David1917 wrote:Last night I watched an interview on Russian TV with US political commentator.
Just out of curiosity: are you talking about Michael McFaul?
David1917 wrote:Last night I watched an interview on Russian TV with US political commentator.
jmar257 wrote:einzelne wrote:Again, I would love to see Argüelles speaking Korean. It looks like we don't have a single video online. I don't want to discredit him, far from it, but to state the objective fact — it's damn hard to maintain even a single language at a high level. That's why, honestly, the idea of six languages seems like utopian nonsense to me.
In his defense his wife is Korean and I know I've heard him say they'll use Korean when they don't want their kids to understand them, so it's not unbelievable that he gets some decent practice. I don't disagree with your point, though. I like his 6 language thing in theory but in reality--I've got many other things to do in life, and will probably stick to learning IE languages to the point where I can read books and travel.
bolaobo wrote:jmar257 wrote:einzelne wrote:Again, I would love to see Argüelles speaking Korean. It looks like we don't have a single video online. I don't want to discredit him, far from it, but to state the objective fact — it's damn hard to maintain even a single language at a high level. That's why, honestly, the idea of six languages seems like utopian nonsense to me.
In his defense his wife is Korean and I know I've heard him say they'll use Korean when they don't want their kids to understand them, so it's not unbelievable that he gets some decent practice. I don't disagree with your point, though. I like his 6 language thing in theory but in reality--I've got many other things to do in life, and will probably stick to learning IE languages to the point where I can read books and travel.
He doesn't speak to his wife full-time in Korean? That's surprising to me. I assumed his Korean was better than her English.
einzelne wrote:David1917 wrote:Last night I watched an interview on Russian TV with US political commentator.
Just out of curiosity: are you talking about Michael McFaul?
ogrim wrote:but if the guy also has a BA in Slavic Languages and an MA in Soviet Studies I think it is fair to expect him to have a decent level of Russian, especially if he agrees to appear on Russian television to discuss political issues (which I assume was what he was there for).
einzelne wrote:I'm not trying to defend him but active skills require constant practice, especially when it comes to synthetic languages like Russian. How many years have passes since he left Russia?
Ambassadorship requires a whole set of skills. You can have perfect Russian but with zero diplomatic and organizational skills it is worth nothing. I remember a discussion on a Russian forum about the current Russian ambassador in the USA Anatoly Antonov. "OMG, I cannot believe that his accent is so thick!" — such was the most common complain. But you don't hire an ambassador simply because he has a native like accent.
David1917 wrote:Yes.
David1917 wrote:Last night I watched an interview on Russian TV with US political commentator who was a) once the US Ambassador to Russia and b) currently a professor at Stanford [where he allegedly completed an MA in Soviet Studies on top of his BA in Slavic Languages]. I couldn't believe how utterly terrible his Russian was. Elementary grammar mistakes, abysmal pronunciation, minimal vocabulary, just a total trainwreck. That's the state of Russian "expertise" in the US apparently.
Because I'm a fair person, I will say that he at least was able to understand his interlocutors and respond accordingly. His responses were just impossible to understand (they had to subtitle him).
IronMike wrote:David1917 wrote:Last night I watched an interview on Russian TV with US political commentator who was a) once the US Ambassador to Russia and b) currently a professor at Stanford [where he allegedly completed an MA in Soviet Studies on top of his BA in Slavic Languages]. I couldn't believe how utterly terrible his Russian was. Elementary grammar mistakes, abysmal pronunciation, minimal vocabulary, just a total trainwreck. That's the state of Russian "expertise" in the US apparently.
Because I'm a fair person, I will say that he at least was able to understand his interlocutors and respond accordingly. His responses were just impossible to understand (they had to subtitle him).
You could easily get an MA or even a PhD is Soviet (or Russian) Studies (as opposed to a graduate degree in Slavic Linguistics) without a "professional" level of Russian. Also, ambassadors don't have to have the language that they're assigned to (esp. politically appointed like who I think you're talking about, but even career foreign service officers don't have to have the language when they hold the rank of ambassador).
And finally, assuming you're talking about one of my former bosses Mike McFaul. Mike left the country almost 8 years ago after two years of repeated and extreme Russian government harassment. He probably hasn't had to speak much Russian since leaving, and who knows: getting that kind of treatment when you'd studied the country and perhaps was excited to serve there and get to experience living there...well, that can tarnish your feelings about the culture and people you used to like/admire/love. (Sorry, getting personal.)
If you want to listen to a former U.S. ambo to Russia with good Russian, search for John Beyrle. Know, however, that due to his father's unique history, he had a great interest in the language and did extensive study of the language (UMichigan and Middlebury) before he began his career, as well as specializing in it from the beginning of his diplomatic career.
Just my 2 kopeks...
IronMike wrote:If you want to listen to a former U.S. ambo to Russia with good Russian, search for John Beyrle.
einzelne wrote:IronMike wrote:If you want to listen to a former U.S. ambo to Russia with good Russian, search for John Beyrle.
Here, for example.
Return to “General Language Discussion”
Users browsing this forum: fromaalborg, Sonjaconjota and 2 guests