One of the greatest challenge of being a researcher is writing up research findings. Scientific writing requires clarity, simplicity and minimum verbosity, but to master these simple principles requires a tenacity and discipline that only comes with experience. If you add the fact that english is not the first language of an African boy then you will undertand what I mean. Even though my experience shows that first language english speakers do not necessariy write the best scientific papers. You see, scientific papers require a level of clarity that can only be achieved by a writer who is lost for words a.k.a second language english speakers.
This is not to imply that second language english speakers are not upto their craft. Infact as far as I'm concerned, I'm a first language english speaker, whateve that means. But what am I suppose to say, after english has dominated my entire life both in and out of school. From the day I was enrolled into Nursery, it was english...the British colonialists really did a great job.
I'm just thinking how it would have been, if I was to be writing my PhD thesis in Aringa, my mother tongue. Would I be re-writing the same paragraph for what seems like an eternity? Or would I be bogged down with the numerous special characters in my language? Maybe not, if the orientals figured that out, I'm sure any african language could thrive as a science language.
My first professional encounter with a first language english speaker was in form of a 'compliment' by my university professor, " very good presentation for a second language english speaker". I felt insulted because even if I speak with an accent, english is the language I have known since time immemorial. But to that Prof., I was still an amateur...
But as I spend hours trying to make a contribution to science, I can't help but wonder if things would have been different if I was thinking and writing in my mother tongue!!
