[hahamaster]

I tell my kid that math is a language. You learn to speak it, just like you learn to speak any other language, slowly, by listening, understanding, speaking, intuitively recognizing patterns, rules and exceptions. When you start to become fluent you translate problems into math and solve them. At school they keep trying to make them memorize useful phrases, like a tourist that goes to Paris and learns how to say "where's the bathroom", "hello", "would you like to sleep with me", "thank you", "goodbye", etc.

[chasely]

> and learns how to say "where's the bathroom", "hello", "would you like to sleep with me", "thank you", "goodbye"

Quite a story condensed into those five phrases.

[pxeger1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Marmalade

[sitkack]

For sale, condom, never worn

[agnishom]

> math is a language

I think there are some differences

If you are a physicist or an economist, you may be using mathematics as a language in the sense that you are using a mathematical description to convey an understanding of the natural world or the economy to your colleagues. But if you are a mathematician, you are interested in the mathematical objects for their own sake.

There is also a difference between the purpose of learning language and learning math. The goal of learning language is (often) to be fluent in it. In other words, the goal is to reach a level of proficiency which would allow you to not have to think about language and focus on the content of the conversation instead. On the other hand, the goal of learning mathematics is usually to be able to solve mathematical problems. Being able to do math without "thinking about it" is not usually a requirement.

[hilbert42]

"At school they keep trying to make them memorize useful phrases, like a tourist that goes to Paris…."

Like learning dozens of trig identities without any explanation about why one would need them. As I've mentioned elsewhere learning math for the sake of it isn't enough. For most of us math has to have relevance, and for that we have to link it to things in the real world.

[annerxox]

We can't even figure out that there are bottom up vs top down learners.

Instead we will just continue to slog along with the same poor system. Math wise, completely at the expense of the top down learners.

[hilbert42]

Right, you'd think by now we could do a little better.