Lenin spoke, besides Russian, French, German, learned basic English on his own and also knew a bit of Italian from his wife Krupskaya. He was able to read Italian newspapers. He also possibly knew Polish, Swedish and Czech at a very basic level. In his biographies, some count up to 11 languages Lenin was acquainted with, and three languages spoken fluently besides Russian.

“I have just written a letter to Mark in which I described in exceptional detail how best to establish a “regime”; as regards mental work, I particularly recommended translations, especially both ways—first do a written translation from the foreign language into Russian, then translate it back from Russian into the foreign language. My own experience has taught me that this is the most rational way of learning a language.”

(Letter to his sister Maria Ulyanova, from Munich to Moscow dated 19 May, 1901, Collected Works, vol. 37)