Journal papers in a foreign language

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around strategies for understanding journal papers written in foreign languages, particularly focusing on the challenges posed by reading proofs in languages like Russian. Participants explore various methods to cope with language barriers in academic literature.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant seeks suggestions for understanding a proof published only in Russian, expressing difficulty in relying solely on symbols.
  • Another participant suggests using an online translation tool, specifically mentioning a website that translates text and websites.
  • A different participant shares a negative experience with the translation site, recommending finding a math professor who speaks Russian or contacting local high schools for language resources.
  • One participant proposes learning 'enough' Russian using a dictionary, noting that mathematical terminology often remains consistent across languages.
  • Another participant argues that the Cyrillic alphabet is easy to learn, comparing it favorably to other alphabets and providing examples of the word "bourbaki" in different scripts.
  • A later reply humorously engages with the previous point about the ease of the Cyrillic alphabet, asking for opinions on which script is most straightforward.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the ease of learning the Cyrillic alphabet and the effectiveness of translation tools. There is no consensus on the best approach to understanding foreign language papers.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight the potential variability in translation accuracy and the importance of context in understanding mathematical language across different languages.

andytoh
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Any suggestions on how to cope with foreign languages in journal papers? Say you want to read a proof of a certain theorem. But the ONLY published proof of that theorem is in Russian, and it has never been translated in English. Other than learning Russian, any suggestions on how to learn the proof? I cannot get by by just reading the symbols and guessing their meanings.
 
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That site, from experience usually does a poor job. If you are at a university, you can try to find a math professor that speaks Russian. At my school there are plenty of Russian Math Professors. Or you can try the foreign language department of your school.

Or you can call some local high schools, there should be some that teach russian or have someone the foreign language department who has some experience with it.

Or that site might actually work for you, it might be a question of ease of translation versus accuracy to determine what you have to do.
 
You learn 'enough' Russian (or whatever language) by using a dictionary. Fortunately mathematical papers often read the same irrespective of language, and indeed the words are often the same. The only difficulty with Russian is the alphabet.It is often (always?) a requirement of an American PhD to translate a paper from a foreign language (not one's first) into English.
 
n_bourbaki said:
The only difficulty with Russian is the alphabet.

No, the cyrillic alphabet it is very easy, it borrows some stuff from the greek alphabet that you are already familiar with. I like the alphabet better than all the other alphabets I use (including arabic).

bourbaki

Бурбаки

بوڔباكى

See? which one do you find the most straightforward?
 
roam said:
No, the cyrillic alphabet it is very easy, it borrows some stuff from the greek alphabet that you are already familiar with. I like the alphabet better than all the other alphabets I use (including arabic).

bourbaki

Бурбаки

بوڔباكى

See? which one do you find the most straightforward?

Erm.. the top one?!
 

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