written by Lilian Ndongmo. ESL Teacher

“Arts students are good at languages and science students are not”.  If, like me, you’ve heard or seen this sentence countless times, then you’re probably wondering: truth or myth? Well, here’s what I think: “Arts students are good at languages and science students are not”. 

A sentence like this just puts you down; makes you want to throw up your pen and books in frustration; stomp out of the class and punch a sandbag – not the English teacher, hopefully. Some people would do anything not to attend an English class, including jumping out of class through the window!

The point is, if you love science and want to make a successful career in it, but you don’t want to study English, good luck! You see, English is, arguably, still the most popular language in the world. More important is the fact that the majority and the best science books are written in English.  How are you going to be able to read these books and acquire the knowledge that you crucially need when you’re English illiterate? Is Google translate your solution? Good luck with that too.

Change your mindset

 Now that we’ve established the fact that you need to learn this language, let’s get a few things straight. You don’t have to like English to learn it well. You have to change your mindset. If you look at English with the mind of a scientist, you’ll see that it’s not that complicated after all. Clear your head of all the negativity and look at it this way:

Fact #1: Numbers

Avogadro’s number states that 1 mole = 6.02 x 10²³ atoms

English alphabet = 26 letters: 5 vowels and 21  consonants

Fact #2: Science has laws, English has rules; both are similar

Boyle’s law: Pressure and volume are inversely proportional if temperature is constant.

Formation of adverb rule: To change an adjective into an adverb, add –ly after the adjective.

Example:  Sad                Sad + ly  = Sadly

Fact #3: Science has formulas, English has formulas

Ideal gas law:   PV =  nRT     where R = 0.08206 L atm/K mol

Present perfect tense: Verb to have (conjugated in the present tense) + past participle (of any other verb)

Example:   I             have                               eaten.

                           Verb (to have)    +    past participle

Fact #4: Science flips and solves, English flips too, but no solving

Rational expressions (fractions):

 P ÷ R  =    P · S

  Q     S        Q   R       (R and S are flipped)

English conditional: If it rains tomorrow, I will stay home.

                                     I will stay home if it rains tomorrow.  (sentence flipped, meaning is the same;  no solving involved)

Fact #5: Mathematics can use different equations to solve the same problem, English uses different words to express the same meaning.

4x² + 20x + 25 = 0 can be solved using formulas:    ax² + bx + c = 0    or  

x =  –b ± √b2 – 4ac

            2a

For English: Today is colder than yesterday. Today is not as warm as yesterday. = same meaning.

Fact #6: Science can be logical, English can be logical too.

Question: If hard is an adverb and hard is an adjective, identify the part of speech of hard in the sentences below:

1. Akli works hard.
2. Akli is a hard man.

Answer: Hard is an adverb if it is used with an action verb. Hard is an adjective it is used with the verb to be.

The rest is easy. Try it yourself.

Fact # 7: Medicine is gray; English has exceptions

In the medical field, nothing is always black and white. It is gray. If you don’t know what this means ask any doctor.

In English, rules have exceptions – lots of exceptions.

Fact # 8: Sometimes, Science (especially medicine) is illogical, so too is English

Sometimes, there are things you just can’t explain. You have no reason to provide for why a particular illness arises or why the only preposition after the word responsible is for.

In English, the answer for such illogical issues is simple: That’s just the way it is.

Keep these facts in mind when you decide to study English or any language for that matter. You’ll be more prepared to face the challenges ahead and less frustrated when you do encounter them.

Good luck, and have fun learning.