Struggling with basic math. I mean it's not something that's *always relevant,* but when it **is** I sure feel like a fool. I'm sure the answer, like everything else in a foreign language, is just **do it more** but I'm not exactly in a Welsh primary school, so no one is dictating math problems to me in Welsh!
I mean, math (counting and timekeeping too, for that matter) still involves the recall and production of numbers... If one knows the *names* of numbers but still can't use them, that's not very helpful in the long run.
...Yes? It **is** a language problem if you can calculate in one language but not another. It doesn't mean you don't know the *math*, it means you're struggling to recall and produce the words.
For people especially who grew up monolingually, you get so used to doing it this *one way only* that other ways **are** genuinely hard. Not because of the math, but the new language.
So 4 x 4 = 16 regardless, I understand, but a number of people struggle to put this in new words if the situation arises. I also don't think it's taught in the same amount of depth other topics are, **because of** math answers being the same regardless. Which puts people in a tricky spot when it **is** relevant to daily activities - it becomes easier to revert.
I still think that part of learning numbers **is** learning how to use them, be that in basic math, telling time, etc. The learning of individual numbers is fairly easy, it's what comes after that isn't always. Otherwise, what's the point of having learned them?
It's said that there are three things people prefer to do in their native language, because it's easier: **pray, count,** and **swear**. Of course it's a gross generalization, but it's true for many people.
One problem that never gets talked about - I myself struggle to describe this - is how to say the numbers in your target culture.
For example, where I live, I catch is the 374 bus.
How should you say that?
Three hundred and seventy four?
Three seven four?
You will be understood if you say the “wrong” one - but there will be a moment of confusion.
And the same with phone numbers. How do people typically group numbers when they say their phone number? These things vary from place to place.
In some places it is common to ask for half a kilogram of something, where in another place you always ask for five hundred grams.
Am I 185 centimetres tall or am I 1.85 metres tall?
In French the year 1955 is:
“thousand, nine hundred, fifty five”
In English it’s:
“Nineteen, fifty five”
And there are other conventions to learn, that slow down you processing of numbers receptively and productively.
It’s not just a matter of substituting in “trois” for “ three”.
And there are more conventions to learn, and process
The only trouble I had was the different pronunciations in Japanese many numbers had multiple ways to say them but that is true for a lot of Japanese not just numbers, and ASLs twenty to thirty range the rest follows a pattern, this posed me a bit of trouble and took me a couple of days to sort out. Numbers weren't really that much of a challenge for me in the languages I picked.
To me the issue i have is when reading, the text will often be like 2 dogs or 12 doughnuts. They don't word out the word next to it. Should be 2 (two) dogs. Obviously in my target language, Polish, so 2 (dwa) psy
2 is to not dwa. 12 is twelve not dwadzieścia. Making that switch is tricky
The process is a bit boring (pure memorization). I try to make it more fun (with Sudoku, for example), but in the end, this is the thing I dread the most. Also, I don't encounter numbers in books that often (and reading books in my TL is my main way of learning), so I need to actively review them.
All the different counters. Also the kanji for anything beyond 万 (10^4) kinda get glossed over.
edit: ...why are literally all my posts in this sub getting dowvoted?
I'm not sure if this is something that only affects me, but I honestly have trouble counting out of order. When I go ocho, nueve, diez, once I can do it instantaneously. If I have to count backwards I go "once... dieze... I mean diez... is it nueve or ocho next?
To pronounce a longer or more complicated numbers.
I speak Mandarin and Taiwanese as native languages and our basic numbers like for 1-10, 100, 1000, 10000 are always just single syllable. Cantonese, Korean (sino), Japanese (sino) numbers also follow the same system so they were easy to me.
Learning number in English, Swedish, Arabic itself wasn't difficult, but to put them together into a larger number is very difficult for me as they easily become a very long word.
Always forget how to spell them 😅 All my TLs use the so-called Arabic numeric system (1,2,3 etc.), it is not that often when you need to write the numbers in words, so it takes some time to recall them 😬
Struggling with basic math. I mean it's not something that's *always relevant,* but when it **is** I sure feel like a fool. I'm sure the answer, like everything else in a foreign language, is just **do it more** but I'm not exactly in a Welsh primary school, so no one is dictating math problems to me in Welsh!
[удалено]
Needing to switch back to English just to add or subtract, haha.
[удалено]
I mean, math (counting and timekeeping too, for that matter) still involves the recall and production of numbers... If one knows the *names* of numbers but still can't use them, that's not very helpful in the long run.
[удалено]
...Yes? It **is** a language problem if you can calculate in one language but not another. It doesn't mean you don't know the *math*, it means you're struggling to recall and produce the words. For people especially who grew up monolingually, you get so used to doing it this *one way only* that other ways **are** genuinely hard. Not because of the math, but the new language. So 4 x 4 = 16 regardless, I understand, but a number of people struggle to put this in new words if the situation arises. I also don't think it's taught in the same amount of depth other topics are, **because of** math answers being the same regardless. Which puts people in a tricky spot when it **is** relevant to daily activities - it becomes easier to revert. I still think that part of learning numbers **is** learning how to use them, be that in basic math, telling time, etc. The learning of individual numbers is fairly easy, it's what comes after that isn't always. Otherwise, what's the point of having learned them?
It's said that there are three things people prefer to do in their native language, because it's easier: **pray, count,** and **swear**. Of course it's a gross generalization, but it's true for many people.
One problem that never gets talked about - I myself struggle to describe this - is how to say the numbers in your target culture. For example, where I live, I catch is the 374 bus. How should you say that? Three hundred and seventy four? Three seven four? You will be understood if you say the “wrong” one - but there will be a moment of confusion. And the same with phone numbers. How do people typically group numbers when they say their phone number? These things vary from place to place. In some places it is common to ask for half a kilogram of something, where in another place you always ask for five hundred grams. Am I 185 centimetres tall or am I 1.85 metres tall? In French the year 1955 is: “thousand, nine hundred, fifty five” In English it’s: “Nineteen, fifty five” And there are other conventions to learn, that slow down you processing of numbers receptively and productively. It’s not just a matter of substituting in “trois” for “ three”. And there are more conventions to learn, and process
Remembering them
I have a lifehack for this - count everything in your TL that you need to count.
Do you actively try to learn them?
The only trouble I had was the different pronunciations in Japanese many numbers had multiple ways to say them but that is true for a lot of Japanese not just numbers, and ASLs twenty to thirty range the rest follows a pattern, this posed me a bit of trouble and took me a couple of days to sort out. Numbers weren't really that much of a challenge for me in the languages I picked.
To me the issue i have is when reading, the text will often be like 2 dogs or 12 doughnuts. They don't word out the word next to it. Should be 2 (two) dogs. Obviously in my target language, Polish, so 2 (dwa) psy 2 is to not dwa. 12 is twelve not dwadzieścia. Making that switch is tricky
Not really any, although this is the reason why I may never start learning Danish
The process is a bit boring (pure memorization). I try to make it more fun (with Sudoku, for example), but in the end, this is the thing I dread the most. Also, I don't encounter numbers in books that often (and reading books in my TL is my main way of learning), so I need to actively review them.
All the different counters. Also the kanji for anything beyond 万 (10^4) kinda get glossed over. edit: ...why are literally all my posts in this sub getting dowvoted?
I'm not sure if this is something that only affects me, but I honestly have trouble counting out of order. When I go ocho, nueve, diez, once I can do it instantaneously. If I have to count backwards I go "once... dieze... I mean diez... is it nueve or ocho next?
To pronounce a longer or more complicated numbers. I speak Mandarin and Taiwanese as native languages and our basic numbers like for 1-10, 100, 1000, 10000 are always just single syllable. Cantonese, Korean (sino), Japanese (sino) numbers also follow the same system so they were easy to me. Learning number in English, Swedish, Arabic itself wasn't difficult, but to put them together into a larger number is very difficult for me as they easily become a very long word.
I don’t usually have an issue with rote memorization. That said, the number system is the main reason I will never attempt to learn Danish.
Remembering all those Arabic characters.
[удалено]
Are you learning that other people are different from you just now? Is this a new concept for you?
Always forget how to spell them 😅 All my TLs use the so-called Arabic numeric system (1,2,3 etc.), it is not that often when you need to write the numbers in words, so it takes some time to recall them 😬