Spoken mathematical symbols are part of oral communication in mathematics classrooms. The transition from written mathematical symbols into spoken sound is an intricate process that, in some respects, parallels the translation of one language into another. This study focuses on strategy use in the reading aloud of mathematical symbols and compares them to strategies found in second language communication (SLC). In an analysis of sound recordings of university students who read symbolic expressions aloud, SLC strategies were found to be abundant. This indicates that some obstacles encountered when transforming written symbols into spoken words are similar to problems occurring in SLC. It is suggested that mathematics teaching should include some instructions on how to read symbolic expressions.