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Section 13.14 Small Number Around the World

Written by: Veselin Jungić

Illustrated by: Lila Mohammed

Collection of retellings of a mathematical-thinking-related story in various languages

In early September 2024, I started inviting my colleagues, collaborators, and my former students to help me “make a collection of the cartoon in various languages” by sending me their “mother tongue translation of the English text.” Of course, I contacted only those people who previously shared with me this kind of information.

In my message, I explained: “The point that I'd like to make is that love for mathematics and storytelling unite us across continents, cultures, ages, genders, and ranks.”

What followed was a two-month-long emotionally intense learning journey.

The outcome was a collection of seventy-two authentic retellings of the story narrated in the following fifty-six languages: Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia (2), Bemba, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Regular and Simplified), Croatian, Czech (2), Dutch, English, Finnish (2), French, German (3), Gikuyu, Greek, Haida, Hebrew, Hindi (3), Hungarian, Italian (2), Irish (Gaelic) (2), Japanese (2), Kazakh, Kiswahili, Korean, Luhya, Macedonian, Mohawk, Nepali, Norwegian (2), Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian (2), Russian (2), Serbian, Shona, Sindhi, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (2), Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Tla'amin, Turkish (2), Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Wolof.

For more details about the project, see Jungić, V., On the Language Diversity in the Mathematical Community, Maple Transactions, 4(4), 2024.

Thank you to everyone who, directly or indirectly, contributed to the project!

- Veselin Jungić

Click on images to enlarge them.

Figure 13.14.1. Albanian (L) and Amharic (R)

Figure 13.14.2. Arabic

Figure 13.14.3. Bahasa Indonesia

Figure 13.14.4. Bemba (L) and Bengali (R)

Figure 13.14.5. Bosnian (L) and Bulgarian (R)

Figure 13.14.6. Catalan

Figure 13.14.7. Chinese Regular (L) and Simplified (R)

Figure 13.14.8. Croatian

Figure 13.14.9. Czech

Figure 13.14.10. Dutch (L) and English (R)

Figure 13.14.11. Finnish

Figure 13.14.12. French (L) and German (R)

Figure 13.14.13. German

Figure 13.14.14. Gikuyu (L) and Greek (R)

Figure 13.14.15. Haida (L) and Hebrew (R)

Figure 13.14.16. Hindi

Figure 13.14.17. Hindi (L) and Hungarian (R)

Figure 13.14.18. Irish

Figure 13.14.19. Italian

Figure 13.14.20. Japanese

Figure 13.14.21. Kazakh (L) and Kiswahili(R)

Figure 13.14.22. Korean (L) and Luhya (R)

Figure 13.14.23. Macedonian (L) and Mohawk (R)

Figure 13.14.24. Nepali

Figure 13.14.25. Norwegian

Figure 13.14.26. Persian (L) and Polish (R)

Figure 13.14.27. Portuguese (L) and Punjabi (R)

Figure 13.14.28. Romanian

Figure 13.14.29. Russian

Figure 13.14.30. Serbian (L) and Shona (R)

“I just finished translating the comic in Sindhi with my mom and grandmother. They both were able to read and approved it to be correct. Thank you so much for giving me a platform to write this educational comic in a language that is so dear to me.”

Figure 13.14.31. Sindhi

Figure 13.14.32. Slovak (L) and Slovenian (R)

Figure 13.14.33. Spanish

Figure 13.14.34. Swahili (L) and Swedish (R)

Figure 13.14.35. Tagalog (L) and Tamil (R)

Figure 13.14.36. Tla'amin

Figure 13.14.37. Turkish

Figure 13.14.38. Ukrainian (L) and Urdu (R)

Figure 13.14.39. Vietnamise (L) and Wolof (R)