Translating science into other languages

Its absence also means that many of these languages ​​have not even created words for modern scientific concepts. With tangible consequences in education, Suspension British review temper nature, which gives the example of Zulu, one of the most widely spoken languages ​​in South Africa, with 14 million speakers. She uses the word Germs, bactericidal, but does not have a separate word for virus or bacteria. Experts have yet to agree on a word for evolution.

the project in question, The eradication of the colonialism of science, released last year jointly with pre-release server AfricArXiv. The latter, in turn, launched an appeal this summer, giving authors until August 20 to submit articles they would like to see translated.

“African languages ​​are seen as something that is spoken at home, not in school, not in business meetings. It is the same thing in science” temper nature Kathleen Cimino, one of the researchers involved in this project. Google has become one of the sources of funding, because along with this first wave of translations it is a real dictionary of scientific terms in these six languages The eradication of the colonialism of science I wanna be. A tool that can suddenly be used beyond researchers: for local journalists, editors, and even schools.