# Tom--Condi DOES NOT SPEAK RUSSIAN! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 30, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107 "2012-08-30T04:04:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/1 "2012-08-30T04:04:29Z")
Can we put this to bed, PLEASE? Condi does not speak fluent Russian and cannot converse in the various mother tongues of the provinces. OK? This was proven when she went there and needed closed captions. Sorry Mr. Brokaw, you have been drinking the Kool-Aid. Don’t go to wiki, don’t go to yahoo!answers, don’t go to [ASK.com](http://ASK.com)…they are wrong and all come from the same PR source. She can read, she passed her exams at UoD, but she cannot speak fluently. Sorry Tom, sorry Chris, sorry Rachel you MSNBC clowns are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/2 "2012-08-30T04:09:29Z")
Ok. ---
**Author:** ![Makeitstop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@Makeitstop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Makeitstop)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/3 "2012-08-30T04:48:19Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Ok. Right. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/4 "2012-08-30T10:43:48Z")
Left. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/5 "2012-08-30T10:59:10Z")
Хорошо. Мы понимаем. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/6 "2012-08-30T11:15:45Z")
看不懂 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/7 "2012-08-30T11:32:33Z")
Mixbaal. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/8 "2012-08-30T13:16:39Z")
Mxyztplk ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/9 "2012-08-30T13:20:41Z")
> [@phxjcc](#): > > Can we put this to bed, PLEASE? > > Condi does not speak fluent Russian and cannot converse in the various mother tongues of the provinces. OK? This was proven when she went there **and needed closed captions.** We can turn on closed captioning in real life too? Why has noone ever told me this before? That would have made traveling SO much easier! ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/10 "2012-08-30T18:18:27Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Mxyztplk I bet you can’t say “Klptzyxm.” Go on, try it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/11 "2012-08-30T18:22:51Z")
It also came out during the Republican primaries that Jon Huntsman is not a fluent speaker of Mandarin Chinese. This stuff never seems to get corrected because the factoid sounds impressive (American who speaks multiple languages = supergenius) and because the journalists who cover the people in question don’t speak the languages themselves, so they can’t evaluate the claim. You don’t need to speak a language fluently to be a diplomat. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/12 "2012-08-30T18:32:13Z")
> [@phxjcc](#): > > Can we put this to bed, PLEASE? > > Condi does not speak fluent Russian and cannot converse in the various mother tongues of the provinces. OK? This was proven when she went there and needed closed captions. > > Sorry Mr. Brokaw, you have been drinking the Kool-Aid. > > Don’t go to wiki, don’t go to yahoo!answers, don’t go to [ASK.com](http://ASK.com)…they are wrong and all come from the same PR source. > > She can read, she passed her exams at UoD, but she cannot speak fluently. > > Sorry Tom, sorry Chris, sorry Rachel you MSNBC clowns are wrong. Cite for any of this? Given her academic background, I’d be surprised it she wasn’t at least conversant in Russian and Czech. Then again, I also find myself wondering how someone with a PhD from Denver ever got a tenure-track gig at Stanford. In History, this would be unthinkable. Are things different in Poli Sci? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/13 "2012-08-30T18:42:10Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Cite for any of this? Given her academic background, I’d be surprised it she wasn’t at least conversant in Russian and Czech. . . Are things different in Poli Sci? _Moze tak, moze nie._ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/14 "2012-08-31T00:26:42Z")
self deleted. Too snarky. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/15 "2012-08-31T09:01:03Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It also came out during the Republican primaries that Jon Huntsman is not a fluent speaker of Mandarin Chinese. This stuff never seems to get corrected because the factoid sounds impressive (American who speaks multiple languages = supergenius) and because the journalists who cover the people in question don’t speak the languages themselves, so they can’t evaluate the claim. You don’t need to speak a language fluently to be a diplomat. He spoke some very convincing Mandarin on Cobert, tonight. I mean, I don’t speak it, but he really sounded like he knew his stuff, with the whole melodic lilt to it and everything. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/16 "2012-08-31T09:14:54Z")
> [@koxinga](#): > > 看不懂 国姓爷?! 詐称! ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/17 "2012-08-31T09:38:39Z")
> [@autolycus](#): > > 詐称! 你一直用這個詞。我不認為這意味著是你認為的意思。 而且我不喜歡用我的右手因為结束太快。 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/18 "2012-08-31T09:54:39Z")
> [@koxinga](#): > > 你一直用這個詞。我不認為這意味著是你認為的意思。 > > 而且我不喜歡用我的右手因為结束太快。 とんでもない！ (不可思议) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/19 "2012-08-31T11:14:06Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Cite for any of this? Given her academic background, I’d be surprised it she wasn’t at least conversant in Russian and Czech. Conversant doesn’t necessarily mean fluent, and a fair number of (non-native speaking) academics trained in an age when it was much more difficult to get in-country language experience in the Soviet Union weren’t fluent. My department chair in grad school was a highly regarded Russian historian, but his speaking ability in Russian was pretty awful. He probably just didn’t get enough speaking practice early on in his education/career. I’m sure he could read just fine, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107/20 "2012-08-31T11:41:42Z")
Yes. This is an interesting subject among linguisticians. The comprehension of written language is apparently handled by a different subprocess than is the comprehension of spoken language. Not only different parts of the cortex, but also different methods of encoding. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-condi-does-not-speak-russian/633107.md?page=2)