learning Basic Math, Reading Math
RiderOfGiraffes: One person's opinion ...You will never read math like English.  I'm a Ph.D., I've had this discussion with many other graduates and post-graduates.  Math is different from English (or any other natural language).In my circles of math, programming and education there is even a phrase "Read like Math" as opposed to "Read like a comic book".  Math is its own language, and it is dense. When interpreted into English a single equation can become several paragraphs.  Learning to read and visualize an equation is possible, but always necessary.Simple equations are easy, but if there's real content, it's hard.  You need to ask what you're trying to accomplish, really.If you want to learn stuff, you need to do it.  You can learn about it by reading about it, but you can only learn to do it by doing it (under guidance or with hints).See also:http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=672067http://www.scientificblogging.com/carl_wieman/why_not_try_sc...EDIT: added reference:
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?MathForProgrammersQuoting from the this last:    I'm not certain that reading like prose is a benefit. 

    When algebra was first invented, people didn't use
    variables, operators or other notation. They just
    wrote things out in natural language. Here is an
    example from Al-Khwarizmi's famous book: 

    If the instance be, 'ten and thing to be multiplied
    by thing less ten,' then this is the same as 'if it
    were said thing and ten by thing less ten. You say,
    therefore, thing multiplied by thing is a square
    positive; and ten by thing is ten things positive;
    and minus ten by thing is ten things negative. You
    now remove the positive by the negative, then there
    only remains a square. Minus ten multiplied by ten
    is a hundred, to be subtracted from the square. This,
    therefore, altogether, is a square less a hundred
    dirhems. 

    Compare this to
        (x+10)*(x-10) = x*x + 10*x - 10*x - 10*10
                      = x*x - 100 

    Now imagine trying to do even simple calculus like
    this. If there's a lot of essential complexity, I
    claim that natural language becomes much harder to
    understand than specialized notation, which is why
    notation exists in the first place. A good notation
    is understood on its own terms, not in terms of
    translation to some natural language statement, for
    instance, algebraic manipulations are done according
    to certain rules, without having to re-justify them
    each time, because of the underlying soundness of
    algebra.