<story><title>Chinese Number Websites</title><url>http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117608/chinese-number-websites-secret-meaning-urls</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>manifesto</author><text>One reason why Chinese have less difficulty remembering and using these numbers than the western fellows might be the difference in pronunciation. In Chinese, all single digit number has the same structure: a consonant plus a vowel. For example, 7, in Chinese is pronounced as [ch-i:], while in English is pronounced as [ˈsɛvən]. Also, every digit takes the same time to pronounce. For example, a string &amp;quot;123456&amp;quot; is [yi:, er, san, si:, wu, liu]. That, in my experience, makes a long string of number easier to read out. And easier to read out means easier to memorize.&lt;p&gt;A side node: In China every kids in their elementary school if not kindergarten can recite the &amp;quot;table of multiplication&amp;quot;. That is, they can remember the answer from 1 * 1 to 9 * 9. I doubt how many westerners can do so, due to the language difference.&lt;p&gt;Edit: The asterisk symbol is driving me nut.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jingwen</author><text>This is accurate. I was educated in a bilingual environment since young and remember strings of numbers (credit card numbers, telephone numbers, identity cards) much easier in Mandarin than in English.&lt;p&gt;For example, this is a small part of the multiplication table:&lt;p&gt;English:&lt;p&gt;six times five equals thirty-five&lt;p&gt;six times six equals thirty-six&lt;p&gt;six times seven equals fourty-three&lt;p&gt;six times eight equals fourty-eight&lt;p&gt;vs&lt;p&gt;六五 三十五 (liu wu,  san shi wu)&lt;p&gt;六六 三十六 (liu liu, san shi liu)&lt;p&gt;六七 四十二 (liu qi,  si  shi er)&lt;p&gt;六八 五十六 (liu ba,  wu  shi liu)&lt;p&gt;---&lt;p&gt;one times one equals one&lt;p&gt;two times two equals four&lt;p&gt;three times three equals nine&lt;p&gt;four times four equals sixteen&lt;p&gt;five times five equals twenty-five&lt;p&gt;vs&lt;p&gt;一一 得一    (yi yi, de yi) (de == &amp;quot;gets&amp;quot;)&lt;p&gt;二二 得四    (er er, de si)&lt;p&gt;三三 得九    (san san, de jiu)&lt;p&gt;四四 十六    (si si, shi liu)&lt;p&gt;五五 二十五   (wu wu, er shi wu)&lt;p&gt;I left out the tones for simplicity.&lt;p&gt;After a while, the mandarin multiplication table becomes like a poem to recite, while the English counterpart doesn&amp;#x27;t quite have the same ring to it</text></comment>
<story><title>Chinese Number Websites</title><url>http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117608/chinese-number-websites-secret-meaning-urls</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>manifesto</author><text>One reason why Chinese have less difficulty remembering and using these numbers than the western fellows might be the difference in pronunciation. In Chinese, all single digit number has the same structure: a consonant plus a vowel. For example, 7, in Chinese is pronounced as [ch-i:], while in English is pronounced as [ˈsɛvən]. Also, every digit takes the same time to pronounce. For example, a string &amp;quot;123456&amp;quot; is [yi:, er, san, si:, wu, liu]. That, in my experience, makes a long string of number easier to read out. And easier to read out means easier to memorize.&lt;p&gt;A side node: In China every kids in their elementary school if not kindergarten can recite the &amp;quot;table of multiplication&amp;quot;. That is, they can remember the answer from 1 * 1 to 9 * 9. I doubt how many westerners can do so, due to the language difference.&lt;p&gt;Edit: The asterisk symbol is driving me nut.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nether</author><text>This is Malcolm Gladwell nonsense and not backed up by the fact that Chinese-Americans who learn English first (e.g. Nobel laureate Steven Chu) do just as well as their Chinese counterparts.</text></comment>