American Language of Mathematics - Essay Example

There was no ill intent to cause discouragement for Americans to face some challenges in learning Math due to the use of the English language.
American language of mathematics is indeed more challenging to learn, especially for young children since, after the number ten, there are again 10 new sets of terms to learn to distinguish the higher sets of numbers from eleven to twenty. When one would actually count the number of new terms up to 100, one could determine that there are 28 new terminologies to learn counting from 1 to 100 using the English language. This, therefore, makes it challenging and difficult for young children.

The number of new math terms from 1 to 100 in the Chinese language was deemed to be just 11, in contrast to the 28 new terms in the English language. Therefore, the shorter structure of the words, the logic in repeating them (ten-one for eleven; ten-two for twelve, etc.), and the significantly lower new terms make learning math using the Chinese language easier. Overall, the structure of the English language its complexity, and the expectation to adhere to grammatical rules made the language more complex than the Asian language. In no way was it intended to create discouragement; since English has been proven to have vast advantages far beyond its use in understanding math. Read More