Nelson Mandela was quoted saying, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart."

There have been several debates among those in academia as to which is more important between languages and mathematics when it comes to education. Despite this, many scholars agree that one needs to first learn a language whether that is their mother tongue or not then, later on, learn mathematics. This is because language is a tool that is used to teach other subjects including mathematics.

Before I moved to Rwanda, I was a bit concerned about the fact that I neither spoke French nor Kinyarwanda. In spite of that, a friend of mine encouraged me that as long as I knew how to count then I would be fine. This is because when you know how to count then you can trade in any currency in the world without confusion.

It is not possible for a human being to learn all the languages on the planet. However, there is one language that we all have in common and that is the language of experience and shared values. It is with this same attitude that I blossomed while staying in India. I would use sign language with some locals who did not speak English to bargain for products.

According to Johannes Kepler, geometry has two great treasures: one is the Theorem of Pythagoras, and the other the golden ratio. The first we may compare to a measure of gold, the second we may name a precious jewel. In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden mean if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller one. The most beautiful things that catch our eyes are the ones that are the most symmetrical.

Adolf Zeising, whose main interests were mathematics and philosophy, found the golden number expressed in the arrangement of parts such as leaves and branches along the stems of plants and of veins in leaves. He extended his research to the skeletons of animals and the branching of their veins and nerves, to the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals, even to the use of proportion in artistic endeavors. In these patterns in nature, he saw the divine proportion operating as a universal law. The golden proportion has inspired thinkers of all disciplines to achieve the ideal beauty and balance through their creativity. This is very useful in architectural designs, paintings, photography, music, and fashion.

In mathematics, two quantities are said to be in divine proportion if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller. The golden ratio is approximately 1.6180339887. The way I see it, mathematics is a language that was applied in the creation of the universe meaning one cannot separate math from languages. To put it in better perspective, languages are the roadmap that one follows in their quest to learn other subjects such as mathematics.