You don’t have to love both math and English to appreciate
mathematical English. It may appeal to people who are passionate about just one
or the other. Mathematical English can also be used to help stimulate student
interest in a subject that they don’t generally favor. Since word problems
require using both sides of the brain at the same time, doing some basic
mathematical English may be helpful practice for this, too.
Following are a few entertaining activities where mathematics
and language intertwine:
(1) Victor Borge’s inflationary language: The concept here
is to add one to any number used in ordinary speech or writing. For example, “forever”
would become “fivever” and “tension” would become “elevension.” You can find
video footage of this on YouTube, for example, or more information about Victor
Borge at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Borge.
(2) Mathematical word games. Anagrams involve permuting
letters to form new words, as in “listen” and “silent.” In cryptograms, each
letter is replaced by a different letter to make a secret code. Scrabble
assigns a numerical value to every letter and players try to form words from
the letters to make the highest possible score. Such games combine mathematical
thinking or logic with language skills.
(3) Poetic verse that involves numbers. William Shakespeare
used iambic pentameter when writing plays or sonnets, which follow a
mathematical pattern (rhythm). Japanese Haiku is a short form of poetry
following the mathematical pattern 5-7-5.
Chris McMullen, author of the Improve Your Math Fluency series of workbooks
