With parents like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox were never going to be your average children.

The actor and humanitarian confirmed just that when she opened up to BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour recently about her half a dozen kids' love of languages and culture.

"All the kids are learning different languages," Jolie revealed. "I asked them what languages they wanted to learn and Shi is learning Khmai, which is a Cambodian language, Pax is focusing on Vietnamese, Mad has taken to German and Russian, Z is speaking French, Vivienne really wanted to learn Arabic, and Knox is learning sign language.

"I suppose that just means you don't know who your children are until they show you who they are and they are just becoming whoever they want to be.

"It's been a dream, they are interested in other cultures," she added, when it was put to her by the interviewer how handy they will be when travelling the world."

But the Maleficent star, 41, who is married to fellow actor Pitt, 52, said they will not be following in their Hollywood footsteps.

"None of my kids want to be actors," she revealed. "They are actually very interested in being musicians. I think they like the process of film from the outside. Mad is interested in editing. They are all vert young. Pax loves music and DJing."

Three of Jolie's adopted children were orphaned by war – Maddox, 14, Pax, 12, and Zahara, 11, while she gave birth to Shiloh, 10, in Africa and twins Vivienne and Knox, 7, in France.

Jolie, who has made it her mission to give a voice to refugees, ensures they all learn about their backgrounds, and teaches them that refugees are heroes who are facing difficult situations.

"They are heroes in my house," she said, adding they celebrate World Refugee Day. "I never want them to look at these people and feel pity … I want them to have so much admiration and respect."

Speaking on behalf of her role as a Special Envoy for the United Nations, she said refugees have "the worst possible situation". She also highlighted the prevalence of sexual violence towards women caught up in war zones and rape carried out by soldiers sent to protect them.

Touching on lack of healthcare for refugees, the Salt star discussed her decision to have both breasts removed in 2013 as a preventative measure after discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation, which placed her at a higher risk of developing breast cancer. She followed it up with more surgery in March 2015 to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes.

"I probably wouldn't have made it this far if I were a refugee," she said.

Giving an example, she discussed her decision to have daughter Shiloh in an African hospital.

"I went to a hospital in Namibia, where I was having my daughter, and I was in breech. I needed a C-section, and I knew I was in breech because I had had the money to have an ultrasound," Jolie said. "But I found even the local hospital with many, many women – and this was a good hospital – did not have an ultrasound machine.

"So the amount of women that didn't know they were in breech, the amount of babies and complications when they got into labour, with one simple machine," she said. "But I know there are many extraordinary people who are working on this and women's health around the world, and many groups dedicated solely to that, and their work is so needed and these solutions can come."