Strange question: 4 - 2 = 2

[enk]

Ok, this one is for the Brits:

How would you say the above aloud? (Or even write it out.)

-enk

[paulrenn]

Four minus two equals two.
Erm, is this a trick question?!

[enk]

Four minus two equals two.
Erm, is this a trick question?!

No My kid's poorly translated math book claims that somewhere
in the English world they say:

4 subtract 2 equals 2.

I've never heard of it as anything but "Four minus two equals two",
"Four minus two is two" or "Two subtracted from four equals two".
So I was just wondering

Thanks!

-enk

[littlefrank]

Dee doo dee doo, dah dee dah dee dah.

Remember the tune, forgot the words.


'4 subtract 2 equals 2.'

Maybe kids at posh schools say it that way.

[Rosamunda]

enk,

Have your kids been dished out with those new WSOY Finnish Curriculum maths books that have been translated into English ? My 5th grader brought one home last week - spanking new (pub 2007, first edition). So, I was wondering has the MinEdu decided in its infinite wisdom to reinvent the wheel...? I'm pretty sure these WSOY published books are MORE expensive than something similar purchased direct from the UK.

And what really gets up my nose (I thought the books were OK, but very dumbed down - haven't had a good look yet) were the friggin divide and multiply signs that are FINNISH not to mention the decimal COMMA !!!!!
If I were translating a Finnish math book into English I would probably "translate" the symbols too.... makes sense. After all, my 9th grader is about to take IGCSE maths (in ENGLISH) and my guess is that the IGCSE papers use conventional GB mathematical symbols.

***end of rant.

[paulrenn]

Only other way I can think of saying it, would be "four take-away two equals two", especially when explaining it to kids.
OK my bad, I have to change to saying "subtract" now

[enk]

Only other way I can think of saying it, would be "four take-away two equals two", especially when explaining it to kids.
OK my bad, I have to change to saying "subtract" now

pene: yehp! With the beautifully translated title of "Laskutaito in
English" I'm feeling a good rant coming on since the whole
point of the urchin being in the English class was to *improve* his
English and to provide him with other English-speaking people than
his dear mom.

But heck, now I'm starting understand the quality of English
translations done by Finnish speakers.

-enk

[mCowboy]

and I thought it was...

four dash two double dash two....

(sounds like a CB radio call... or a police code... that's 187 on 4th and East 125th, ten-4...)

[Sara]

Only other way I can think of saying it, would be "four take-away two equals two", especially when explaining it to kids.
OK my bad, I have to change to saying "subtract" now

Ive used this when teaching it to 5 year olds. It makes more sense for them

[Mook]

Four minus two equals two.
Erm, is this a trick question?!

No My kid's poorly translated math book claims that somewhere
in the English world they say:

4 subtract 2 equals 2.

I've never heard of it as anything but "Four minus two equals two",
"Four minus two is two" or "Two subtracted from four equals two".
So I was just wondering

Thanks!

-enk

Aye, saying subtract or take-away mixes up the process of doing it with the actual sum.

You'd only say subtract or take-away if you were explaining how todo the sum

[jag_förstår_yo_mama]

In early stages the teacher will say "4 subtract 2 equals 2" because the words "add" and "subtract" are the nomenclature.

But it's not so fluent... It's more like "Ok kiddies... 4.... subtract 2...... equals......... 2! Goooood!"

If you throw in "4 minus 2" you'll get a bunch of 5 year olds with blank looks on their faces, still hating you for your insistence that nife is spelled with a silent K.

[Rosamunda]

- is always called a minus sign. Never a subtraction sign. It's the same sign used to indicate a negative number (less than zero) where it's just called "negative".

In British English the integer -2 is "minus two" not, "negative two".


BTW, I asked today and the teacher told me that the school had chosen these books, they were not "imposed". However the additional materials (teachers resources etc) have not been translated into Finnish. I guess WSOY has done a hard sale and sold them at a loss.... It can't make economic sense :

"Pupils are guided to answer some exercises in the book. In this way, time that would otherwise be spent on writing out exercises in notebooks can be devoted to mathematical calculations instead"

...reading BETWEEN the lines this means that the schools have to buy new books for the pupils each year. Whereas a "text book" can be reused for several years running.

Anyway, I just learnt what a subtrahend is (Laskutaito in English 5A page 8 )

as in, minuend subtract subtrahend equals difference.


enk,
Have skimmed through the 5th graders' book and not found any real horrors but a few syntax errors and awkward phrases:

How many people altogether live in the Baltic countries..?
How many more people live in Moscow than in Finland and Sweden altogether?

(the word "altogether" is on every page, well not quite)

Page 98 is in German (go figure... )

Haven't finished reading the whole book. But it is definitely "simple" compared to the US book my 5th graders used in previous years.

[meplusthree]

- is always called a minus sign. Never a subtraction sign. It's the same sign used to indicate a negative number (less than zero) where it's just called "negative".

In British English the integer -2 is "minus two" not, "negative two".

Yes... I meant the symbol (when it appears next to a number) is the negative symbol, but yeah we call it "minus two" as well in that case. Gosh, can't English be a bit simpler?

Actually the symbol is called the minus sign where as a negative symbol would more likely be something like the "single digit" and a positive symbol be the thumbs up.

[RA]

enk,
Have skimmed through the 5th graders' book and not found any real horrors but a few syntax errors and awkward phrases:

How many people altogether live in the Baltic countries..?
How many more people live in Moscow than in Finland and Sweden altogether?

(the word "altogether" is on every page, well not quite)

Page 98 is in German (go figure... )

Haven't finished reading the whole book. But it is definitely "simple" compared to the US book my 5th graders used in previous years.

Why on earth do they bother translating Finnish textbooks into English instead of just using 'normal' English books with normal English. This is the reason I've sworn not to let my child to complete the Finnish school curriculum in English. Having attended two English language Finnish programmes myself, I know the standard is way down there and has done nothing for my English skills... my grammar has slowly detriorated to the same mediocre standards.

[Rosamunda]

Well, this is the FIRST time my kids have ever had a Finnish textbook translated into English. As soon as I saw it I thought OMG!!! and scanned the first few pages... but I think it is quite good. The presentation is fine and I like the practical problem solving exercises which were lacking in the USA book they used to have. Other problem with USA/GB books is the gallons, shillings, ounces and farenheit. Speaking to their teacher yesterday he told me that the big advantage of the Finnish book is that it follows the syllabus whereas with the USA books he was forever having to double-check the contents with the Finnish core curriculum to make sure he wasn't leaving stuff out or doing things in the wrong order (you need to ensure there is continuity between the grades and the different schools).

Most of the school textbooks are Nelson (English grammar) or Cambridge/Oxford University Press eg: for science, geography etc.. But for subjects like history there is not much available in English for schoolchildren so most of the schools have translated their own material.