Sara Shumway, U.S. Embassy in Pretoria
How do you think the message of biodiversity can effectively be communicated to South Africans?
At the Mae Jemison U.S. Science Reading Room, where we work primarily with secondary school students from Mamelodi East, we find that students are genuinely interested in the topic of biodiversity but have difficulty understanding the language around it. We have a responsibility to break down our discussions into simple and direct language, and to use as many specific examples as possible to illustrate our points. Where English comprehension is an issue, we must allow time for questions and conversation. We can also provide the chance for more advanced students to use local languages to help explain the concepts and code-switch whenever possible.
Sara Shumway