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transcript 1.140

Try not to look at this until you’ve done all the exercises that go with the listening.

It doesn’t add up!

Richard: Now Jackie, almost every day you ask me simple maths questions. So
for this week’s podcastsinenglish.com we’re going to talk about
maths and your problems with it.

Jackie: Hmm, I don’t know why but at school it was always my worst
subject. I hated maths.

Richard: I’m not surprised.

Jackie: Right from primary school days I had problems with adding up and
taking away...

Richard: Addition and, and subtraction.

Jackie: But mainly um... divisions.

Richard: Okay, dividing one number by another.

Jackie: But the worst thing was, Richard, multiplication.

Richard: Oooh, your multiplication tables.

Jackie: My times tables. When I was little my father taped the times tables
for me so that I could listen to it every single night.

Richard: He recorded, himself did he?

Jackie: Yes

Richard: Three times five equals 15 [laughs]

Jackie: And I still couldn’t do it. One of the problems I have, I have to admit
this Richard because I still have this problem now, that when they
say nought times two, I say that’s nought.

Richard: Correct

Jackie: But when they say two times nought, I put two. [Richard laughs]
Because I think if you have two and you times it by nothing you still
have two. [Richard laughs] This is... this is the kind of problem I
have, I also had problems with fractions, percentages, angles,
everything.

Richard: Right, so you had problems with the very simple things at primary
school, how did you get on at secondary school?

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Jackie: Worse. [Both laugh] Well, then of course there was things like
algebra. I mean, why oh why we did algebra I have no idea. We had
to do sums with pi. What is pi?

Richard: 3.142

Jackie: Yeah, I didn’t understand what it was, or why we were using it and
then we had things like log tables.

Richard: I must admit log tables, I don’t really understand what they are.

Jackie: So... and in those days, Richard, we didn’t have a calculator in the
classroom. No calculators.

Richard: Well there is a point, yes, mental arithmetic.

Jackie: Not only did I have a problem with doing things with the numbers I
also had a problem with why we were doing these things with the
numbers. It never made sense to me and I never knew why we were
doing it.

Richard: So, Jackie, now you’re an adult, what problems do you have with
maths?

Jackie: I suppose Richard the main problem I have is when we go shopping.

I’m not very good when I ask somebody, the shopkeeper, how much
individual things cost. They tell me how much they cost and I don’t
know how many I can buy for the money that I have.

Richard: You mean like fruit and vegetables you mean?

Jackie: Exactly. And another situation is recipes. If I’m... if I’m making

double the quantity or half the quantity of something I have great
problems working those out.

Richard: There’s a special problem if things are in imperial measures and then
another recipe in metric.

Jackie: Yes, going from one to the other. Well, at least Richard, I can use a
calculator, and if that fails, I can always ask you.

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