Can Steve Kaufmann ACTUALLY Speak Russian?

[@holmespianotuning]

The thing is Steve doesn’t claim to speak all the languages he knows with total fluency and admits they vary and come and go. I find him inspiring and helpful. Being a polyglot doesn’t mean speaking every language you claim to speak perfectly.

[@ba8898]

Steve strikes me as someone completely content and at peace with what he has and has not achieved, and displays virtually zero ego. He comes across as someone who honestly couldn't care less about what others think of his language skills. I find this very refreshing in the online polyglot community. To me, the man is a massive source of motivation. His videos taught me how to learn a language.

[@OmarLivesUnderSpace]

What does being a polyglot mean then?

[@Ltasty]

​@@OmarLivesUnderSpacesomeone that eats a lot

[@Dah42]

​@@OmarLivesUnderSpaceThe dictionary defines it as someone who can speak more than three languages. As a native Spanish speaker, I can say that Steve is fluent in my language. Most likely, he is also fluent in Italian and Portuguese, making him a polyglot. However, I'm not aware of his proficiency in the other languages he speaks or how fluent he is in those languages.

[@OmarLivesUnderSpace]

@@Dah42 I.E., he doesn't speak Spanish perfectly but you still consider him a polyglot?

[@abri_xxx]

He even mentioned in a video that he is not a 100 % fluent. But I think he doesn't need to be. It's impressive to learn 20 language to a degree you understand a lot and speak a lot.

[@auguste980]

Well, Yama really exaggerates with that "high level". Steve is pretty average to put it midly. It's an OKish B1 level. I speak Russian as my third foreign language and it's pretty low-level. Like what Steve has.

[@Road2Improvement]

I can say Steve's Mandarin is even much better than lots of Chinese. Very fluent and the words he uses are accurate.

[@LangJourney]

Another thing that is really impressive about this is that he didn't start learning it until he was 60.

[@Grilnid]

That's not really true, that's when he started actively pursuing language learning for its own sake and as a hobby, but he learned French in college, Chinese and Japanese for work in his thirties and forties, and probably some other ones. Absolutely does not take anything away from the amount of work he put in over these decades though and it is absolutely impressive, but felt like the precision was needed

[@an0nycat]

Yes, if Steve has such a high level of understanding of the complex Russian language, then if he speaks 20 other languages at the same level, then Steve is just some kind of phenomenon. 😮😮

[@Komatik_]

Of course he doesn't - some languages he's good at, others not close to that.

[@Legend011]

Yeah he definitely doesn't speak them all at that level, and of course he doesn't claim he does. I think Chinese, Japanese, Russian maybe french too? are like his best? don't quote me on that though lol.

[@ohitzwavy7173]

​@@Legend011French, Chinese and Japanese with Spanish trailing a little behind those 3 I believe is what he said himself

[@sebastiangudino9377]

​@@ohitzwavy7173He is great with romance languages. He definitely fairs well in Italian and Spanish

[@ohitzwavy7173]

@@sebastiangudino9377 oh he’s great don’t get me wrong and you can see even if he hasn’t spoken the language in awhile it comes back to him. it’s just to steve personally he feels the most confident in those 4

[@ronlugbill1400]

I speak French fluently and I have heard Steve Kaufman speak French. His French is excellent. He studied at Sciences Po in Paris, which is like the Harvard of France. So, his French is excellent. He mainly reads for enjoyment in various languages. He learned Russian to read Anna Karenina in Russian. I am only a beginner in Russian so I cannot judge his Russian except based on your judgement. I would note that you showed an actual conversation with a native speaker, which is a different situation that someone just giving a memorized speech. In a real conversation, you have to understand the other speaker, gather your thoughts, and then respond to it with only a second to think it through. This is the most challenging skill for a language learner.

[@byronwilliams7977]

I wouldn't say his french is excellent at all. Keeping in mind he would never pass for a native from Canada or any other city in France to my knowledge. I think its most important that we maintain a high bar, and simply applaud him for the effort.

[@sebastiangudino9377]

​@@byronwilliams7977 Why would he want to pass for a native tho? That's far from the point of learning a language

[@Pos44Dami]

science po équivalent d'Harvard 😂😂 qu'est ce qu'il faut pas lire .. science politique dont l'ancien patron c'est pendu

[@heyyy1325]

Bonjour, je suis Russe et j'apprends le français- c'est une langue vraiment belle et je l'adore!!!! Bonne chance pour apprendre la langue Russe; ce peut être un peu difficile, mais vous pouvez le faire :)

[@Pos44Dami]

@@heyyy1325 le russe est vraiment beau je savais pas du tout qu'il y'avait autant de musique ....de grupa krovi de kino jusqu'a Дурной Вкус .. j'ai pas branché le clavier cyrillique mais le coeur y est 😁😁

[@dave5008]

Your videos provide me great insights about learning languages. Now I know that even "hyperpolyglots" create a lot of mistakes, and nobody's perfect. You gave me realistic expectations and motivation to try and try. Thanks, Yama!

[@jonhanson8925]

From my experience "hyperpolyglots" are the most likely to make a lot of mistakes since their studies are spread so thin. Not to insult anyone! It's just that's the natural result of aiming for learning a lot of languages

[@ghosthunter0950]

@@jonhanson8925 Yup. the unfortunate reality is that language learning takes time and honestly I don't think he really cares that he makes mistakes. the amount of understanding in both reading and listening he has is far more important.

[@mep6302]

​@@ghosthunter0950Many polyglots including him think communication is more important than making mistakes. I think the ideal way of speaking a foreign language is communication + making the least amount of mistakes. I mean, even native speakers make mistakes but since they're natives people think "it's their language, you can't complain" however when a foreigner makes it people think "you need to practice more, you're not actually fluent". I think it's dumb. I'm a native Spanish speaker and I acknowledge the fact that I make mistakes. Once I said "esto es para...yo" instead of "esto es para mí" I make silly mistakes when I'm arguing with someone. I normally don't make those kinds of mistakes.

[@jerstumc5033]

@@mep6302 y de ahi, se rien. eso pasa usualmente

[@estrafalario5612]

Most people do many mistakes, not just hyperpoliglots. Actually, even natives make mistakes in our own languages... 0 mistakes is not the goal to achieve, at least in my opinion. If you want to speak to a close-to-native level, then don't expect to speak more than 10 foreign languages, and most probably just 3-4. If you "just" want to be able to have meaningful conversations, or to read books, watch the TV, etc. Then it is clearly possible to speak over 10 languages. Steve is one of the most famous in this thing, but there are plenty of people (specially out of KZbin) who speak fairly well 10, 15, 20 languages.

[@alexroaming1]

I love Steve, I'm russian and now I live in LA and trying to learn English, Steve the guy who can motivate like in my jorney in learning language. Твой русский классный, практически нет акцента)

[@RussifyMe]

в итоге, он русский знает, я не б сказал что он бегло разговаривает потому что с его речью, вот видно что он не русскоговорящий, равно все нормально с его уровнем и по моему ему нужен чаще с русскоговорящими разговаривать, так он улучшит все, классный видео.💙💙

[@JewishFemboy]

Да, определённо, я уверен, что если бы он всё своё время вложил в изучение русского, то не просто начал бы быстрее и правильнее формулировать речь, но и произношение его было бы почти как у носителя языка, потому-что оно у него и без этого достаточно хорошее

[@ukrop4ikbrawlstars509]

тебе тоже следовало бы

[@tschewm1353]

@@ukrop4ikbrawlstars509 Він не російськомовний, тому є багато помилок, але зрозуміло, що він хотів сказати. А це - головне.

[@LiBeiFeng]

@@JewishFemboy Насчет акцента - не уверен. Но это не так важно, его акцент вполне приемлемый. Видно, что он учил русский когда-то, но его несколько подзабыл. Но его уровень всё равно исходно был очень высокий. Если он будет постоянно общаться по-русски с носителями в течении хотя бы полугода, то думаю его уровень очень быстро вырастет и грамматика исправится, потому что его база в русском очень неплохая, не хватает только практики.

[@hollygreen8663]

@@LiBeiFeng ему грамматики не хватает. Вряд ли у деда есть проблемы с практикой, учитывая его ютуб канал.

[@MinimaAmoralia]

"я русскоязычная обезьяна" 🤣🤣🤣 I can't lol

[@ernestorevollar3632]

Steve Kaufmann is a talented polyglot whose language learning skills are amazing to me, therefore he's such an inspiring person to learn several languages I like and in which I'm really interested. His level of Russian is great even though he makes a lot of mistakes when he speaks it but even so I admire how willing and enthusiastic he is when it comes to getting into speaking different languages and I know that learning Russian can represent a really big deal due to its tricky grammar which is insanely complicated but that doesn't scare me away because I decided to learn it and guess what? No language in the entire world is "hard", it just depends on someone's perspective, how you see them, whatever your thoughts and so on. I can speak some English and I write it a lot, I'm at the intermediate level which is B2 and we know it is the undisputed lingua franca or the universal language, I have too much input on my English whenever I listen to it, and when read it I can understand almost everything especially if the topic in question talks about one thing I really like and that's why I'm still picking out key vocabulary with which I'm already quite familiar. English is my strongest language so far and I can go for the fluency. I'm passionate about learning English everyday and I do it by maintaining the joy, energy, enjoyment, mindfulness, motivation and an endless interest because they're the key to unlock and witness the powerful and impressive world of languages, and go through it even further when we come across certain obstacles or difficulties which truly make us trip up several times but it doesn't matter. And I think all this works with any language and experiencing it would be unforgettable.

[@chandie5298]

See... the entire thing about "does he speak Russian" all depends upon who is defining that statement. From my viewpoint (your mileage may vary), a person who can easily and effectively communicate ....hold common conversations... can "speak" a language. I have no expectation for the person to have native level fluency. Kaufman can absolutely communicate effectively and hold a conversation in Russian.

[@AUE79]

the thought of steve kaufmann using discord from the thumbnail is hillarious lol

[@Tehui1974]

I remember seeing a video where Steve Kaufmann rates his French, Japanese and Spanish language skills relatively higher than his Russian. I can't remember his ratings, but I think he rated his ability in those languages at a C1 level, and his ability in Russian at a B2 level. I'm sure if Steve just focused on Russian for another year, he would improve it to a C1 level. The man is too busy with his business and learning other languages, LOL.

[@michaelrabich9635]

I think he is strong in Chinese as well, he was a diplomat in China

[@Tehui1974]

@@michaelrabich9635 Yes, you're right. I watched a video of his the other day, and in his words, his strongest languages are French, Chinese and Japanese, and then behind them is Spanish.

[@Felixxxxxxxxx]

His Swedish is good as well.

[@jesusnavin5017]

Idk about c1, but he's definitely at b1-b2 ranges in those vids. Some mistakes yeah but they are neglectable although always noticeable, still mad impressive. Im actually more confused about the author of this vid, he claims to be a native(or not I don't actually remember already kek) but he has a very weird accent, wording and overall way of conveying his thoughts, honestly looks like he's polish/Slovak/serb/etc

[@dilkondeff]

I am Russian too, a native speaker and I speak as broken russian as the OP of this video.. And I've been studying english only for 4 years and I can with all of my confidence say it that my speaking english is way better than my Russian... In fact my Russian is in a severe decline because I hardly use it despite living in Russia. So I believe this guy that he's Russian..@@jesusnavin5017

[@Zorg2006]

I'm surprised you were surprised that he knew what Вы and Ты were - since he knows 20 languages, and the same formal/inform forms exist in many of those languages (e.g. French vous/tu, Italian voi/tu, etc.).

[@michaelmckelvey5122]

Maybe it was more about his ability to understand, even at the beginning of the conversation, the actual content of almost the first question being put to him, without having to have the question repeated or for more input as to what he was being asked. His Russian is far from fluent and he needs a lot of practice but he had a good understanding of Russian spoken comprehension. Especially with the changing stress patens of the words that the Russian language presents, this is, in itself, far from an easy task.

[@brian_chalega]

I was also surprised by his surprise lol Not only it's used in other languages, but in Russian it's one of the first things you learn, you need to know it to change the verbs' ending accordingly so you'll have seen it in the first few grammar lessons, and вы is also the plural form, so you undoubtedly will have learn this early on.

[@TopToro]

Steve when he speaks in Russian has "English" articulation. Too much stress on the lips. We, Russians talk with a more relaxing articulation, but with strong consonant sounds. Don't make them too soft, especially at the end of the words. Yama speaks almost perfectly.

[@petrosstefanidis6396]

Asking people to prove they speak the language and giving them marks is what party poopers do. That being said, Steve Kaufmann is not just a random guy - he makes a profit out of it - so a critique could be justified.

[@elchin5805]

Spot-on

[@sleeplessinchicago9082]

As a native Russian speaker, I would not say that he speaks Russian "very well". The main issue is that he does not practice it enough and, as a result, loses fluency and overall level over time.

[@zuro1986]

Да нормально дед шпарит

[@darkwind1812]

But can you understand him? do you feel uncomfortable listening to him or not? It's a just question.

[@ojgfhuebsrnvn2781]

@@darkwind1812 Yes, you obviously can. He speaks well enough to make conversations on different topics. The only problems he has is lack of practise as said in this tread. You can see him thinking while speaking, remembering words, so he just can't think faster than he talks. There are also small mistakes in word endings but it could be compared to not using articles in English properly. He speaks Russian at about the level i wrote this message in English, not without mistakes but completely comprehensible (though despite making a lot of mistakes i don't "remember" words anymore and feel comfortable thinking in English).

[@michaelmckelvey5122]

@@ojgfhuebsrnvn2781 ''He speaks Russian at about the level I wrote this message in English...'' не правда, очень хорошо пишешь на английском языке.

[@ojgfhuebsrnvn2781]

@@michaelmckelvey5122 это так кажется. Я всегда возвращаясь к старым комментариям вижу как криво они написаны. Я недавно в поезде увидел как Нидерландка разговаривала с англичанкой. Слушая нидерландку казалось что у нее свободный английский, но слушая их вместе разница была очевидна. Так и вам, лишь кажется что английский хороший. Я большую часть времени "думаю" на английском, то есть я чувствую себя комфортно с ним, однако если протестировать, то я имею уровень Б2. Также как кауфман делает небольшие ошибки в окончаниях слов и говорит более простым языком, я редко использую времена с have и абсолютно наугад расставляю артикли.

[@s-dyorindyorin-s149]

The owner of the channel has a very decent grasp of Russian pronunciation which is rare among Westerners due to largerly different phonetics (that's why Russians also have very poor English pronunciation in most cases). Impressive.

[@sharonoddlyenough]

If he is Canadian, he might have been sent to Russian immersion school and spoken Russian with family members since childhood.

[@sarahEmeyers17]

Я не говорю по-русски, но я хочу говорить

[@MikeR.1986]

Не говоришь, но писать умеешь?

[@Victoria.Pulliam]

I’m learning Russian on my own and it has been so hard! However, finding channels that have Russian speakers that use the language help me so much

[@TadParker]

nope, english is very hard, and russian is super-easy!😂

[@f2u2DeakWatt]

Russian as you progress become much easier, the Oos and Aah for example. KZbin have lots of learning Russian videos and you can learn from the Russian comments section also

[@Alexander_Hidden]

Hey, don't you want some language exchange? We could have a conversation sometimes for the improvement of our language skills. What do you think?

[@PABLO-sk6pq]

I can help you is you want. Do you have discord?

[@Eazy._E]

How is it going?

[@ZeAmador]

I love these videos because you debunk false polyglots

[@Leon.Stanic]

Would love him to review Wouter's "Russian")))

[@elina1421]

@@user-kh6mr5up4j fr like he said steve completely (!!) botched the question and then says stuff like "грамматично говоришь" and "говорит 20 языков"😭 i just wish a native speaker would release a series like that (by that i mean a person who was born and raised in a russian-speaking country). granted their english wouldn't be as good as yama's but you know

[@sjh-_]

Most of them are legit polyglots but not fluent in it

[@darkwind1812]

I've listened to him talking Spanish and he speaks quite well so I think he's not a fake polyglot. For him the important thing is communication if he can communicate with others I think he is ok with that.

[@TinaKGreene]

@@elina1421 I don't know if you're native, but this guy's Russian, however imperfect, is definitely at a native level. We do make mistakes in noun cases and adjective endings, especially with numbers. When I was taught at Moscow State Linguistic University to be an interpreter, they instructed us to always use numbers in the nominative, because the other cases are too hard to process in a stressful and fast-paced setting. (I'm a native Russian, as were the teachers and my classmates). update: I've read some of his comments here and now I have doubts. I might have been too hasty with my assessment of his level.

[@さくらの目利き]

You may be surprised, but a significant part of Russians do not know the rules of the language or know very poorly, and the same picture with the Americans, the English have a little smaller, because they have a good school and in fact they are the true speakers. But why then, without knowing the rules, the vast majority of people speak their native languages well? It's simple, the skill comes with the experience of communication. So communicate more, don't learn the language alone!

[@thedeemon]

As a Russian native I totally agree with this assessment, based on just the samples shown here.

[@proper_hokage8259]

How long have you been learning english? and Whats you level reach?

[@thedeemon]

@@proper_hokage8259 I left Russia 15 years ago, currently live in London, so I've been actively using English for quite some time. Before coming to the UK I did IELTS and got 7.5, I guess it means C1 in another scale.

[@user-bu1zt6kt2o]

yama, do you have a recommended way for foreigners to learn Russian? I've been doing duolingo for a while but I've heard it's not a great way to learn. Спасибо!!

[@misana77]

Hi, I'm not Yama but I would like to share my thoughts:) The way I learned English is by watching American TV shows with Russian subtitles. But, to be honest, I had a little experience with English before from school - mainly, I knew some basic grammar. Then, as my comprehension abilities surprisingly started to go up, I unintentional began to immerse myself into the language more: I started to watch more English speaking KZbin and reading articles related to my hobbies. To be fair, this English learning journey was (and still is) quite long, but probably it is the most fun way to learn a language. To summarize, I'd say start watching a lot of Russian content with your language subtitles and learn some grammar but don't focus too much on it in the beginning stages of your language learning. There is a lot of Russian cartoons here on KZbin like Masha and the Bear (Маша и Медведь), The Fixies (Фиксики) or Kikoriki (Смешарики). There are a lot more but these ones are the first ones to come to mind. Then, maybe start to watch Russian KZbin or movies or series.

[@yurykomarinskiy9497]

For both of you the thing which is really stands out for a Russian ear is a lack of the way to say "good". Repeating same word all over again considered lame and lack of style and sounds flat. For Russian it is rutine to use a bunch of synonyms for a word "good" especially. Two tricks to avoid it: 1. Here a is bunch of synonyms for you: достойно, неплохо, отлично, идеально, красиво, невероятно, на высоком уровне, особенно выделяется ..(что-то).... For a flavour you can use modificators here and there: very(очень, весьма, значительно, достаточно), especially(особенно), rearmkably(заметно, примечательно, можно отметить интересно что). Or rebuild phrases in order to be more specific: "You can highlight/mark the way he handles plural forms/his sentence quality" - which is equal to "he is doing plural forms good/have good sentence quality", not using "good". Or "His style catches the eye" - "His style is good". 2. Second trick which could be especially hard for English speaker but rewardfull. It is to shuffle the words in the sentance, as far as their order mean little to nothing but is used as a tool of style. "He speaks Russian good" and "He good speaks Russian" and "Russian he good speaks" will be litteraly maen the same, though would be not considered flat because you don't use same pattern Subject - Verb - Object all over again. Actually all those complicated Russian different word forms are an exchange for the freedom to shuffle the word order without shifting the meaning. And when you do not use it you loose your benefits, yet have to go through the drawbacks.

[@elenaekanathapetrova2282]

Это да! Стив Кауфман реально вдохновляющий пример.

[@michaelharvey702]

Notice that he is very comfortable speaking about the language but when speaking about other subjects, it is more of a challenge for him. This is not a negative thing. The first thing we do is learn to speak about the language IN the language because most people are interested to know how, when, where and why we learned the language so polyglots learn how to talk about this first (among a few other essential types of conversations). Now you can analyse polyglots and see which ones find it just as easy talking about other normal/necessary/usual/useful subjects.

[@yadurajdas532]

Keep in mind this is an old man and he has learn this much Russian in probably one year. He is not some one who is regularly practicing the conversational Russian but rather using his tule learning other languages.

[@nendoakuma7451]

If i recall, spent about 4-5 years on Russian

[@Russian-mx7po]

@@nendoakuma7451 that's right, according to him he was doing a ton of Russian every day for years.

[@nendoakuma7451]

@@Russian-mx7po Yeah, he spent longer on it than his other relatively recent languages. I don’t know Russian, but I wouldn’t have thought he’d get a b2 because as far as I know he doesn’t use it much these days. Maybe his off and on study of other slavic languages has helped

[@renanvinicius6036]

He has started to learn Russian when he was already over 60yo, it's understandable that he would not develop his skills as consistently as an young person

[@Dashuyan88]

He has been learning russian since 2005-2007 if i remember correctly

[@KitKeepsIt100]

Guys and gals when it comes to polyglots it's important to keep one (obvious) thing in mind - you can't master a foreign language (even your native language you haven't mastered and will never master its vocabulary,grammar, punctuation and other nuances), it can only be learnt to a certain level,plus there should be some objective criteria for evaluation. Otherwise, it's just empty talk.

[@albert4153]

Кауфман разговаривает по-русски как иностранец с высоким уровнем владения - C1 или C2. То есть, допускает некоторые грамматические ошибки, есть заметный акцент, но в целом говорит правильно, довольно сложными предложениями. Я про автора видео не понял. Я сначала решил, что русский для него родной, он сделал пару ошибок и есть какой-то едва уловимый акцент.

[@heleng5372]

Автор видео с акцентом говорит, сделал дилетанскую ошибку с if-ли, но не потому что знает плохо язык (знает прекрасно, говорит свободно), а потому что думает на английском. Поэтому на носителя никак не тянет.

[@akinkinalexandr5672]

А2-В1 у него русский. Но не В2, В2 предполагает уже беглую бытовую речь на автомате. Я бы даже сказал что законченный А2, открытый В1, самое начало. А2 все же более корректно.

[@jesusnavin5017]

Ну я вот челу выше писал, можно конечно сказать что а2, но ток когда он о каких-то более сложных вещах говорить начинает, таки простые смолтоки я думаю он спокойно на б1-2 вытянет, хз чего к нему так придираются норм говорит мужик, учитывая что он украинский ещё походу учил, там такая каша наверное из-за этого может быть

[@runningriot7963]

I want to know what you think about Luca Lamparielo's Russian.

[@lifeofyama]

I'll add him to the list 👌

[@runningriot7963]

@@lifeofyama Спасибо братан)

[@LucaLampariello]

@@lifeofyama That would be interesting to watch 😄

[@lifeofyama]

​@@LucaLampariello check back tmrw at 0800 EST 👌

[@smokeAndMirrors74]

I’d love to be that “rough” in a second language.

[@josejuangarciacorrea7971]

to sum up, steve is one of the greatest polylot that I have ever seen in my life.

[@CharlieZakiya]

Достали эти полиглоты так называемые. Особенно когда говорят что мол ребенок такой то знает 5 языков а ему 6 лет. Такой бред. Невозможно выучить за такой короткий срок несколько языков. Они нахватались минимума и заявляют что знают язык

[@Nelson-Cs]

Now you have to review to Luca Lampariello ..please

[@aftsfm]

6:31 жесть, ты так чисто на русском заговорил в этом моменте

[@user-ox4hz3hn5j]

КультуRно?

[@betos-08]

эти видео очень интереные. я начал учить русский несколько лет назад и мне не нравится когда люди говорят, что они могут свободно говорить на языке и другие люди, которые не знают тот язык, думают, что человек гений - но если русскоговоряший человек его бы услышил, это очевидно, что его уровень только А2 или Б1

[@jesusnavin5017]

Definitely not a2, but yeah b1-2 ranges leaning more towards b2 actually

[@jesusnavin5017]

Well you can claim that's he's a2 but only when he's talking about more complex topics, ofc he will f up stuff but still 100% understandable

[@betos-08]

@@jesusnavin5017 yeah I was thinking more of Ikenna or maybe Laoshu, Xiaoma, etc.

[@ViktoriaDrobysh]

But why do you have such a thick accent and you make mistakes speaking Russian if it's your native language? :)

[@utvpoop]

Только слушая иностранцев, понимаешь, насколько русский язык сложен на самом деле

[@quasasawds]

Или когда учишь иностранца ,

[@James-hs3tu]

I couldn't tell any way. If it's right or wrong. Just sounds good. But being his age u wouldn't waste time learning these languages. No need.

[@MityaNamikin]

0:12 if - это не всегда "если". if - "если", если "if" = "in the case when" а если "if" = "whether", то if - "ли", причём сначала ставится слово, которое мы ставим под сомнение, потом "ли", а затем всё остальное. т. о., "I'll check if you've done your homework." может быть переведено по-разному: "Я проверю, ВЫПОЛНИЛ ЛИ ты своё ДЗ." ("I'll check if you've DONE your homework.") "Я проверю, ТЫ ЛИ выполнил своё ДЗ." ("I'll check if YOU've done your homework.") "Я проверю, СВОЁ ЛИ ДЗ ты выполнил." ("I'll check if you've done YOUR homework.") Ну и получается не "посмотреть, ЕСЛИ Стив разговаривает по-русски", а "посмотреть, РАЗГОВАРИВАЕТ ЛИ Стив по-русски".

[@potestasetdecus]

Steve can speak some simple words and elementary sentences in russian. You can speak russian pretty well. Steve's level of possession language is of a 6 years old russian kid while yours is of a mature person.

[@tbountybay3080]

Hey it’s Max! Russian with Max is such an awesome channel 😁

[@juliasummers7417]

There's still room for Steve to improve his pronunciation besides grammar. For me personally, it's better to master 3 or 4 languages than going for 10 or 20. A German friend of mine went to a speech in German by an Asian speaker. Later he told me he couldn't understand what the speaker was talking about.

[@pputnam100]

I'm sorry but that has to be one of the more ridiculous comments I've read on here, the idea that you would think it better to "master" 3 or 4 languages instead of being able to communicate decently in 20 shows a very immature world and culture view. You gotta be a very young person...

[@juliasummers7417]

@@pputnam100 Insulting me is not going to change my mind. On the contrary, I am an older person heading for my retirement. I speak Chinese, English, German, and Russian, for all four I have received diplomas from universities. I am learning Spanish for fun and vacation. I don't consider myself a polyglot, a word I don't particularly like. Yes, I WOULD think of something, and that is called my opinion.

[@ala2365]

Спасибо за видео, не знал о таком человеке ранее! Уровень действительно высокий, согласен насчет В2, видно, что просто не хватает практики языка. Если он поговорит активно с носителями пару недель или месяц, уровень спокойно поднимется до С1.👍 Правда не совсем уверен в том, что русский ему сейчас действительно нужен) без обид к соотечественникам, но тот же арабский выглядит более привлекательным в ближайшее время.

[@ryik868]

Do you recommend any good sites/resources to start learning Russian?

[@jvu2ilj26]

I wish somebody would give an honest review of my speaking skill as well. If you ask your friends or teachers, they're usually just nice and compliment you... But I really wish to hear what I sound like to a native speaker... :/

[@ertenren]

In my childhood "Вы" ("Ви" in Ukrainian) was like: if u talk to adults u say "Вы", if u talk to not adult u can say "Ты". That simple. But when i was in school first time my teacher said: not exist "Ты"-"Вы", exist only "you". I was surprised :).

[@jpr4747]

Friedrich Engels used to speak fluently 24 languages. Soon, at 18, he was able to speak almost 16. My Russian friends speak fluently Russian...burt also French, English, Portuguese, Italian, some Africann languages ( wolof, and others)

[@baqi007]

Do Iclal she is girl in the video talking with Steve

[@OscarTorres-gi6fo]

I appreciate your videos man! I've been learning Russian for two years and no where near as good as some of these folks, mainly due to having less time. However, I'd love for you to check out Melovich and Ryan Hales! Would love to see what you think of their Russian. Большое спасибо!

[@counterfeit9187]

Language reflects the way of thinking. Russian language, arabic, chinese - it's all different ways of thinking.And persian is not arabic, japanese is not chinese. At the same time, English is way simpler in comparison, so imagine how english speakers have to push their brains to learn those complicated languages, should really appreciate their efforts

[@saudadeensoil]

Мне как носителю русского языка интересно почему иностранцы изучают русский язык? Знаешь, сейчас такая ситуация, многие не хотели бы ехать в Россию из-за войны и определённых рисков. Не так много есть российских компаний на мировом рынке, чтобы изучать язык. Это такая гимнастика для мозга? Носителям передаю теплый привет:) Изучающим желаю не сдаваться. Автору канала посылаю лучи добра:))

[@stnhndg]

Потому что интересно. Стив об этом говорил в одном из своих интервью. Скажем, японский ему был нужен для бизнеса, а вот остальные языки - банальное хобби.

[@lilyanna3009]

There is no wrong language to learn , language is language.

[@58_56]

Только чтобы смотреть стримы и видосы каши

[@TadParker]

Мазохисты, наскучило им жить в своих благополучных, правовых, свободных странах, хотят приехать в рашу и вкусить русского смачного сапога, стать безвольными рабами кучки преступников во власти. Или ещё хуже, перенять опыт и построить в своих странах russia 2.0. В противном случае, я не вижу смысла в изучении русского языка, если ты только не латентный обожатель диктатуры. Masochists, they are bored with living in their prosperous, rule of law, free countries, they want to come to Russia and taste the Russian savory boot, to become weak-willed slaves of a handful of criminals in power. Or even worse, learn from experience and build russia 2.0 in their countries. Otherwise, I don't see the point in learning Russian, unless you're a latent admirer of dictatorship.

[@TadParker]

@@helena_5456 you understand that everything that Russia is famous for was created before 1917. Literature, ballet, music, architecture... everything was created in a completely different country. Russia at present is a rather primitive state, exploiting the heritage of the past, while itself no longer creating anything. Moreover, in it any initiative and creativity is even punishable.

[@DotSimLtd]

Ok, this is not a remotely accurate way of assessing ability. Its fairly easy to talk one on one about the same or similar subjects to a friendly "teacher" or "conversation partner" type over Skype. He obviously speaks some but I was still unclear how much of this is just fluff. A bit like some people who says they "play" piano but can only riff some chords, can be quite hard to call them out if thats all you see them do.

[@sashoksashok8108]

As a foreigner he speaks very well. I would estimate his russian as b2

[@audrius1683]

B1 max

[@sashoksashok8108]

@@audrius1683 why? I’m native speaker and very skeptical to so called “multi polyglots”, but his level of Russian (very difficult language to learn) is quite impressive for foreigner. This isn’t advanced (c1), but quite good and profound to intermediate level (b2)

[@ruedigernassauer]

As long as he speaks about language learning, his only subject... Hallo, ich heiße Steve Kaufmann und ich spreche deutsch. Wie geht´s? Deutsch lernen ist einfach. Bla bla bla.

[@TinaKGreene]

@@ruedigernassauer I agree. I can speak quite extensively about language learning in several languages but it doesn't mean I'll be as good at a conversation about climate change or elections.

[@Russian-mx7po]

@@ruedigernassauer lol that's what I noticed about all internet polyglots. They're like rehearsed dialogues that can be learned in the first 20 chapters of an Assimil course.

[@ulovil]

0:08 WAIT. WHAT?? ))) He says literally: "My name is Yama and I am a russian speaking MONKEY". WTF )))

[@nendoakuma7451]

His Mandarin is pretty good. Probably at least B2. I don’t feel the videos I’ve seen give me enough to say whether his speaking is higher than B2 or not. His Japanese doesn’t seem quite as good to me, but my own Japanese isn’t good enough to say.

[@gee8883]

我看过他的中文采访和留言， 我估计他中文阅读c2 听力c2 写作B1 口语B2。老先生爱人是中国人所以他中文还是保持的蛮好的。

[@nendoakuma7451]

@@gee8883 好像老婆是香港人，母语广东话

[@PizzaKing1]

why didn't you rate Icil ? they claim she has a very good Russian

[@ergwer45624]

my Russian is better than Kaufmann's but he's more spread out at 20 than i am at 6-7 languages

[@MeMorio]

As a Russian, I would say his level is around B1. It can not be B2, because he makes very basic grammar mistakes at the A1-A2 level, but he is fairly fluent. I believe his passive vocabulary and comprehension surpasses B2. If he spends about 2-3 months mastering grammar, he will have completed B2.

[@sovkamazur1291]

Привеееет, ждала твое видео, спасибо за еще одно оочень интересное :) На протяжении всего видео я буду отмечать тут его ошибки, чтобы в конце я могла выдвинуть свое мнение насчет его русского языка (надеюсь не покажусь душнилой). Он большой молодец, самая его большая проблема это конечно акцент, а так он неплохо справляется для иностранца. Его ошибки, которые я подметила, это например он сказал "персийский язык", а правильно персидский. Еще он сказал "два минут" вместо "две минуты" и так же "русский язык сложно", "граматика сложно" - либо ему надо было дополнить предложение " сложно учить " и следовать правилам падежов " граматикУ сложно учить", либо из "сложно" сделать краткие прилагательные "русский язык сложен", "русская граматика сложна" . "Почти никогда (не) говорю по-русски" он пропустил "не". Я думаю если отсечь ошибки в падежах, то у него все прекрасно получается, не смотря на то, что он несколько последних лет не разговаривал на нашем языке + конечно, как ты сказал, удивительно, что он легко понимает японца и знает параллельно 20+ языков. У тебя я услышала только одну ошибку "если он правда говорит двадцать языков" а надо "если он правда говорит/разговаривает на двадцати языках". Я думааааааю, что он разговаривает на русском на Б1 тк он особо не владеет падежами, хотя это основа русского языка, нооооо мне кажется, что он прекрасно все понимает на слух. Understanding я бы поставила ему даже С1 :) У меня к тебе вопросик есть тк ты владеешь идеально двумя языками, мне вот интересно на каком языке ты думаешь : англ или рус? жду нового видео :з

[@lifeofyama]

привет опять) Я согласен с тобой, ты очень хорошо все объяснилa. Чтобы ответить твой вопрос, я бы сказал что в большинстве случаев я думаю на английском, но когда я разговариваю с русскими, я думаю на русском. Рад снова видеть тебя здесь так рано ✌

[@sovkamazur1291]

@@lifeofyama хорошо ^^ буду знать

[@alexduraev]

Только не «падежов», а «падежей»)) не путайте парнишку)

[@sovkamazur1291]

@@alexduraev извините сама из Латвии ХВХВХВВХ мне простительно 😭😭😭💅🏻

[@alexduraev]

@@sovkamazur1291 не в претензию))

[@AdoreLanguage]

Bravo! Excellent review.

[@pontianforests]

Steve is nice but I think he doesn't speak any of the languages he speaks above level B1 or B2 which is quite unproficient

[@coffeecuppepsi]

He struggles but he speaks it

[@Kinotaurus]

I would agree about B2 for Steve.

[@andreyovcharenko1999]

У тебя очень крутой русский! Keep it up!

[@user-qu2hg1mb5z]

Да он говорит по русски испански и много языков я говорю на четырёх языках казахском русском английском испанском свободна принялась за свой пятый язык японский

[@user-hi4gu6rh3c]

удачи с японским!!😊

[@user-qu2hg1mb5z]

@@user-hi4gu6rh3c спасибо мне нравятся две версии японского хирагана и катакана

[@user-qu2hg1mb5z]

@@user-hi4gu6rh3c канджи версия сложная даже для носителей японского

[@user-hi4gu6rh3c]

@@user-qu2hg1mb5z даа, я сначала пыталась запомнить как они пишутся и для каждого учила 2 произношения, а потом поняла что это бесполезно и лучше просто запоминать как выглядят и звучат слова)

[@mitchyoung93]

Your name is 'cave'? Were your parents archeologists? Did they name you after the Yamnaya culture?

[@kirillholt2329]

я написал пару слов о твоей постановке речи но потом ты сказал что русский твой первый язык, и я удалил...кек

[@xmatias9]

I dont speak anything of russian but the video was really intresting

[@user-dl3jn3lu3r]

У тебя есть Дискорд сервер?

[@MT-eb9wl]

can you teach me russian tavarish?

[@sarertty]

Прикольный контент у тебя, но я бы хотел какого нибудь разнообразия в контенте! Если придумаю идею напишу в ответы к этому коменту.

[@alexalex-uq4cm]

Kaufmann's Russian level is A2, just your like your Russian, you pronounce words wrong plus your grammar is really off at times.

[@frangrasyanturanshah1827]

NB! "Говорит по-русскИ". По-русскОМУ - такое можно услышать от среднеазиата, пару лет прожившего в России. Ну или от носителя какого-то совершенно дремуче-деревенского говорка, с которым я лично и не сталкивался даже. Только читал про такое.

[@fekalistagrzybowory7619]

Steve might claim and I can check him Потому что я знаю русский язык и знаю английский язык

[@jakehempel4906]

Man Steve started Russian in his 50s !

[@avenov]

Мне кажется его уровень понимания сложного русского, также как и уровень словарного запаса, находятся на очень даже высоком уровне

[@afafadsbbrs5503]

How did you do to have no accent?

[@wecandoit9370]

Кстати акцент у него нормальный как для канадца. Русские например до сих пор не могут выговорить«паляниця»

[@Chadministrator93]

Where do you live? And where are you from in the former USSR?

[@tigranuhigrigoryan1850]

Умом - Россию не понять, Аршином общим не измерить: У ней особенная стать - В Россию можно только верить. ❤️❤️❤️ только в 33 я осознала сложность русского языка это мой второй родной язык и я обожаю Русский ❤️

[@user-qz4dk7sf6g]

・constant pauses and "how to say it" ・bunch of very unnatural phrases ・hideous accent also, the author's "I've seen much worse, so he's very good" evaluation method looks very strange. it's hard for me to say can he ACTUALLY speak Russian, because that "actually" word is too abstract, but if I'd point out some flaws myself : ・that man clearly lacks in vocabulary. he's good when talking about weather or language learning, but should he, say, discuss some serious literature, or consult with a doctor about health problems, it will be a disaster. ・his main problem, is that whenever he wants to say something, first of all he thinks in his native language, then translates it on the fly in Russain, and only then tries to say.

[@johndoeeeeee172]

Oui je pense qu'il est capable que dans ce contexte, je veux dire qu'il est préparer que a ces discutions au tour des langues etc... mais si il est amener sur un sujet ayant aucun rapport il aura de la peine à s'exprimer correctement même mot par mot

[@Antbeast23]

I mean he learning like 30 plus languages it’s not realistic to be fluent in all of them and you should check out lashou

[@vlagavulvin3847]

May I hope it's not the restroom just behind ya?

[@user-oq4ic8vm6u]

Обычный А1 уровень, ну может А2. Ужасное произношение, в грамматике не просто несколько ошибок - ее просто нет. Проще сказать где он не сделал ошибок.

[@wecandoit9370]

А ты на каких языках говоришь без ошибок и акцента?

[@AvatarHao]

Ты ж молодой Гордон Рамзи!

[@lifeofyama]

я действительно похож на него? хахах

[@stnhndg]

блин! Я всё думал - на кого он похож?!

[@vladimirvladimir2488]

E speaks Russian pretty much he speaks the rest of his languages I. E. Half assed.

[@vrmartin202]

Grammar isn’t his thing. I care about it, but I’ll be happy if and when I reach his level of comprehension and speaking.

[@franceshall7127]

wow amazing

[@DaFunnyMan1]

мне интересно как в русском языке будет твоё имя... Яма или Йама? это сложно вопрос для меня

[@Realmadridfan309]

Rate ical polygot Russian next bro

[@user-bi4eo3ys1f]

Я просто проверяю свою клавиатуру. Вроде бы работает.

[@AlionaLukina]

6:41 может "грамотно"? 🤔

[@Aeduo]

I like the christmas music.

[@Alexander_Hidden]

Is it your real name?

[@JesusOfficialAccount]

Now we have to prove if Yama actually speak russian.

[@evgenijshelukhin5430]

круто!