shtickyguy:
I think the Vilna Gaon learns limud Torah lismha to mean lishem haTorah, ie for yidiyos haTorah.
The gemarah in kidushin, pirkei avos and if I remember correctly the lishem yichud of the yesod v’shorech ha’avodah suggests that ones kavanah to learn should be for the sake of knowing what to do.
real-brisker
it would only be more like reading depending on your fluency in hebrew/english. I have difficulty believing that time spent trying to teitch a modern hebrew word would be counted as limud Torah and not limud lashon or something.
Also, what is Mesivta? Is it like a Dvar Yakov type of sefer or just competition for Artscroll?