Learn Hardcore Russian: Чем чаще мы тренируемся, тем быстрее говорим по-русски. - The more often we practice, the faster we speak Russian.

Yes. They work as a pair. Dropping тем in the second clause or чем in the first makes the structure feel incomplete or wrong. Set phrases like Чем больше, тем лучше show the pairing clearly.

Can I reverse the order of the clauses?

Yes. You can say:

Чем ча́ще мы трениру́емся, тем быстре́е говори́м по-ру́сски. (as given)
Тем быстре́е мы говори́м по-ру́сски, чем ча́ще мы трениру́емся. The first is more common and flows more naturally, but the second is grammatical and used for emphasis or style.

Why is говори́м in the present if the idea is about improvement over time?

Russian often uses the present for general truths/habits. Here it means “as a rule: the more we practice, the faster we speak.” Future is possible (see next Q), but present is the most neutral for a general law.

Could I say будем говорить or заговорим instead of говорим? What’s the nuance?

Тем быстре́е будем говори́ть по-ру́сски = we will speak faster (future ongoing ability).
Тем быстре́е заговори́м по-ру́сски = we will start speaking (begin to speak) sooner; perfective focuses on the starting point. Use present for timeless rules; use future/perfective when you mean a concrete future result.

Why is трениру́емся reflexive? What’s the difference between тренирова́ться and тренирова́ть?

Тренирова́ться (reflexive, intransitive) = to practice/train oneself. No object: Мы трениру́емся каждый день.
Тренирова́ть (transitive) = to train someone/something: Тренер трениру́ет кома́нду. For practicing a skill (including languages), you’ll often hear практикова́ться or занима́ться too.

Why is the imperfective used (трениру́емся)?

Imperfective expresses habitual/repeated actions and works naturally with frequency words like ча́ще (more often). A perfective like потрениру́емся would refer to a single completed training session and doesn’t fit “more often.”

Why is it говори́м по-ру́сски and not something like “говорим русский”?

With languages, Russian doesn’t use a direct object. You say:

Говори́ть по-ру́сски (adverbial form “in Russian/by-Russian”)
or говори́ть на ру́сском (языке) (“in the Russian language”) But not говори́ть ру́сский.

Is there a difference between по-ру́сски and на ру́сском (языке)?

They often overlap:

По-ру́сски is very idiomatic for speaking ability/manner.
На ру́сском (языке) can sound a bit more formal or can emphasize the choice of language. Both are fine here: … тем быстре́е говори́м по-ру́сски/на ру́сском.

How are the comparatives ча́ще and быстре́е formed? Can I say более часто or более быстро?

Ча́ще comes from ча́сто; быстре́е from бы́стро.
Native preference is synthetic comparatives (ча́ще, быстре́е). Forms like более часто/более быстро are possible but sound bookish or less natural in everyday speech.

Is скорее a synonym for быстре́е here?

Not really. Ско́рее often means “sooner” or “rather,” and as an interjection means “hurry up!” For speed of speaking, use быстре́е. If you mean “the sooner,” then ско́рее could be used with a different verb (e.g., тем ско́рее мы заговори́м = the sooner we’ll start speaking).

Can I drop the subject pronoun мы?

Yes. Russian often omits subject pronouns when the verb ending makes the subject clear:

Чем ча́ще трениру́емся, тем быстре́е говори́м по-ру́сски.

Where does the adverb go? Is Тем быстре́е говори́м … the only option?

With the чем …, тем … pattern, put тем + comparative at the start of the second clause:

… тем быстре́е говори́м … Outside this pattern, adverbs are flexible: Мы быстре́е говори́м по-ру́сски or Мы говори́м по-ру́сски быстре́е are both fine.

What about punctuation—do I need the comma?

Yes. A comma separates the two correlated clauses:

Чем ча́ще …, тем быстре́е … A dash is generally not used here (it would be nonstandard or stylistic).

Are there pronunciation/stress tips for this sentence?

Чем = [chem] with soft “ch.”
Ча́ще = stress on ча́; щ is a long, soft “shch” [ɕː].
Трениру́емся = stress on -ру́-; final -ся sounds like [-сʲə].
Тем = [tyem] (palatalized t).
Быстре́е = stress on -ре́- (sounds like “byst-RYE-ye”).
Говори́м = stress on -и́м.
По-ру́сски = stress on -ру́-, hyphen + double сс.

Is чем here the same word as чем meaning “than” in comparisons?

Same form, different function. In comparisons, чем = “than” (e.g., Он выше, чем я.). In this correlative pattern, чем pairs with тем to mean “the …, the …” (not “than”).

Any spelling traps here (hyphens, -ся/-сь, etc.)?

По-ру́сски is hyphenated and has double с.
Reflexive suffix: in finite forms you’ll see -ся (e.g., мы трениру́емся) and -сь mainly in 1st person singular (e.g., я трениру́юсь).
Infinitive is тренирова́ться (with -ться).

Can I use 2nd person for a generic “you”?

Yes, very natural:

Чем ча́ще трениру́ешься, тем быстре́е говори́шь по-ру́сски.

What are some natural variants with a similar idea?

Чем бо́льше мы практика́емся (в ру́сском), тем лу́чше говори́м.
Чем ча́ще занима́емся ру́сским, тем уве́реннее говори́м.
Чем бо́льше занима́емся, тем ско́рее заговори́м по-ру́сски.