Listen & Learn: Numerals

Learn why European languages use Arabic numbers

Pre-listening vocabulary

• symbol: a picture or word that represents an idea
• familiar: knowing someone or something well
• mathematician: someone who studies math and numbers
• merchant: someone who sells items
• tedious: wasting a lot of time
• place value: the system that gives a number its value by its position
• digit: a numeral

Listening activity

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Gapfill exercise

Numerals are the set of symbols a uses to represent numbers. European languages like English with a set of numerals called Western Arabic numerals, but these are different from the numerals actually used in Arabic. Europe became familiar with the Western Arabic number system in the 12th century. The Italian mathematician Fibonacci learned the system from merchants in Bugia, or modern-day Algeria. These numbers spread because they made complex calculations easier. Before, Europeans were using numerals, which were tedious. The Arabic system was useful because it used place value to show large numbers. That meant it only needed ten symbols. The mathematicians in North Africa who developed the symbols learned the system from Indian mathematicians and astronomers, who first invented a digit to represent the number . The numerals that most Arabic-speaking use today are much more similar to the Indian numerals.

Comprehension questions

See answers below

1. The Western Arabic numerals are mostly used in
   a. Arabic
   b. Indian languages
   c. European languages
   
2. The Italian mathematician Fibonacci learned the Western Arabic number system in
   a. Bugia
   b. India
   c. Spain
   
3. The numbers that most Arabic-speaking countries use today are closer to
   a. Roman numerals
   b. Indian numerals
   c. Chinese numerals

Discussion/essay questions

1. Does your first language use Western Arabic numerals, or does it use a different system?
2. Do you prefer numbers and math or words and languages? Why?

Transcript

Numerals are the set of symbols a language uses to represent numbers. European languages like English count with a set of numerals called Western Arabic numerals. These are different from the numerals actually used in Arabic. Europe became familiar with the Western Arabic number system in the 12th century. The Italian mathematician Fibonacci learned the system from merchants in Bugia, or modern-day Algeria. These numbers spread because they made complex calculations easier. Before, Europeans were using Roman numerals, which were tedious. The Arabic system was useful because it used place value to show large numbers. That meant it only needed ten symbols. The mathematicians in North Africa who developed the symbols learned the system from Indian mathematicians and astronomers, who first invented a digit to represent the number zero. The numerals that most Arabic-speaking countries use today are much more similar to the Indian numerals.

Answers to comprehension questions

1b 2c 3b