BBC – Staff Writer
Is 2/3 bigger than 3/5?
How quickly and confidently you can answer this question may depend on your age, education – and possibly, on your native language.*
According to a growing body of research, the words that different languages use for numbers can affect how easily we learn to count and understand basic concepts such as fractions.
For children taking their first steps into the world of mathematics, this can mean that some are presented with additional challenges based on the language they speak, while others are offered a head start.