Can you make a siyum if you learned in English?

Of course. The importance is understanding it, not just reading words. In fact, if you read the words in Aramaic but didn’t understand them then you cannot make a Siyum. (If I recall correctly, R’ Moshe has a Tshuvah where he says if you just learned the Gemara without Rashi then it’s like you didn’t understand it and you can’t make a Siyum.)

consult you LOR/mentor

I once heard that Torah Shebichsav you need to read with your mouth and not understand, Torah sheBaal Peh you need to understand but not speak out orally.

According to that, you can read the artscroll with your eyes and make a syum.

What if you read (and understand) only the English side of the Artscroll Gemorah’s, without reading the original Aramaic page. Can you make a Siyum?

Shraga: R’ Schachter once told me that you can make a Siyum if you only read the words and didn’t say them out loud.

Yekke2: The source for that is the Shulchan Aruch Harav in Hilchos Talmud Torah (brought down in the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch). For Torah Shebiksav you only have to read according to him. But Torah Sheba’al Peh you must both read and understand, if I recall correctly. (It is a Chiddush though. Pashtus should be that to get credit for Talmud Torah one would have to understand Torah Shebiksav as well.)

Shraga: See the SH”A OC 553:3 (if I recall correctly) where he says “Yeish Mi Sheomer that it’s Assur to learn by Hirhur on Tishah B’av”. Thus, learning by just reading has some sort of tangible meaning, even though according to the SH”A you can’t make a Bracha on it. (I’m not sure what this Halachah proves though, as you could attempt to learn just about any way from it-that Hirhur doesn’t count but it’s M’sameach; or that it really does count as learning it’s just that for a Brachah you need a Ma’aseh, which reading only with one’s eyes cannot accomplish.)

Shlishi: Why not? It’s still Talmud Torah. There’s nothing inherently special about Aramaic. It was the language of the time. I would assume one would also have to read the Artscroll footnotes though, as Artscroll themselves admit that sometimes nuances of the Gemara get lost in translation, which is why they have the notes in the first place.

Shlishi, The Gemara was writtem in Aramaic, not Hebrew because the people spoke Aramaic and they wanted them to understand it. There was nothing inherently holy about Aramaic; it was just the English of its day

You can definitely make a siyum if you learned in English, since it is all torah study.

As for reading silently, I asked a shayla and was told that if one is learning in-depth and reading silently helps him understand it better, then he should do that. There IS a mitzvah to know and understand halacha, as is brought down in the sefer tanya, and this mitzvah is even greater than oral torah study. But from time to time he should enunciate the words of Mishna/ Gemara with his mouth, like he’s explaining it to someone else – which may help him understand. It’s definitely MUCH, MUCH better to learn aloud, and this gives Hashem tremendous nachas.

It says in the Tanya that if one recites words of Chumash without understanding a thing, he is yotzei talmud torah. I also heard from a Chabad rabbi that by Chumash you must say it, and by gemara and things like that (Oral Law), you must understand it.

I also heard from my congregational rabbi that if a person is just thinking in learning, this is a very good use of time, as we learn in PIRKEI AVOS that if a person sits by himself and learns, the Divine Presence is with him, and even if he’s just thinking, this is also good – but saying is MUCH better.

As for Tisha B’av – let’s say that a Torah thought pops into your head; are you obligated to chase that thought away since it’s assur?

So I can go around mumbling all day “A pen is muktsa on Shabbos”, and I’m mekuyim the mitzva of Talmud Torah at least as well as any Kollel guy?

Listening to gemara tapes and fin shas one can make a syium.

SHMOEL wrote: So I can go around mumbling all day “A pen is muktsa on Shabbos”, and I’m mekuyim the mitzva of Talmud Torah at least as well as any Kollel guy??

The Gr”a says that Bitul Torah of “EICHUS” – quality, is also considered Bitul torah, meaning that if one who can learn on a higher level and is satisfied with a lower level it is considered bitul torah. so 1)if you can do better than just mumble these things, you are obligated to do so during those times when you can. I was refering to times when it’s too difficult to learn with a sefer as regular learning, one can still get the mitzva and schar for torah by saying these halachos. It is anyway better to learn on ANY level no matter how low, rather than spend those minutes not learning at all. 2) You asked if its “as good as any kolel guy” – Of course learning with more “Ameilus” is better than just mumbeling some basics but- Hashem demands of a person to do the best he can in any mitzvah, so if that’s the best you can do, then, YES you are as good as any kolel guy, and even better if the kolel guy is NOT doing his best and you are. If neither of you are doing his best, then the judgement is based on what percentage of your capability you acomplished. BUT, this is all in regard to the question of what you DID NOT learn, but nevertheless ANY type of learning, regardless of what you could or should have done, still receives the schar for learning torah. So, as mentioned before, it is by all means better for ANYONE to just say basic halachos of brochos and shabbos, rather not not to learn at all.