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(guān)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(xué)習(xí)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(chǔ)數(shù)學(xué)技能方面,5歲的美國孩子已經(jīng)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(chǔ)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(zhuǎn)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(xué)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(zhuǎn)換成數(shù)字:答案就是59。