Я учусь говорить по-русски.

I am learning to speak Russian.

Breakdown of Я учусь говорить по-русски.

• я: I
• говорить: to speak
• по-русски: in Russian
• учиться: to learn

Questions & Answers about Я учусь говорить по-русски.

Why is the verb учусь reflexive (ending in -ся) instead of the non-reflexive учу?

In Russian, учиться is a reflexive verb meaning “to learn” or “to study,” so you always use the -ся ending when expressing that you are learning something. The non-reflexive verb учить generally means “to teach” or “to memorize.” Thus я учусь means “I am learning,” whereas я учу would imply “I am teaching.”

Why do we use the infinitive говорить after учусь instead of a conjugated form?

With verbs of ability or learning—like учиться (“to learn”)—Russian uses the structure verb + infinitive. In English you say “I am learning to speak,” so in Russian you say я учусь говорить, leaving говорить in its infinitive form.

Why is it по-русски and not just русский here?

по-русски is an adverb meaning “in Russian.” You need an adverb after говорить to indicate how you speak. The adjective русский would describe a noun (e.g. русский язык means “the Russian language”), but it can’t directly modify the verb говорить.

Why is there a hyphen in по-русски?

Adverbs formed from the preposition по plus a noun or adjective in the dative case are always written with a hyphen in Russian. So по + русски (dative of русский) becomes по-русски.

Could I say Я учусь говорить на русском языке instead of по-русски?

Yes. Я учусь говорить на русском языке is more formal and literally means “I am learning to speak in the Russian language.” по-русски is shorter and more colloquial, but both expressions are correct.

Could I drop the pronoun я and just say Учусь говорить по-русски?

Absolutely. Russian often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already indicates the person. Учусь говорить по-русски is perfectly natural and means the same thing.

Why do we use учусь here instead of another verb like изучаю?

Both are correct but emphasize different aspects. учиться + infinitive (я учусь говорить) focuses on learning the skill of speaking. изучать + direct object (я изучаю русский язык) focuses on studying the language as an academic subject.

Where does the stress fall in Я учусь говорить по-русски?

The stress patterns are:

• учу́сь (stress on the second syllable, учу́сь)
• говори́ть (stress on the last syllable, говори́ть)
• по-ру́сски (stress on the first syllable of the root, ру́сски)