hi!! I saw your upload of Kenma and Fukunaga speaking Russian to Lev and I was just curious! Does Lev actually understand what they're saying? I remember Lev doesn't actually know Russian in canon, so I was curious if he understands it in the stageplay, or if he's just so moved by the fact that they're speaking Russian to cheer him up that he feels better anyway ahaha. As always thank you for your translations in all formats!
So I sort of answer this question in an earlier ask back in May, so I’ll just copy-paste it with some adjustments.
The way Engeki plays it, Lev understood Kenma’s Russian, but he still didn’t himself speak any of it except “yes.” So they’re still keeping with manga canon in that sense. And to me, that’s a much more realistic approach, because understanding a language comes easier than speaking it. Comprehension is easier than composition. Any child growing up with an immigrant parent who speaks a different language will tell you, it’s not this all-or-nothing thing. And they’re not saying anything to him that’s particularly complicated.
Lev may very well understand a good chunk of Russian (the manga’s said nothing to confirm or deny that aspect really), and still be unable to speak it. My husband’s mother spoke mostly Spanish to him growing up and he understands a lot but can’t speak it very well at all. My spoken Korean is several levels below my spoken Japanese because I don’t get to use it as much, despite it being my first language. Justin admitted to being able to understand more English than he can speak, it really depends. I personally like the idea of Lev being able to still understand a decent amount of Russian, even if all he can say is, ‘да’
