After Song Joong Ki’s wife became his Italian teacher for Vincenzo, he also started learning Spanish for this reason | Web Series

The year’s finish line is near, and he’s somehow still not run out of fumes as another highly anticipated theatrical project is nigh. Song will inevitably bid 2024 farewell on a high as his upcoming crime thriller, Bogota: City of the Lost releases on December 31 for South Korean audiences, following its special screening premiere at the 29th Busan International Film Festival in October.

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Like his contributions to the unforgettable drama Vincenzo, the forthcoming film compelled the coveted star to spread his wings and expand his range as a polyglot. The South Korean celeb is famously praised by his fans as a ‘multilingual king’ due to his seamless grasp of Korean and English. On top of that, his 2021 hit K-drama motivated him to learn Italian, which he is heard speaking in several scenes throughout the season.

Song Joong Ki’s multicultural family

In 2023, Dispatch revealed that the Hallyu star met his British wife, Katy Louise Saunders, in Italy a few years ago. She eventually took on the role of his language teacher as the Descendants of the Sun actor dove into learning Italian after wrapping up theVincenzo filming.

The couple welcomed their first baby, a son, in June 2023, months after they tied the knot earlier that year. In November 2024, the happily married pair embraced the arrival of their second child, a daughter. Shortly after celebrating their first baby’s homecoming, Joong Ki opened up about settling into parenthood and how their child would eventually assimilate the values of a multicultural familial setup. “I cannot believe that I have become a father… I talk to him in Korean, you know, my English isn’t that good. My wife and I have talked about it, too. We’ll figure out how the three of us will communicate,’ he said according to Koreaboo.

For his latest film, Bogota, Song donned the role of a Korean merchant in a Colombian city. During a recent press show for the same in Gangnam, Seoul, the beloved K-star shed light on his wife’s Colombian connection as well. “Actually, my mother-in-law is from Colombia,” he divulged in the interview. “Many of my wife’s family members live there. The Colombia I experienced was full of life! Excitement, passion and incredible food – seriously, it was delicious.” He went on, “I saw the people there actively working to move beyond that stereotypical image.”

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Song Joong Ki unlocks Spanish phase

According to The Korea Times, his involvement in the Bogota filming inspired him to learn Spanish and obtain a large truck driving license. “Although I can’t speak Spanish as well now as I did when filming this movie, I learned a lot of Spanish for the shoot. Also, I tried to incorporate as much of the local Colombian staffers’ language into the script as possible,” he shared with the outlet.

Elsewhere, he admitted that he was planning to communicate with his kids in Spanish in the future. “I speak Spanish with my wife in daily life. As those who are raising a baby know, there will come a time when the baby speaks Spanish better than me. I can’t fall behind, so I’m learning Spanish,” he said, as reported by K-media outlet Sports Chosun (translation by K-drama Handle on X/Twitter).