called upon the island to use it in order to decipher the distress signal sent out by Danielle Rousseau. ("Pilot, Part 2")
Sun-Hwa Kwon	Languages: English, Korean Sun's native language is Korean. Throughout most of her life she spoke no other language. However, she soon started learning English under the tutelage of Jae Lee ("The Whole Truth"), and eventually became very fluent. However, she kept this a secret from Jin. Several weeks after crashing on the island, Sun revealed to everyone the fact that she spoke English ("...In Translation"), and then began using it almost exclusively, except with Jin, whom she began teaching English after his anger for her betrayal had subsided. ("Exodus, Part 2")

Accents

Michael recognizes Naomi's accent ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Many characters have distinctive accents when speaking English, showing their countries of origin. Charlie speaks with an English accent, and is able to tell that Naomi hails from Manchester as well, judging from her thick Northern accent. ("Greatest Hits") Michael is able to discern this fact about Naomi as well, presumably judging from his time spent with Charlie. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Gault's accent is Australian ("Ji Yeon")

Sawyer speaks English with a distinctive Southern accent (having hailed from Alabama). This is easily discernable by his fellow survivors, and sometimes draws insults from other survivors ("redneck man," "hillbilly,").

Several characters speak English with a clear Australian accent. Claire is perhaps the most obvious of these, along with her family and most of her flashback characters, including Carole Littleton, Richard Malkin, and Lindsey. Captain Gault and Hendricks from the Kahana also speak with an Australian accent. Most Australian characters feature a New South Wales variation of Australian accents.

Several other characters speak with accents on the show. Jin and Sun speak English with a slight Korean accent, while Danielle Rousseau speaks with a slight eastern-European accent. Eko speaks with a deep, Nigerian timbre, and his brother Yemi speaks English similarly. Frank Lapidus speaks with a Yankee accent. Most other characters speak English with an American accent.

Language barriers

Ben struggles to be understood by the Bedouins ("The Shape of Things to Come")

Language barriers have caused some issues between characters of the show, because they are unable to understand one another. The most notable victim of a language barrier was Jin, because he was unable to speak English while his fellow castaways were. Sun had pretended to be unable to speak English, but was later revealed to be able to. ("...In Translation") Jin later overcame this barrier with the help of Sun. ("Exodus, Part 2")

Another, more minor, language barrier existed between Ben and the Bedouins after he turned the frozen wheel and ended up in the Sahara desert. While being held at gunpoint, Ben tried to speak English with the two of them, and they appeared to not understand. Ben then began speaking Turkish. After incapacitating both of them, Ben learned that one did speak at least partial English ("Surrender!"). He sarcastically noted this, and then knocked out the Bedouin with the butt of his gun. ("The Shape of Things to Come")

Keeping a language a secret

Another minor reccuring theme is keeping a language secret by a certain character. The moste notable occurence was Sun's knowledge of English. She kept this a secret from her husband and the other survivors. She couldn't live in the same language barrier her husband lived in and finally opened to Michael, whilst trying to defend her husband. After a short period, she unwillingly had to admit the truth to Kate, after she understanded her comment in English.
Her finall act was revealling it to everybody at the beach, in order to keep her husband and Michael from a fight amongst each other. Jin, at first, thoat of this as a betrayal, but eventualy took this as an advantage over his barrier. He used her as translator, and as an English teacher.

A lot minor occurence is Charlotte's knowing of Korean. She made few gestures that made Jin, suspicious in that she may understand him and Sun, while journeying to and at the Staff. He finally confronts her, revealling that he saw her through, demanding safe place on the Kahana for Sun. There is no evidence of anybody else knowing Charlotte's secret or this event.

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