Language vs Math, Which Side Are You?

NO.	TOPIC	EXPLANATION
1	INTRODUCTION	-          Introduce the topic of learning. -          Introduce the issue about the differences between Language and Math. -          State the ‘Thesis Statement’: What is the differences and similarities between Language and Math.
2	DIFFERENCES	Major Support 1: Use different parts of Brain Minor: -          Explain about the left and right side of brain   Major Support 2: Exact and Ambiguity Minor: -          Example of exact definition and mis-interpreted sentences.   Major Support 3: Mistake tolerance Minor: -          Math mistakes cannot be toleranced for the calculation. -          Language mistakes could still be toleranced as long as it is still understandable.
3	SIMILARITIES	Major Support 1: Both Need Practice. Major Support 2: Both Need Formula and Rules.
4	CONCLUSION	The summary of the difference and the similarities between both Language and Math.

 

All through life as a person, learning has become our main focus of life. From birth to death, human never seems to stop learning. Whether it’s something as simple as walking, running, or learning on how to play musical instruments, cooking, how to speak in different languages, how to solve your calculus questions, etc. But have you ever wondered if there’s any difference between learning on how to speak Japanese with how to solve your Math problems? What impact does this have to do in our learning process? Or it’s actually just the same? The following paragraphs will explain about what differs between learning Languages and learning Math also how they are actually similar to each other.

          In 1960, a psychobiologist named Robert W. Sperry has come up with a theory that the brain’s two hemispheres function differently. The research mentioned that left brain is mostly used for logic, mathematics, and analytical purpose while the right part is mostly used for imagination, visualization, and linguistic. So when we are studying subjects that requires full-time calculations such as math or physics, we tend to use our left side of the brain but when we’re studying subjects that needs visualization, rhythm, and word improvisation such as arts or language, the right side mainly functioned in the whole process of learning.

In the most recent ‘Alladin’ movie, there’s this character called ‘Genie’. His role is to gain three wishes from anyone that rubs his lamp. In scenes when he’s dutied to gain wishes, he would always said, “There’s a lot of gray area in terms of granting wishes”. It’s because when someone said a particular sentence, the meaning itself could have a few definitions depending on how people caught it. In the movie, when Alladin wished, “Make me a Prince!”, it could be interpreted as either ‘create a human to become a prince’ or ‘transfrom Alladin into a prince’. This shows a really good example how language differs from Math. In Math, 1+1 has an exact definition. It simply means ‘one plus one’, which is an addition. But when someone said a particular sentence in language, it could be interpreted as something different than what they actually mean. 

            

         Language and Math also have their own level of mistake tolerance. When you’re calculating an equation in some math question, different result equals wrong. Period. But in a daily conversation, no one actually cares that much when your grammar is wrong. This shows how Math and Language differs in terms of mistake tolerance. Math tends to have a lower tolerance for mistake since what we are searching for is an exact result while language tends to have a higher tolerance for mistake in certain situations, because the main point of language is that both side could understand what the others are trying to say.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re studying on how to become a Master of Physics, or Master of English, both language and math need the same level of motivation, commitment, and practice in order to understand the whole concept of it. You can’t become good at math if you don’t practice it by solving problems over and over again, likewise you can’t be good at Englis if you don’t expand your vocabularies or you never practice it by talking to other people. The oher similarities between Language and Math is that both of them could be formulated to get a simpler understanding. For example, to calculate the area of a circle, you could simply use the formula:  and same goes for English, to create a sentence to tell that it’s already happened in the past, you could use the formula: Past Tense = Subject + Verb_-2 + Object + Adverb.

In short, learning Language and Math have its own field of difficulties. Both language and math have each of its own requirements such as different use of brain parts, how people understand the definition, or how crucial a mistake could influence the last result. But, although language and math seems to have so many diversities, they still have the same fundamental. It can be seen from how both of them need practice and same level of commitment in order to be mastered, or how both of them could be formulated to get a better understanding. One thing for sure, both language and math are essential for human to live in this world. So which one do you prefer?