Re: Good at mathematics...

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:51:48 -0400, "Bill" <Bill_NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


"mina_world" <mina_world@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ftnc3r$jnb$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello teacher~

Those who are good at mathematics are poor at foreign languages.

------------------------------------------
Are you agree ?

In my experience,
Students who are good at mathematics are good at other subjects generally.

Foreign languages ?

I would say that those who are good at learning mathematics have an
excellent model for learning anything they like--foreign languages not
excluded. Learning mathematics reinforces habits of discipline, patience,
creativity and attention to detail.

I agree.

Success in math requires _both_ "big-picture" and "small-picture" type
thinking.

Without being a "big picture" type thinker (the "director"), a student
never truly understands what the theory is all about.

But without also being a "small-picture" type thinker (the "worker
bee", with attention to detail), the student can never actually
produce rigorous proofs, or solve problems correctly.

In my opinion, having both modes, big-picture and small-picture, is
key to learning _any_ complex body of knowledge with lots of
structure, plus lots of details -- such as a foreign language.

Thus, in most cases, a student who has succeeded at math already has
both modes well developed -- director mode and worker mode, and knows
when to switch between them.

Moreover, math itself is language-based.

Thus, in my opinion, to master an area of math, it's necessary to
master the underlying language (terminology, syntax, notation), and
hence, a prerequisite to such mastery (besides math talent) is

(1) reasonably strong language skills

(2) willingness to take the language _seriously_

Thus, for students who can master math easily, in most cases, such
students would have relatively little trouble mastering a foreign
language, if they so desired.

quasi
.

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