Game of Thrones language creator clears up Emilia Clarke's confusion over saying she "sucked" at speaking Dothraki

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. — (Image credit: HBO)

Anyone who has poured serious hours into Duolingo will know how hard it is to pick up a language, let alone a fictional one that has to be delivered to an audience of millions.

So you can imagine Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke's displeasure at supposedly reading that she "sucked" at speaking Dothraki by the language's creator.

"I put so much energy into learning Dothraki," Clarke said of her time as Daenerys on a recent Late Night with Seth Meyers appearance. "I read in an article, the creator of the language said that I sucked at Dothraki. I was like, 'Bro, it's not a real language!' I can't suck at it because me saying it on a TV show – that's the language, that's how it goes."

For his part, linguist and Dothraki creator David J. Peterson has seemingly been nothing but kind to Clarke's performance in interviews – and it may all be a case of Westeros whispers spiralling out of control.

Speaking to Rolling Stone back in 2017, Peterson said, "It's always funny to me to hear Emilia Clarke speak Dothraki. Of course, her character is not supposed to be fluent, and it really sounds…not fluent."

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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