Which books do you recommend me to read for learning German and Russian for the sole purpose of reading mathematical papers that were written in these languages?
I believe that such a skill will be worthwhile not only for mathematical purposes.
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$\begingroup$ {German,Russian}-English mathematical dictionary? $\endgroup$– მამუკა ჯიბლაძეCommented Aug 11, 2016 at 18:46
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1$\begingroup$ For a(n average) mathematical paper - no, I don't think so. Have you actually tried to start? Many years ago I managed to dig into this with a not even specialized dictionary and zero knowledge of French. $\endgroup$– მამუკა ჯიბლაძეCommented Aug 11, 2016 at 18:55
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1$\begingroup$ I do think you should learn a bit of grammar first. $\endgroup$– Mikhail BorovoiCommented Aug 11, 2016 at 19:14
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3$\begingroup$ For Russian you can try S. H. Gould's Russian for the Mathematician. It is aimed at helping mathematicians read Russian math starting from nothing. Keep in mind, though, that this book will not teach you how to pronounce or write anything, only to read, and since the focus is nearly entirely on technical math (not meeting new people, eating in a restaurant, etc.), I am dubious about your suggestion that the skill of reading Russian math with no broader awareness of grammar or vocabulary "will be worthwhile not only for mathematical purposes." $\endgroup$– KConradCommented Aug 11, 2016 at 19:37
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2$\begingroup$ Possibly, the following information will help you: some of (the best of?) Soviet and Russian mathematical journals were first printed in Russian and translated into English after that; so you may try to compare Russian and English versions of some papers. $\endgroup$– Mikhail BondarkoCommented Aug 11, 2016 at 21:18
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2 Answers
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The French publisher Assimil is very good (and famous) to get conversational skills in many foreign languages. As for the mathematical words, you can use Wikipedia, that's how I got to know that the German word for 'conjecture' was Vermutung. I guess you can easily find 'German with ease' or 'Russian with ease' on the internet. If you're mainly interested in reading, it's not necessary to buy the complete pack with CD's, which is rather expensive (around 70€ in France).
answered Aug 11, 2016 at 18:51
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There is also the book Mathemecum of Joseph Maurer.
The book is in German and contains a collection of mathematical theorems and the names of the theorems are also given in English and in French; so that could help in learning the German names of certain theorems and maybe it is also good for training to read German mathematical texts.
answered Aug 12, 2016 at 16:41