When a group of Chinese primary school pupils with a keen interest in astronomy were asked what language the research on China’s Chang’e-6 lunar soil samples should be written in, they stopped smiling.
The pupils of Fangcaodi International School, a state-run primary school in Beijing with an emphasis on science education, have closely followed China’s recent lunar endeavours.
Posed with the same question, one of the young science pupils proposed an answer.
“It should be in English first so that scientists from all over the world can understand the latest results and work together to promote research,” he said.
“But there should be a Chinese version so that the whole population of China is aware of the latest findings.”
It was an idea that the other four pupils readily agreed with. But that is not what happened.
