Should schools in America teach Arabic Numerals as part of their curriculum?

[BLAZEY]

Yes, I've discussed that earlier in the thread. I specifically used the phrasing "Arabic numbers" instead of "Arabic Numerals" to differentiate between the overarching discussion about the poll and a particular side discussion I was having with that person about teaching actual Arabic pronunciation of numbers in schools. That poster essentially said that even if they didn't know that Arabic Numerals were our basic system of numbers, he/she still wouldn't have voted no because teaching the pronunciation of numbers in Arabic is beneficial to curriculum. My post was explaining why I disagreed with that particular position.

I still would agree and have no problem with Eastern Arabic numerals and their pronunciation being taught in school. DD came home from school one day in Grade 2 counting in Russian because she had learned it in school that day. ( Her teacher was asked what other languages she spoke besides French and English, she replied Russian and taught the kids to count in russian.)

 

[PlainJane]

I know where algebra comes from, and my thought upon opening this thread was “it’s a trap!”

I don’t recall ever being taught this tidbit, but based on the opening post and knowing the Middle East had a huge (understatement) influence on math, it was pretty easy to figure out what was going on.

I will say, I have no idea why you would need to teach Arabic numbers (not numerals) outside of a class teaching Arabic or about a Middle Eastern Country/culture. I was only ever taught how to write/say numbers in a foreign language in foreign language classes. And let’s be real, most people probably thought numbers were being addressed.

If you’re traveling to a foreign country, as someone mentioned up thread, it’s probably best practice to know basic phrases/numbers, etc. I, however, have literally no use for knowing how to say numbers in Japanese.

American kids also will see Roman numerals in their day to day life, so I would say it’s of benefit for them to know what they are.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I still would agree and have no problem with Eastern Arabic numerals and their pronunciation being taught in school. DD came home from school one day in Grade 2 counting in Russian because she had learned it in school that day. ( Her teacher was asked what other languages she spoke besides French and English, she replied Russian and taught the kids to count in russian.)

Again, I have nothing against the general concept of learning languages, including Arabic. I've studied it myself. I disagreed that it should be a STANDARD part of curriculum for all American students, largely because learning to simply recite the numbers to ten in Arabic does not translate to as much beneficial knowledge for the average American in the US, especially in comparison with other more commonly taught languages which use the same alphabet and don't have such a variance in spoken dialects.

We have a large Middle Eastern population near where I live, so I encounter Arabic-speaking people quite frequently. I can get by in very basic conversation with some of them, and others not so much due to the dialectic differences. I guess my position on it is just based on personal experiences that learning some basic Arabic doesn't take into account the vast differences in colloquial speech and even sentence structure and pronunciation of words among Arabic dialects that can make regional linguistic differences seem like a completely different language, and thus less useful when just learning a few words to be used in the US.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

The concept of "0" was revolutionary. Anyone who's been on the Spaceship Earth ride knows that Arabs kept much of the knowledge of the Ancients safe, knowledge that re-emerged in backward Europe during the Renaissance. Credit where credit is due.

 

[tcufrog]

Is this like our continued addiction to and dependence on Dihydrogen Monoxide?

Your epidermis is showing.

 

[mrodgers]

What some one is taught and what someone learns can be two vastly different things.

What someone is taught, what someone learns, and most important what someone remembers.

I am so glad the high and mighty here are so intelligent that they remember one little thing in 2nd grade from the insane amount of information one learns throughout their school years. We are so blessed to have such an abundant of intelligence on this forum that we can make fun of stupid people for 7 pages....

 

[emmybee]

I knew the answer and I have my public school education to thank for it. People give teachers and public schools a lot of grief. Frankly, it's clear that in many cases, it's not the teacher, it's the student.

 

[Nightowl223]

Totally agree - and then you get to 47 years old and forget a lot of crap you learned in school when you were 10

There's a reason why the show 'Are you smarter than a 4th grader?' was a hit - it's because there are so many things that kids learn in school that are quickly forgotten well into your adult years.

The show was Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
Oh, hi. I'm new, ran across this place from trying to learn about this crazy poll, showing (once again) how incredibly ignorant and racist this nation actually is. *sigh* SO depressing. Especially knowing they breed like rabbits, and they vote.

 

[sam_gordon]

So EVERYONE can be considered ignorant? There is no one who know everything. Therefore, there's something they don't know, therefore they are ignorant.

Posters are saying those who vote "no" on this poll are ignorant (or racist, but I'm not getting into that), because they don't know what Arabic numerals are. While technically true, they're saying it as an insult. But I find it hard to believe they know everything about everything, therefore they are ignorant. And yes, I agree with others who say people don't know what they don't know. So, bottom line, everyone is ignorant.

 

[Searc]

So EVERYONE can be considered ignorant? There is no one who know everything. Therefore, there's something they don't know, therefore they are ignorant.

Posters are saying those who vote "no" on this poll are ignorant (or racist, but I'm not getting into that), because they don't know what Arabic numerals are. While technically true, they're saying it as an insult. But I find it hard to believe they know everything about everything, therefore they are ignorant. And yes, I agree with others who say people don't know what they don't know. So, bottom line, everyone is ignorant.

So you didn't know what Arabic numbers are?

 

[RUDisney]

So EVERYONE can be considered ignorant? There is no one who know everything. Therefore, there's something they don't know, therefore they are ignorant.

You don't know some of my coworkers. They know everything... just ask them and they'll tell you.

 

[PlainJane]

So you didn't know what Arabic numbers are?

Technically, it’s “numerals.” The only person saying they know the numbers is LongLiveRafiki.

No offense Rafiki, you’re not being a braggart about it.

What someone is taught, what someone learns, and most important what someone remembers.

I am so glad the high and mighty here are so intelligent that they remember one little thing in 2nd grade from the insane amount of information one learns throughout their school years. We are so blessed to have such an abundant of intelligence on this forum that we can make fun of stupid people for 7 pages....

There are some of us defending the intelligence and MORALITY of those who don’t know this information.

 

[soccerdad72]

You don't know some of my coworkers. They know everything... just ask them and they'll tell you.

Just saw this posted yesterday - thought it was perfect

 

[FlightlessDuck]

So EVERYONE can be considered ignorant? There is no one who know everything.

Yeah, basically. Everything is ignorant about something.

 

[msjprincess]

Hey! If we didn't use (hadn't learned) Roman numerals, how would we ever know which Super Bowl it is?


You had to start, huh?

It's easy for me, it's always my current age. LOL

 

[AppleDumpling]

I recognized the poll as a trick question right away and just took it as a joke. Like others posted, along the same lines as not knowing what hydrogen monoxide or epidermis means. So I don’t know that it necessarily indicates racism.

Of course there are plenty of things I don’t know, and plenty of things I learned a very long time ago in school that I don’t remember today (diagramming sentences comes to mind).

Regarding math/numbers, back in my day in grade school, we were taught base number systems (Base 2, Base 5, Base 7, etc.). I don’t believe it’s taught much anymore, with the possible exception of base 2, which is the root of all computer programming, aka binary code. But that’s the point, kids today might understand the concept but not realize what is meant if I said Base 2. And they might not know that our standard numbering system and decimals are Base 10 (believed to have originated in ancient civilizations because we have 10 fingers). Just different terminology.

 

[Turn the Page]

And I don't disagree w/ you.

But I also know there's quite a lot of people out there thinking - "Learning Arabic numerals in math?!? Learning Chinese in math!?! My kid can barely do math in English! Much less in a foreign language!"

As an aside, my kids' elementary school now uses Singapore Math as their math curriculum. I believe it is based on the math curriculum used in schools in Singapore.

I never heard of any outrage when it was announced but I imagine a few parents were upset that their kids were being taught Chinese math lol.

And now all I can think about is this:

 

[tzolkin]

What someone is taught, what someone learns, and most important what someone remembers.

I am so glad the high and mighty here are so intelligent that they remember one little thing in 2nd grade from the insane amount of information one learns throughout their school years. We are so blessed to have such an abundant of intelligence on this forum that we can make fun of stupid people for 7 pages....

So EVERYONE can be considered ignorant? There is no one who know everything. Therefore, there's something they don't know, therefore they are ignorant.

Posters are saying those who vote "no" on this poll are ignorant (or racist, but I'm not getting into that), because they don't know what Arabic numerals are. While technically true, they're saying it as an insult. But I find it hard to believe they know everything about everything, therefore they are ignorant. And yes, I agree with others who say people don't know what they don't know. So, bottom line, everyone is ignorant.

I don't think anyone is stupid because they don't know what something is. That is perfectly fine. No one knows everything.

What I do think is ignorant is offering an opinion on something that you don't know anything about.

If you don't even know what the question is asking, then you don't give a definitive "yes" or "no" answer. You acknowledge that you don't know and therefore don't have an opinion. You don't make an assumption based on zero knowledge and then respond "absolutely not, no one should be taught about that".

 

[BLAZEY]

What someone is taught, what someone learns, and most important what someone remembers.

I am so glad the high and mighty here are so intelligent that they remember one little thing in 2nd grade from the insane amount of information one learns throughout their school years. We are so blessed to have such an abundant of intelligence on this forum that we can make fun of stupid people for 7 pages....

NO, it's that people CHOOSE to vote WITHOUT truly KNOWING or being informed on the subject at hand. We living in a world where information is at our fingertips and many still choose not try and look things up. Another issue is when they DO look things up, the don't check the credibility of the source from which they got that information. There are a huge number of not credible sources from which people believe the information is true because on the internet anyone can post anything.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

https://twitter.com/jdcivicscience/status/1128660611527843840

Our goal in this experiment was to tease out prejudice among those who didn't understand the question. Most people don't know the origins of our numerical system and yet picked a tribal answer anyway. You can argue that one is worse than the other but both prove a similar point.