Starting the journey Mathematics in the right way

Addition, division, subtraction and multiplication symbols (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In my previous article Making Maths easy I emphasized on two things, approach and belief. In this post we will talk about the way you should start off your journey towards improvement in Mathematics - the right approach.  But before that just blindly accept that you are intelligent. I am saying this because I know that person who is reading this right now (YOU) has the immense ability within. So just believe yourself and read ahead.

Mathematics has variety of streams like Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. While arithmetic is usually found easy by most the the students because it deals with some simple calculations, Algebra and Geometry are said to be "difficult". 

Before we dive in to these streams of Mathematics we better let us take some brief idea about what they exactly mean.

Arithmetic

Merriam-Webster defines Arithmetic in following way:

 a branch of mathematics that deals usually with the nonnegative real numbers including sometimes the transfinite cardinals and with the application of the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to them

Don't worry about meaning of transfinite cardinals. Even if you don't know what it means you can do very well at maths.

Rule of thumb: Never worry about the jargon in maths. They wont hinder you while you calculate sums. Further, most of them are really simple.

Algebra

Algebra involves many variables like x,y and z, so student gets confused about it. The only question that keeps biting them "Why the hell do we need to use alphabets instead of numbers?" Question is quite valid and I will answer it in some other post. But the answer about use of alphabets lies in the definition of algebra.

a generalization of arithmetic in which letters representing numbers are combined according to the rules of arithmetic

So Algebra is "arithmetic is generalized form." Problem is the way it looks on the printed page. It looks awfully confusing at a first glance but if you take a moment to peek into it all the confusion will melt away for sure.

Geometry

Definition goes like this :

 a branch of mathematics that deals with the measurement, properties, and relationships of points, lines, angles, surfaces, and solids; broadly : the study of properties of given elements that remain invariant under specified transformations

Basically, geometry is about representing the algebraic quantities in the pictorial form. While this might not be always so true but they are quite related.

Whatever definitions that I gave just above are not meant for remembering by heart. But if you read it once, you would know at least what you are going to start off with.

Now once you are aware of what they mean and what they deal with, you better gauge yourself about what you feel about them. Open your text book and see which topics do you find difficult. Classify them and put them under one of the following categories. You will see the clear picture where you lack and that is where one should start!