異類之不一樣的成功啟示錄 第157期:數(shù)學的規(guī)律

So one might think that we would also say oneteen twoteen and threeteen, but we don't.We make up a different form: eleven, twelve, thirteen and fifteen.

因此，大家會認為我們會把“11、12、13、15”說成“oneteen、twoteen、threeteen、fiveteen”，但是我們沒有這樣命名，而是采用不同的數(shù)字符號，我們把“11、12、13、15”分別稱為“eleven、twelve、thirteen、fifteen”。

Similarly, we have forty and sixty, which sound like they are, but we also say fifty and thirty and twenty, which sort of sound what they are, but not really.

同樣，我們把“40”和“60”稱為“forty”和“sixty”，他們聽上去與跟他們相關的數(shù)字（“4”和“6”）很像。我們把“50”和“30”還有“20”稱為“fifty”、“thirty”還有“twenty”，這聽起來很像“5”（“five”）、“3”（“three”）和“10”（“ten”），但情況卻并非如此。

And for that matter, for numbers above twenty, we put the decade first and the unit number second: twenty-one, twenty-two.

對于兩位數(shù)，比如“20”以上的數(shù)字，我們將十位數(shù)放在個位數(shù)之前，如“21、22”（“twenty-one、twenty-two”）

For the teens, though, we do it the other way around. We put the decades second and the unit number first: fourteen, seventeen, eighteen.

對于10以上的數(shù)字，我們采取相反的數(shù)字輸出方式，個位數(shù)在前，而十位數(shù)在后，如“14”、“17”和“18”（“fourteen”、“seventeen”、“eighteen”）。

The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan, and Korea.They have a logical counting system.

不同于中國、日本和韓國具有邏輯順序的數(shù)字符號體系，英語的數(shù)字體系沒有規(guī)律可言。

Eleven is ten-one.Twelve is ten-two.Twenty-four is two-tens-four and so on.

如“11”就是“11”，“12”就是“12”，“24”就是“24”，并且以此類推。

That difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than their American counterparts.

這種數(shù)字長短上的差異使得亞洲孩子學習數(shù)字的速度要明顯快于美國孩子。

Four-year-old Chinese children can count, on average, up to forty.American children at that age can only count to fifteen. and the most don't reach forty until they're five.

4歲的中國孩子平均可以數(shù)到40，而同齡的美國孩子則只能數(shù)到15，大多數(shù)的美國孩子即使到了5歲也不能數(shù)到50。

By the age of five, in other words, American children are already a year behind their Asian counterparts in the most fundamental of math skills.

換句話說，在許多基礎數(shù)學技能方面，5歲的美國孩子已經落后于同齡的亞洲孩子一年。

The regularity of their number system also means that Asian children can perform basic functions like addition far more easily.

亞洲孩子憑借其數(shù)字體系所具有的規(guī)律性，可以很輕松地進行一些基礎運算。如加法。

Ask an English seven-year-old to add thirty-seven plus twenty-two in her head, and she has to convert the words to numbers, 37+22,

如果要求一個講英語的7歲孩子心算37加上22等于多少，她就必須先把單詞轉換成數(shù)字（37＋22）。

only then can she do the math: 2 plus 7 is 9, and 30 and 20 is 50, which makes 59.

只有這樣她才可以做出這道數(shù)學題：2＋7＝9，30＋20＝50，再相加等于59。

Ask an Asian child to add three-ten-seven and two-ten-two, and then the necessary equation is right there, embedded in the sentence.

同樣，要求一名亞洲孩子計算37加上22等于多少，那么等式就在眼前，數(shù)字組合在一起就是答案。

No number translation is necessary.It's five-tens-nine.

不需要再將單詞轉換成數(shù)字：答案就是59。