Wikipedia is one of the last bastions of freely accessible public information on the internet, and since it remains relatively untouched by the polarization prevalent in social media, it can be refreshing to do some research on the mechanics of Aircraft toilets to Alexander the Great without being bombarded by trolls or advertisements. But occasionally you may come across a page that hurts your brain.
When researching advanced quantum mechanics for a school project, the regular old Wikipedia might not put everything you need in one condensed section that is easy to understand. If you have a learning disability or are a student who needs an easily formulated overview of a topic, some Wikipedia pages can appear overly dense and full of non-essential, tangential information, not to mention the lengthy language.
Fortunately, that’s there Simple English Wikipedia enter the game. Simple English Wikipedia is basically a downside to the Wikipedia main page, as it has alternate entries for pages written in a more complicated language.
Here’s how to find the easier version of your search
For example, if you’re reading the main Wikipedia entry on particle accelerators and having trouble finding what you need, change the url. Just add the word “simple” before the URL to access the “Simple English” page. As soon as you do, you will notice this en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_accelerator becomes simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_accelerator, The latter link provides a quick overview of the basics.
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This concept currently applies to a total of 186,000 articles on the website. You will find that the differences do not necessarily suggest a watered down version of the entries, but rather simple, plain language. This is the main rule behind Simple English Wikipedia, as explained on the homepage.
True to shape there is a regular one Wikipedia entry on Simple English Wikipediaand a simple English entry posted on Simple English Wikipedia. You will find that the sentences are shorter and the syntax on the Basic English page is a bit simpler. It’s a digestible (and pretty meta) example of how the whole concept works.
It’s especially useful for people with special needs
The overall goal of Simple English Wikipedia is to expand access to more people. As stated in the Wikipedia entry for the simple version, the website is available to students, children, adults learning English, and adults with learning difficulties. To this end, there are guidelines for people looking to write their own simple English listings, and they are a little different from the standard rate pages you can find on the main page.
Like on the Simple English homepage, Any contributor longing for an article needs to “use simple English words and shorter sentences” and focus on the general rule of “simple doesn’t mean short”.
The home page of the site extends what is meant by this:
Writing in simple English means using simple words. This does not mean that readers want basic information. Articles don’t have to be short to be simple. Expand Articles, add details, but use the basic vocabulary.
With all of the noise and profit-making platforms that define the modern internet experience, it’s good to know that Wikipedia is still doing what it does best – for as many people as possible.
