Can Steve Kaufmann ACTUALLY Speak Russian? 

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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!

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. 😮😮

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

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.💙💙

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)

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.).

Bravo! Excellent review.

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

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.

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!

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.

Это да! Стив Кауфман реально вдохновляющий пример.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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!!

I love these videos because you debunk false polyglots

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.

Now you have to review to Luca Lampariello ..please

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.

У тебя очень крутой русский! Keep it up!

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

Я не говорю по-русски, но я хочу говорить

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

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

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

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 :).

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... :/

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

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".

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.

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)

wow amazing

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

Man Steve started Russian in his 50s !

I would agree about B2 for Steve.

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

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

круто!

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.

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.

Maybe you can could talk with iclaliano too,i'm sure her russian is very good 😊

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.

I like the christmas music.

Now we have to prove if Yama actually speak russian.

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

Wow. His russian is waaay beter than my english =)

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.

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

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.

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

He’s good

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

Do Iclal she is girl in the video talking with Steve

How did you do to have no accent?

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

У тебя есть Дискорд сервер?

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

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

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

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.

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

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

can you teach me russian tavarish?

Rate ical polygot Russian next bro

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

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

У вас у самого сильный акцент

yama there is тo such word in russian as грамматично)

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.

Я просто проверяю свою клавиатуру. Вроде бы работает.

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 ❤️

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.

Of course, it's impossible to speak 20 languages up to a native level. He also speaks pretty good french but not perfectly. I think Luka Lamparielo is probably the best polyglot on earth even tought he never explain anything that realy helps to improve

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.

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:))

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

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

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

Privet Yama, you've been very kind to Steve Kaufmann. If what you showed about him is SPEAKING Russian, then I speak 100 languages. Pronunciation is horrible, the level of conversation is so basic that requires zero dictionaries and zero complexity. He's one of the many yackers on the Internet.

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

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

Короче, cutting to the chase, чел грит по русски 🤣

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

Did you just say you're a "Russian speaking monkey?" lol.

Yama's the hyper masculine stoic guy we outsiders imagine all Russian young men to be like xD the picture of warrior soldiers on the wall only drives this image further hahah

6:41 может "грамотно"? 🤔