Math As A Second Language

Taking The Fear Out Of Math

Our mission is to replace mathematical concepts that are difficult to understand with one or more simpler concepts that are easy to understand and hard to forget and to make all materials available free-of-charge to anyone who is interested in learning math.

Material on this website can be beneficial to Teachers, School Administrators, Parents/Guardians and Students. Teachers (elementary and middle school) will be able to review and/or learn the concepts of Arithmetic and Algebra (and Calculus in Everyday Life). Administrators will be able to adapt the material to workshops where all they will need is a facilitator; all other resources are here (free of charge). Parents/Guardians can review material their children are learning and Students can use the materials on this site to learn at their own pace. Materials are available in different formats for you to 'mix and match': text, video and slide shows.

There are two basic Math courses on this site – Arithmetic and Algebra. The fundamentals of Arithmetic are based on our concept of Math being a second language. Our underlying principle is what we call "The Adjective Noun Theme" based on the fact that people use numbers as adjectives not nouns. As an example, while it is true that 3 dimes + 2 nickels = 40 cents, if we omit the nouns we obtain the false statement that 3 + 2 = 40. When we say that 3 + 2 = 5 we are assuming that 3, 2 and 5 modify the same nouns. If you can remember that, then you are well on your way to mastering all of the fundamentals of arithmetic.

In our Algebra course, we rely on the concept of paraphrasing. For example, if we wanted to use a calculator to solve the problem 383 + — = 982 we would rewrite the problem in the equivalent form 982 – 383 = —. In essence this is what Algebra helps us do – use the rules of arithmetic to paraphrase problems into equivalent ones!

Our Calculus courses come in two flavors vanilla (for the everyday person) and chocolate (for the traditionalist).