How English Impacts Math

I found this study to be very interesting.  Stereotypically, math success associated with certain nationalities, especially with Chines and Japanese students, has always been the norm.  As researched here, the language itself could be giving young students the kick start all kids need to make sense of numbers and how they work and build.

It has been recognized that the simple language parameters used by some countries limits confusion or misconceptions caused by a number's name.  What exactly does "eleven" mean?  Isn't it really just a ten and one more?  Some languages use that to set the base with the English translation simply "ten-one." It even puts the ten first (as it would be in place value) before the number in the ones place.

Much of common core, and certainly the proprietary Mathnasium curriculum, translates numbers from fifty-five to 5 tens and 5 ones so students can regroup easier, multiply easier, and more. It's called decomposing a number and it makes harder numbers and complicated processes less hard.

The biggest "take home message" I read in this is that early numerical fluency sets any kid up for success, especially as the math gets more complex.

To see the article, please visit: http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-best-language-for-math-1410304008#printMode