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I've been asked to give lectures on electromagnetism in English, but I encounter many problems trying to express mathematical formulas since they are written and I do not know how to read them. Are there any references which elaborate the formulas and express what should we call any mathematical sign?

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I'm not sure if I would call this off-topic, but I think you might be able to get better answers at math.stackexchange.com, although I'm not sure they would find it on topic. – Jim Oct 19 '11 at 13:46
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I think they might hate it. – Marcin Oct 19 '11 at 13:57
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I've voted to reopen and asked a question on meta.math whether this kind of questions is on-topic there. – Mehper C. Palavuzlar Oct 19 '11 at 17:46
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Can the people who closed this give a justification? This is a question about pronunciation that one cannot find in dictionaries. – Phira Oct 19 '11 at 21:07
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I agree with you Phira – Negin Oct 26 '11 at 6:49
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closed as off topic by aedia λ, simchona♦, Mehper C. Palavuzlar, Jasper Loy, Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Oct 19 '11 at 15:12

Questions on English Language & Usage Stack Exchange are expected to relate to English language and usage within the scope defined in the FAQ. Consider editing the question or leaving comments for improvement if you believe the question can be reworded to fit within the scope. Read more about closed questions here.

3 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted

The following references are useful:

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Thank you very much Mehper , It was really useful – Negin Oct 19 '11 at 14:51
@Negin: You're welcome. Glad I could help. – Mehper C. Palavuzlar Oct 19 '11 at 14:54
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Also: mathematicians are used to international speakers, and will understand things said in different ways. It won't matter if you read "x/2" as "x over 2" or "x upon 2", they have probably heard them both before. Or if Z is called "zee" or "zed". Now if Y is called "eegrek" they may smile... – GEdgar Oct 19 '11 at 15:01
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There's a certain amount of variation in how signs are denoted in speech, not least that given signs may have a different meaning in context (simple example: a superscripted number is usually a power, but it might not be).

You're best asking a colleague who is a mathematician who was educated at, or has a long association, with the institution where you will be lecturing, and knows the standard conventions there.

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up vote 1 down vote

If you're concerned about this, I am afraid you are likely to bore your audience to tears. Describing mathematical equations orally is rarely effective. You would be much better off to provide a hand-out with a numbered list of all equations you wish to discuss, and refer to them by number.

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Please don't do this! My guess is, James has never attended a math talk for and by mathematicians :) – Mariano Oct 19 '11 at 17:48
Actually... oh, heck, just check out the bio on my profile. – James McLeod Oct 19 '11 at 22:43

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