> Condoleezza Rice (in Russian): I speak Russian less and less
> frequently... I read a lot. Sometimes, I speak Russian with whoever
> speaks the language here. And of course, I speak Russian whenever I go
> to Russia.
Many people forget that speaking a language and reading it are two very different skills. (And speaking and understanding what others say to you are also different skills.) Many people who study a foreign language for research or reading purposes have great difficulty with the oral skills, unless they practice them frequently. So it's little wonder that her oral Russian skill is rusty. When she says, "I speak Russian whenever I go to Russia," she is probably greatly overestimating her own abilities.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________ Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds. (Henry Adams, "The Education of Henry Adams")