Cfrgtkky

Is it considered Talmud Torah if one just reads mishnayos without understanding what he's saying?

It appears from the words of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav that one does not although the Chida suggests one does fulfill the mitzva if one exerted himself to comprehend the words even if he did not succeed in understand the meaning.

Shulchan Aruch HaRav (Laws of Torah Study 2:12-13) writes that

Whereas one who studies the Oral Torah without understanding the
words has fulfilled no mitzva, one who studies the Written Torah
without understanding still fulfills the obligation of talmud Torah.

R Yosef Dov Soloveitchek had also commented on this (see here)

for that reason, the Brisker Rav suggested there is no concept of
Oisiyos Machkimos (reading the text makes one wiser) regarding Torah
SheBaal Peh.

R Tzvi Sinensky writes

We might explain the logic for this view as follows: the primary value
of the Oral Torah is to understand the halakhot [...] Thus, one who does not understand the words
fails to fulfill one’s obligation. However, study of the written Torah
is qualitatively different; the very encounter is significant [...]

However the Chida (Maris HaAyin, Avodah Zara 19) qualifies the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav

This [...] only applies if one did not make a sincere effort to
understand what he is saying. However, if one exerted himself to
comprehend the words, he fulfills his mitzvah of learning Torah, even
if he did not succeed in understand the meaning.

Yes, with multiple revisions and memorization (as mentioned by @Dr.Shmuel in his answer on name of The Vilner Gaon) it's the right way, to aggree to learn a lot of topics, mainly mishnayot, despite that the understanding isn't sufficient. To learn Mishna is this. The Shlah (1) in masechet shevuot (the name of a part of the book) says that learning with Bartenura is called Gemara, not Mishna. Mishna is to read and memorize with a very minimal understanding of the words. One doesn't need to know If there is a חסורי מחסרא והכי קתני or other important things to understand rightly the Mishna. Learning is divided on Mikra, Mishna, Talmud. And we see from the below quoted Gemara that even Gemara's learning is ok if some insights are left in stand by (we can assume that Rav Kahana included Talmud in the meaning of Shmua).

Bavli Shabbat 63a

א"ר כהנא כד הוינא בר תמני סרי שנין והוה גמירנא ליה לכוליה הש"ס ולא הוה ידענא דאין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו עד השתא מאי קמ"ל דליגמר איניש והדר ליסבר:‏

R`Kahana said: By the time I was eighteen years old I had studied the whole Shas [I think that the right translation is all topics], yet I did not know that a verse cannot depart from its plain meaning until to-day. What does he inform us? - That a man should study and subsequently understand.

Rashi

דליגמר איניש - לגרוס שמעתא מרביה ואף על גב דלא ידע לכולהו טעמיה:‏

One needs to learn the topic from the his Rabbi, (they were informed orally) despite that one doesn't know the whole explanation.

והדר ליסבר - טעמיה דהא קשה ליה לרב כהנא ולא הוה ידע להאי טעמא ותלמודיה הוה קים ליה מדהוה בר תמני סרי:‏

And afterwards, one needs to understand the reasons. As Rav Kahana did. From his young age. He did know all the talmudic topics and was not aware of a primary principle of learning mikra (that a verse cannot be interpreted entirely out of its litteral sense).

(1):

ומכל שכן האידנא שזכינו לפירוש הרמב"ם והרב ברטנורא שמבארים המשנה כפי ההסכמה שבתלמוד וגם כתבו פסק ההלכה. הרי מעלת המשנה רבה כי מה שאמרו תחילה תלמוד אין לך מידה גדולה הימנה כי גירסת המשנה בלא תלמוד לא יגיענו לתכלית המכוון ללמד חוק ומשפט בישראל...‏

Even Shleima 8:1 from Aggadic commentary by Vilna Gaon

One must first learn of the tanach. And all of Mishnah, even if he doesn’t understand the Mishnah.

In the commentary, the Mishnah is likened to chopping down trees and Talmud to chopping the trees into wood pieces. Also, that one cannot really understand the Mishna, for that is why we have the Talmud, to explain the Mishnah. Nonetheless, the Mishnah is an integral spiritual endeavor and must be studied entirely from the onset regardless of comprehension ability.

He seems to relate this verse in Ecclesiastes 6, with but God does not permit him to enjoy it referring to study of Mishnah, while the latter section of the verse referring to Talmud study.

אִ֣ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִתֶּן־ל֣וֹ הָאֱלֹהִ֡ים עֹשֶׁר֩ וּנְכָסִ֨ים וְכָב֜וֹד וְֽאֵינֶ֨נּוּ חָסֵ֥ר לְנַפְשׁ֣וֹ ׀ מִכֹּ֣ל אֲשֶׁר־יִתְאַוֶּ֗ה וְלֹֽא־יַשְׁלִיטֶ֤נּוּ הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ לֶאֱכֹ֣ל מִמֶּ֔נּוּ כִּ֛י אִ֥ישׁ נָכְרִ֖י יֹֽאכֲלֶ֑נּוּ זֶ֥ה הֶ֛בֶל וָחֳלִ֥י רָ֖ע הֽוּא׃

That God sometimes grants a man riches, property, and wealth, so that he does not want for anything his appetite may crave, but God does not permit him to enjoy it; instead, a stranger will enjoy it. That is futility and a grievous ill.

In his introduction to his commentary to the Torah, R. Yaakov Kamenetzky explains that only the Torah consists of God's direct words. Even Nevi'im and Ketuvim are only the prophet's own expression of God's words. Therefore the only subject that is a fulfillment of Talmud Torah without understanding is the Torah itself, since even when reading without understanding it is God's words that are being read. Anything else only qualifies as Talmud Torah when the person understands what he is reading, since the words themselves are not directly God's:

ויוצא לנו נפקותא גדולה בין תורה לנביאים וכתובים דבתורה התיבות כמות שהן תורה הן שהרי אומר ממש דברי ד' ושפיר מקיים המצוה על ידי המקרא בלבד אפילו אם אינו יודע מאי קאמר משא"כ בנביאים שהלשון הוא הבעת מחשבת הנביא א"כ ע"כ כשהלה מבין מה שהוא אומר אזי הוא מקיים מצות תלמוד תורה ודו"ק והיינו ביאור דברי רש"י הנ"ל דלפיכך קרי ליה לחומש מקרא משום דבקריאתה בלבד הוא מקיים מצות ת"ת משא"כ בנו"כ דבהו רק על ידי הלמוד הוא מקיים מצות תלמוד תורה לבאר

There are two completely different aspects of "Torah study":

1. To know the Torah, to be proficient in the knowledge, to understand the reasoning etc. According to this aspect, reciting whatever without understanding does not constitute "Torah study".




2. To "connect with G-d", to be constantly engaged in G-d's words, to cling to G-d, to fulfill "לֹא יָמוּשׁוּ מִפִּיךָ וּמִפִּי זַרְעֲךָ וּמִפִּי זֶרַע זַרְעֲךָ אָמַר ה' מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם" and to fulfill "וְהָגִיתָ בּוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה". According to this aspect, reciting Torah verses or Mishnayos without understanding constitutes the Torah study.

Because many Rabbis are not aware of this distinction, you might get contradicting answers, but in fact, they all fit [one of] those two aspects.