Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are teaching their children to speak French as a tribute to the actess' late mother Marcheline Bertrand.

The actress also confessed that the twins birth place was heavily influenced by her mother's French-Canadian heritage and love of France.

Angelina told OK!,"They're the first babies I've had without her. She was an amazing mom and she shouldn't have passed away so young.

"She was partly French-Canadian, and she always loved France, so when I was deciding where to have the children, it was just a very comforting idea to do it in France, because I knew she would have loved it.

"That's a reason why we're all learning French, too, because she always wanted my children to speak the language.

"It's a beautiful language and a beautiful culture, and being in that part of the world always reminds me of her."

Angelina lost her mother to cancer last year.

See Angelina and Brad's family album here