Does Your Language Make Math Harder?

In Chinese, eleven is simply "ten-one." In English, it comes from an old word meaning "one left over." So does the language you grow up with change how you learn numbers? The answer is smaller, stranger, and more interesting than the famous version. We follow preschoolers counting in China and the US, first graders building 42 out of blocks, a two-second memory loop, French "four-twenties-ten-seven," Danish "halvtreds," and a clever test in Welsh schools. Then we ask what really matters for learning math. Chapters 0:00 Eleven, twelve… thirteen? 0:45 Numbers that explain themselves 1:45 The counting race 3:03 The two-second memory 4:04 A tour of strange numbers 4:57 The twist 5:34 So… is it harder? Research mentioned Miller, Smith, Zhu & Zhang (1995). Preschool origins of cross-national differences in mathematical competence. Psychological Science. Miura et al. on base-ten blocks; interview: https://www.edweek.org/education/q-a-... Ellis & Hennelly (1980). A bilingual word-length effect. British Journal of Psychology. Stigler, Lee & Stevenson (1986). Digit memory in Chinese and English. Dowker & Roberts (2015). Does the transparency of the counting system affect children's numerical abilities? Wondelix: a little wonder in every story. #Math #Language #Wondelix