Learn how to use an abacus

How I did it: While I was living in Japan, I saw a pharmacist doing calculations in his head while his fingers danced on the counter. I asked my Japanese friend what he was doing and he explained it was "anzan": mental calculations done while manipulating an imaginary abacus (soroban). Evidently, if you're well trained in the soroban, you don't actually need it anymore since you can visualize the beads, effectively turning you into a human calculator.

I found someone who was able to introduce me to the basics of addition and subtraction, but after a few weeks she suggested I enroll in formal classes. Unfortunately, I was still a beginner, so my classes were after-school courses populated by elementary school children: a six-foot, blond gaijin learning the soroban became quite a distraction. Parents will often enroll their children in classes like this to help their math skills.

I plowed through the workbooks working about an hour or two every day and gradually got faster, also learning multiplication, division and story problems (which were the most challenging since they were written in Japanese).

By the time I left Japan five months later I was able to use it to add and subtract numbers faster than one could use a calculator. I also began to be able to perform anzan, but not to the level of my sensei, to whom you could say number after number in rapid succession, at the end of which he would give you the sum, spot on every time. It's pretty impressive to see someone very adept at it to work.

Jul 20, 07:19PM PDT | 0 comments | 4 cheers