Мои языки на встрече полиглотов
A1 Russian listening practice · Russian · Curated for beginners
How do you say “I speak Russian” in Russian? (“по-русски”)
To say what language you speak, Russian doesn’t reach for the noun. It uses the adverb form по- + -ски: Я говорю по-русски** (“I speak Russian”), *по-английски* (“in English”), *по-испански* (“in Spanish”). Literally it means “Russian-ly,” in the Russian way. The *полиглот* (polyglot) in the clip runs straight down the list: *“Я говорю по-русски... по-английски... немного по-испански.”*
Watch the trap: use по-русски after verbs like говорить (to speak), понимать (to understand), and читать (to read), but switch to the plain noun русский язык after учить (to study), as in Я учу испанский язык. Same root, two different jobs. Nail this pattern and you can introduce your whole language list like a real полиглот.
- ▸At events like the Polyglot Gathering and the Polyglot Conference
- ▸In the classic phrasebook opener “Вы говорите по-русски?” (“Do you speak Russian?”)
- ▸In Russian self-introduction lessons on YouTube channels and apps
- ▸When Russians praise a learner: “Ты хорошо говоришь по-русски!”
- ▸In any conversation about your родной язык (native language) and language learning