(Source: https://threader. app/thread/1325600735145291776)
We have set a second goal for students (writing flawless Tamil is the first goal) and that is நம்பர் என் நண்பர் in Tamil, which translates as “Number is my friend”. We stress the importance of zero - “how many zeros does it have”. They have to carry these around mentally.
One of the distressing things I have noticed is how many otherwise highly literate adults are effectively innumerate. As an example, I may ask a person “What’s the population of Chennai” and a random guess like “6 lakhs?” (600K) is made when the true figure is ~10 million.
People seem to develop an aversion to numbers and describe themselves as “allergic to maths” or some such. Alas, a basic grounding of numbers is essential to be a good citizen and be aware of the world. Without understanding orders of magnitudes we will be poor voters.
Yet estimating quantities mentally is very vital to develop a real understanding of the world. So we stress mental arithmetic (மனக்கணக்கு) as an important activity. Whenever I meet kids, we try to do some mental calculation.