[hash872]

>How many native English speakers speak fluent Russian? Less than a few hundred in the entire world

I think this is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read on HN, if not anywhere on the Internet. There are a few hundred native English speakers who are ethnically Russian/Ukrainian who speak fluent Russian in any one small neighborhood in a mid-sized city in the US, and there are dozens of such neighborhoods in the US, and the US is only 5% of the world's population. I personally know about 50 people who meet this description, I was at a Greek Orthodox christening with them last year! Not to mention that you can hire non-native English speakers who can read Russian, not to mention the new world of translation apps

[_dkqd]

I'm not talking about ethnic Russians/Ukrainians, I used "native English speakers" as a codeword to refer to "real" Americans, i.e. people who are have deep ethnic and historic loyalty to the American cause. You cannot rely on most ethnic Russians/Ukrainians in America to have blind loyalty to an American cause.

[influx]

There's more than 100 Americans who have been trained in Russian in the Defense Language Institute. Looks like Russian is a 48 week course:

https://www.dliflc.edu/about/languages-at-dliflc/

[_dkqd]

The number who are actually fluent and culturally embedded is miniscule. I personally know some graduates of this program.