Skip to main content

Section 1.14 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-five authentic retellings of the story narrated in the following fifty-nine 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, Gurmukhi, 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), Scots, Serbian, Shona, Sindhi, Sinhala, 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 1.14.1. Albanian (L) and Amharic (R)

Figure 1.14.2. Arabic

Figure 1.14.3. Bahasa Indonesia

Figure 1.14.4. Bemba (L) and Bengali (R)

Figure 1.14.5. Bosnian (L) and Bulgarian (R)

Figure 1.14.6. Catalan

Figure 1.14.7. Chinese Regular (L) and Simplified (R)

Figure 1.14.8. Croatian

Figure 1.14.9. Czech

Figure 1.14.10. Dutch (L) and English (R)

Figure 1.14.11. Finnish

Figure 1.14.12. French (L) and German (R)

Figure 1.14.13. German

Figure 1.14.14. Gikuyu (L) and Greek (R)

Figure 1.14.15. Gurmukhi

Figure 1.14.16. Haida (L) and Hebrew (R)

Figure 1.14.17. Hindi

Figure 1.14.18. Hindi (L) and Hungarian (R)

Figure 1.14.19. Irish

Figure 1.14.20. Italian

Figure 1.14.21. Japanese

Figure 1.14.22. Kazakh (L) and Kiswahili(R)

Figure 1.14.23. Korean (L) and Luhya (R)

Figure 1.14.24. Macedonian (L) and Mohawk (R)

Figure 1.14.25. Nepali

Figure 1.14.26. Norwegian

Figure 1.14.27. Persian (L) and Polish (R)

Figure 1.14.28. Portuguese (L) and Punjabi (R)

Figure 1.14.29. Romanian

Figure 1.14.30. Russian

Figure 1.14.31. Scots

Figure 1.14.32. 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 1.14.33. Sindhi

Figure 1.14.34. Sinhala

Figure 1.14.35. Slovak (L) and Slovenian (R)

Figure 1.14.36. Spanish

Figure 1.14.37. Swahili (L) and Swedish (R)

Figure 1.14.38. Tagalog (L) and Tamil (R)

Figure 1.14.39. Tla'amin

Figure 1.14.40. Turkish

Figure 1.14.41. Ukrainian (L) and Urdu (R)

Figure 1.14.42. Vietnamise (L) and Wolof (R)