It's not useless, those who become very skilled at the abacus can do difficult math in their mind, it becomes like a physical skill that you can perform mentally like riding a bike.
Useless? Not at all. In fact, this is very useful for young kids in school. They'll have an easier time calculating this way, but unlike with a calculator, they still have to use their brain. Where I come from, children are becoming worse at math because they're allowed to use calcutors at earlier stages of education by the years. Fewer adults use their brain for simple 1-on-2 or 2-on-2 digit multiplications, including those in politics and organizing positions, and they blame children to be that bad nowadays. Shame on them. But this will keep the brain working. You won't have to do much with your brain this way, but the logics part is still there. Unfortunately, this method won't work on, for example, 6-on-6 digit multiplications, and you would need 2 of them.
The benefit of the abacus in today's age is if you get really good at using it, you can visualize it and get accurate calculations for just about anything fairly quickly. I know a girl whose parents forced her to use an abacus on homework growing up and she's in her 20s now but can spit out an accurate answer for anything you throw at her because she uses a combination of mental math and mentally visualizing an abacus. She's crazy fast too.
What I don't understand is how is this different than counting one at a time without an abbacus? He has to count every item of every group of 8, 7 times.
@@d3nt391 it's an opportunity to train your brain to do it another way. Like, do this enough and you won't need to count one by one, you can eyeball what 8 beads looks like, do that enough and you'll probably be able to do it entirely in your head, but in the same way being able to save people's phone numbers in your phone means people don't remember phone numbers anymore, using calculators means people don't develop this skill anymore. Brb, getting my son an abacus (and a "so your dad made your childhood miserable" self-help book)
@@nick_0no no math is very important in so many areas in life. I wish I learned on it. Who wants to always pull out a calculator when you could possibly do it quickly in your head. I want to try this for my kids so they don’t struggle like I had to all my life
Great. I remember learning with them as a kid but forgot how it works lol. Now I plan to homeschool and think I definitely will be incorporating an abacus
RightStart Math is what I used for my kids (homeschooling), and it's based on the abacus. I'm amazed at how much you can do on that thing -- we have so much fun with it! Happy homeschooling. 😊
Teaching kids is one of the things I never expected in life. I can't have kids myself for various factors. But my brother has 2 daughters. They're 5 now, a bit behind the curve from being both premature. But the experience of being around a lil human being discovering things for the first time, it blows me away. The pure sense of joy they radiate when working out something any adult would just take and plain boring everyday stuff. The wonder at the world, it's intoxicating. Makes you remember what it was like to see a plant grow, or the clouds move across the sky.
I lose track when I try to do math in my head, and I have a hard time memorizing the processes for doing various calculations with pencil and paper, so the abacus is the perfect tool for doing calculations for someone who needs a constant visual.
I think that he was more referring to the fact that with calculators and computers everywhere, it is a skill that is not really necessary to have any more, rather than it being useless.
LainK1978 I'm pretty sure that's what he meant as well, but saying it's "useless" does imply it having no uses, whether he meant it intentionally or not.
There are no such things as “visual learners”. I could point you to a hundred scientific articles on the subject. That’s a myth that’s based on flawed understandings of old research. In reality, we all could benefit from using other sense than the ones we over rely on by default. Think of it this way: most people in the west are not used to using their visual and tactile sense (and aural, if you include the clicking of the abacus) when it comes to numbers. So naturally if they begin to use it, the brain paints a fuller picture. This might lead someone to think it says something their “learning style” but it doesn’t. It’s just that your brain has more information.
It's not useless. When i saw a cute one at Ikea i got it to teach my kids how to add and subtract. I didn't know you used every row as a value holder. I wasn't taught how to use one. So, now I'll teach my kids the correct way. 😄
You dismiss how valuable learning the abacus is. In the West we learn to memorise our times tables for future use in mental arithmetic (which is much faster than a calculator: you can probably give me the answer to 8x5 long before anyone could even type the 8). When you master the abacus you can do very complex sums mentally by imagining and ‘feeling’ the abacus in your mind - you may often see people playing with their fingers as if they have a physical abacus in front of them. Now of course we all have calculators at our fingertips these days but if you know the abacus you could answer 659x 326 before someone has even grabbed their phone and opened the calculator app! Then we can also do powers and roots etc mentally too! So it’s not a silly redundant device- it’s an invaluable skill that will inherently make your mind faster and sharper and ultimately make you a more intelligent person!
Dude, you are so right here. The guy in the video starts off by actually saying "...today we are learning a completely useless skill." I mean, how ignorantly dismissive can you get?
yeah, i feel like i would do better at math if i had learned through these means, but because my family left asia to live in the west i just go counting things on my fingers, and im an adult now. I feel like I should try to learn these details to get faster by calculating higher sets of numbers in one go. just to get smarter.
@@Bodragon First off my good sir, no need to bring negativity in here. He was trying to make the video fun and intresting and unless you taught your kids how to use an Abacus from the begining even your childern couldn't give a damn about it. What Eoin is trying to say is, not that Eddy is a jerk or trying to mislead or spread false information but the fact that abacus can help you in your early years and then you can toss it in trash. Just like math lovers do with there calculators because why waste time with a machine when you can do it in your head and be correct 100% of times.
Eoin Kelly I learned how to add playing with an abacus at my Montessori school, now I want my child to learn it the same way. Completely agree with you!!
Still using my 4th grade (memorized by flash cards and rote) multiplication tables, and 65 years later this has never failed. A return to this teaching method would benefit the public school system.
you explained it well, except for the multiplying with 2 digits I noticed you slid 2 of the top ones over instead of 1 at a time. You forgot to slide one in the beginning to include the 21 that was already at the bottom.
I found several very good and advanced reasons an abacus is not only useful but highly practical for everyday life, over a digital calculator: 1: Digital calculators can screw up long addition chains if you push one wrong button, or the buttons themselves do not always respond when pushed. They also rely on memory and a battery or a power source of some kind and sometimes shut off on their own. An abacus is more reliable than a calculator since it does not come with the added problems and risks of a digital device. 2: I have autism and ADHD, I have trouble with short-term memory and executive function. As a visual and hands-on learner, it's easier to count with some sort of clear visual to work with, like, a multicolored abacus. If I forget where I last counted, I can look at the abacus and see where I'm at. It also engages muscle memory from repetition. As the guy in the video demonstrates, once you get into an established flow, counting starts to be done unconsciously, which allows for fast and efficient processing of numbers. 3: It has career functions. I do inventory logging and simple accounting as a merchant. I have to keep track of hundreds of items and make sure I don't get the numbers muddled. Since most people can't always rely on memory, it's easy to make errors since you're not entirely sure of the steps you've taken. An abacus doesn't require a memory, it's a memory card of sorts for the math you "entered" into it by moving the beads. If you understand where you put the beads, you know what you just entered. Again, very useful for someone with short-term memory issues like me. 4: In a world that seems to be dominated by tech and as someone who has run afoul of the flaws in online and digital technology, it's nice to have the old devices and old knowledge. At least I know I will not be rendered helpless if the tech industry implodes due to corruption of interest and monopolization. 5: I'm a medieval enthusiast and a fantasy writer. I love this stuff. It gives me access to two ways of life and a creative way to explore different solutions to problems. It also allows me to create detailed and interesting writing by mastering the nuts and bolts of life from a bygone era.
Great video Eddy. When I was a middle-schooler in Egypt I remember abacuses were used as a primary form of solving problems, with calculators being used only to verify your answers afterward. The equipment is obviously outdated but I'd argue an abacus is still a powerful tool for building one's mental arithmetic skills.
This is fantastic! Thank you! I bought this EXACT abacus yesterday from a charity shop - £2!! ...For my nephew who loves numbers. I came to youtube to learn how to use it, so I can reach him, and your video came up. I clicked because it was the same abacus as mine - I thought "what are the chances" 😄 I stuck around because the explanation was great! I'll need to watch again to grasp it. But it was great. Thank you!!
Hi just wanted to say Thank you so much for this video....useless or not, knowledge of new things is a good thing. At 49 years old, I never knew how to use an Abacus, for that I thank you!!
This is a great video - it's the first one I've seen explaining multiplication and division on the abacus that I could really follow. I have always been fascinated by the abacus - I just think they are so cool. I love learning how to use them.
You might enjoy this video. The japanese version of the abacus is the soroban. There are heaps of tutorials on it. ua-cam.com/video/s6OmqXCsYt8/v-deo.html
Your video is so helpful and much easier to watch than the other ones. Straight to the point and engaging. I need to know this as this works for students with Visual Impairments.
Learned to use an Abacus when I was little, but totally forgot “How”, so popped onto YT to relearn (Math is my Nemesis), so glad I found Your video! You make it seem so easy, and I can’t wait to do some calculations of my own...Thanks for Sharing & Teaching..
this is one of those things that were always at the back of my mind to one day learn, but i never really remembered of doing so. pretty fun and more like a curiosity than anything useful, but still... worth the time.
Totally not useless my kid got an abacus for Christmas and this was really useful to learn how to use it. I think it's going to be great for when he's learning math in school.
Thanks for the basic tutorial, I knew how to add using an abacus as that is straightforward even though I've never actually used one however, I wasn't sure how you do other mathematics on them. Cheers from Australia.
I'm only here because my 3 year old wanted to spend her birthday money on one of these and after she fell asleep I wanted to learn how to use it lol. Thanks for the video
This rudimentary system came into use about 2000 years ago and formed the basis for digital computing. How long did it take you to master, Ed? Thank you for the video.
The ONLY thing wrong with your video is that you call it useless. You explained it so clearly and I wanted to find a video to show to my granddaughter, who is just about to start kindergarten. I don't want her to ever think a learning tool is useless. I would love to see you edit that out. Fun is fun, no matter if it can be done a faster, easier way. You even say it is fun, which makes it useful. (raspberries)
this is 3 years late but you could have skipped to the part after he said it was useless, then called your granddaughter and pressed play. P.S. it is beyond the shadow of a doubt useless, even in 2017 when you made this comment.
Brilliant. You made it so easy to understand. Got the idea in a few watches. Now I’m going to practice until I’m fast and accurate. That’s going to take longer. Thank you so much.
Loved your explanation and so did the kids ;-) Presentations need to be a bit entertaining to get the kids interested. They liked your zombie scenario.
for me has always been a mistery how it worked... i has one but never unterstood it... so now im happy starting 2017 one less problem and one more lesson taken
I am mathematically challenged, but this was interesting. I've been thinking of buying an abacus for my granddaughter, who's about to turn 1. I figure it will be fun to play super simple math games with her and we can increase the complexity when she's older.
This was really useful. Or at least fun. And now I know a little bit what to do with the abacus in my kids room. The next step is to teach them. Wish me luck!
I really want to find a credible and intellectual video on how an abacus really works. "Hello everyone today we are going to learn a completely useless skill" *Clicks back button*
so I'm teaching my kids to use it and you have been the most helpful out of all these other dumb videos so it may have been useless for you but super helpful the generations coming up!
In Romania we used abacus in our early school years and it was very efficient. Don't know if it still used,but was very good for developing the logic,solutions seeking and creativity beside the mathematics skills.
This was a very nice tutorial. I was able to quickly work out how to do some of the stuff that wasn't shown. If you multiply two 2 digit numbers, for example 17x21, you do the 7x21 as shown, then you simply move up 1 rung on the bottom and you're doing 10x21. For division, if you're doing something that's not even, like say 125 / 4, you first do 5/4, then you use a 4th rung to denote the 1 remainder, and then you do 120/4, which breaks down exactly as shown in the video, with the added complication that 10/4 is not an even division and thus takes a bit longer. It can be sped up by jumping straight to 40's instead, in which case the process will be similar to addition: Move 20 from the top, break down the 100 into 10s, move an extra 2, now you've got a 10 in the bottom with 80 left in the top. You end up with 31 on the bottom, with the 1 remainder in the top. Also, if you have no paper, you can do addition of up to two 5 digit numbers using only the abacus. Rungs 1-5 is the first number, 6-10 is the second number. Now you just add beads into rungs 6-10 for each bead in the corresponding rungs 1-5. Another thing to note is that you don't actually need to count all the way to 10, you just need to count to 5, and either start from the left, or the right. 2 from the right is 2, 2 from the left is 8.
i guess its just grouping haha. i had know idea. but it's the world's first computing system. or "computer" so it's pretty neat to know how it works. Thank you!
Great Explanation.... i loved it and I am going to teach my kid to use abacus.. it seems kids still struggle with understanding place holder using conventional system..
Back in the 80s in Russia, the abacus was used everywhere in all supermarkets, bakeries, shops and kiosks. Even the grandmothers in the market who had never been to school were real geniuses using this “device”.
21x7 takes less than 1 second to do in my head and this took 53 seconds!! SMH 🤦♀️ Can’t imagine the (Convoluted) Common Core.. 5 minutes? 😂 Ok I was given and taught the abacus even before I started kindergarten in Asia. But the best method was to work it in my head faster or the borrow method, because we’re family business merchants and speed calculations is key or you lose.. Ok for those of you who’s lost here’s what you do in your mind: 10x7 =70 2 x 70=140 (because 2x7=14 & 14X10=140) 140+7=147. Way I do tips: $25.97 Tipping 10% Move dot back $2.597 round up $2.60 because we don’t have anything below pennies. If you’re generous 20% you double it.. $5.20)
I watched this video ages ago after seeing an abacus used on "The Shakiest Gun in the West" and wanted to know how to use it. I found one at a garage sale and bought it because I knew how to use it, and I'm now doing math for fun, which is something I thought would never happen 😂
Great video! but at 4:26 you moved two beads at once on the top but it did not mess up the multiplication of 21 by 7 because you should have started with no beads on the bottom instead of one on tens and two on ones.
For some reason I thought of how I never knew how an acacia worked. I've always lived math. I can multiply 2 digit numbers in my head but that's about it. One thing I thought of is that the availability of paper and pencils to do large math calculations is fairly recent in human history. This thing could be made entirely out of wood, so it was the go to device millennia ago. Probably an excellent tool for those less than trustworthy to make a few coin off of the unsuspecting. Thanks for a cool demo. Bucket list item checked!
I'm 40, Pretty good at maths. I;m an engineer, I use maths everyday. My Brother's kids are just getting old enough to start learning basics of addition and subtraction. I would have never thought of an abacus. I think It would be a great tool to help them learn because it's physical. They have a bit of developmental delay and find numbers especially hard because it's not something real to them. I'm definitely getting them one each. It's a bonus too because it seems like a toy, and learning is way easier when you have a toy and are having fun
It's not useless, those who become very skilled at the abacus can do difficult math in their mind, it becomes like a physical skill that you can perform mentally like riding a bike.
he jacked me up when he said he was going to do a difficult division problem with 125 / 5.... lol
Yea I thought he was gonna do 125 ÷ 4
LOL omg you're killin me...@@FastGT40
@@FastGT40 , you just made my week
Well it pretty much is useless unless you use a modern abacus like the Japanese Soroban and do it right:
ua-cam.com/video/s6OmqXCsYt8/v-deo.html
I’m about take a placement test and they said no calculators, I’m gonna bring a mf abacus
Daniel Paseur lmao
🤣😂
Useless? Not at all. In fact, this is very useful for young kids in school. They'll have an easier time calculating this way, but unlike with a calculator, they still have to use their brain. Where I come from, children are becoming worse at math because they're allowed to use calcutors at earlier stages of education by the years. Fewer adults use their brain for simple 1-on-2 or 2-on-2 digit multiplications, including those in politics and organizing positions, and they blame children to be that bad nowadays. Shame on them. But this will keep the brain working. You won't have to do much with your brain this way, but the logics part is still there. Unfortunately, this method won't work on, for example, 6-on-6 digit multiplications, and you would need 2 of them.
@@williamwilting then again, children Will most likely not need to solve 6 on 6 digit problems. But its absolute ly right what you are saying.
that would be fine if the abacus wasn't a calculator
There's always an abacus in children's school rooms but noone knows how to use them. You blew me away!!
ngl i thought it was just a toy when i was younger
no one
or
no-one
Exactly I feel stupid not knowing what it was for this makes perfect sense weird lol
I totally AGREE! I will teach my kids to use this next school year❤😂
Here to learn how so use my three year old’s abacus toy
I am completely blind, and used this tool all through college!
GalaxY Clark I wouldn’t jump to conclusions; there are many audio programs out there, as well as Braille keyboards
@@simonkawasaki4229 that was inconsiderate of me, thanks for informing
That's awesome! Congrats on persevering.
Ye right if u wear blind how could u write this coment? Jus saying
John Vickers iiiii
The benefit of the abacus in today's age is if you get really good at using it, you can visualize it and get accurate calculations for just about anything fairly quickly. I know a girl whose parents forced her to use an abacus on homework growing up and she's in her 20s now but can spit out an accurate answer for anything you throw at her because she uses a combination of mental math and mentally visualizing an abacus. She's crazy fast too.
That is GREAT TO KNOW❤
yep; it allows u to visualize math rather than just memorize and it gets u familiar with binary math. Both are very good brain development exercises.
What I don't understand is how is this different than counting one at a time without an abbacus? He has to count every item of every group of 8, 7 times.
i bet she is india
@@d3nt391 it's an opportunity to train your brain to do it another way. Like, do this enough and you won't need to count one by one, you can eyeball what 8 beads looks like, do that enough and you'll probably be able to do it entirely in your head, but in the same way being able to save people's phone numbers in your phone means people don't remember phone numbers anymore, using calculators means people don't develop this skill anymore. Brb, getting my son an abacus (and a "so your dad made your childhood miserable" self-help book)
I’m 39 and I had no idea how to use this. Thank you for informing me, I will now file it in my brain in the “useless info I’ll never use” folder
welp, im 25 and i feel the same here.
I am also 39 now. We are 39 brothers, 3 years late though.. :P
It is not completely useless. It teaches you to think, keeps one’s mind active.
There’s other things to think about
@@nick_0no no math is very important in so many areas in life. I wish I learned on it. Who wants to always pull out a calculator when you could possibly do it quickly in your head. I want to try this for my kids so they don’t struggle like I had to all my life
@@nick_0it's mental maths it's useless for people who learnt "meth"
It is essential if you want to be able to solve mathematical accounting problems as efficiently as a calculator without a calculator at hand.
I read a lot of medieval themed books and everytime a character uses an abacus I always wondered what the process was so thanks for the tutorial
You're welcome!
Please name some books where the abacus came up!! 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Same
Great. I remember learning with them as a kid but forgot how it works lol. Now I plan to homeschool and think I definitely will be incorporating an abacus
RightStart Math is what I used for my kids (homeschooling), and it's based on the abacus. I'm amazed at how much you can do on that thing -- we have so much fun with it!
Happy homeschooling. 😊
At what age u started ur children to use abacus? My Lo is 3 years old and i planned to homeschool him.
@@aimankhalid5222 as soon as your child is ready! I've heard some kids can start as young as 3. Others will be 4, 5, or 6.
Teaching kids is one of the things I never expected in life. I can't have kids myself for various factors. But my brother has 2 daughters. They're 5 now, a bit behind the curve from being both premature. But the experience of being around a lil human being discovering things for the first time, it blows me away. The pure sense of joy they radiate when working out something any adult would just take and plain boring everyday stuff. The wonder at the world, it's intoxicating. Makes you remember what it was like to see a plant grow, or the clouds move across the sky.
I wouldn't call it useless; it's a pretty good method to learn arithmetic for visual learners.
Really good video btw :)
I lose track when I try to do math in my head, and I have a hard time memorizing the processes for doing various calculations with pencil and paper, so the abacus is the perfect tool for doing calculations for someone who needs a constant visual.
Agreed! It's a GREAT tool for visual learners.
I think that he was more referring to the fact that with calculators and computers everywhere, it is a skill that is not really necessary to have any more, rather than it being useless.
LainK1978 I'm pretty sure that's what he meant as well, but saying it's "useless" does imply it having no uses, whether he meant it intentionally or not.
There are no such things as “visual learners”. I could point you to a hundred scientific articles on the subject. That’s a myth that’s based on flawed understandings of old research. In reality, we all could benefit from using other sense than the ones we over rely on by default. Think of it this way: most people in the west are not used to using their visual and tactile sense (and aural, if you include the clicking of the abacus) when it comes to numbers. So naturally if they begin to use it, the brain paints a fuller picture. This might lead someone to think it says something their “learning style” but it doesn’t. It’s just that your brain has more information.
It's not useless. When i saw a cute one at Ikea i got it to teach my kids how to add and subtract. I didn't know you used every row as a value holder. I wasn't taught how to use one. So, now I'll teach my kids the correct way. 😄
why am i learning abacus at 2am
Me too
Me at 1:12am 🤣
No, it’s only 12:20.
Sorry. 12:21.
3am .😜
I knew that you could use them for addition and subtraction but I had no idea you could use it for multiplication, division and roots. Genius.
Yes, but working sines and cosines is a bit more difficult.
You dismiss how valuable learning the abacus is. In the West we learn to memorise our times tables for future use in mental arithmetic (which is much faster than a calculator: you can probably give me the answer to 8x5 long before anyone could even type the 8).
When you master the abacus you can do very complex sums mentally by imagining and ‘feeling’ the abacus in your mind - you may often see people playing with their fingers as if they have a physical abacus in front of them.
Now of course we all have calculators at our fingertips these days but if you know the abacus you could answer 659x 326 before someone has even grabbed their phone and opened the calculator app! Then we can also do powers and roots etc mentally too!
So it’s not a silly redundant device- it’s an invaluable skill that will inherently make your mind faster and sharper and ultimately make you a more intelligent person!
That's why all my Chinese elderly look like they are swiping the table when they are trying to figure out the bill.
Dude, you are so right here. The guy in the video starts off by actually saying "...today we are learning a completely useless skill."
I mean, how ignorantly dismissive can you get?
yeah, i feel like i would do better at math if i had learned through these means, but because my family left asia to live in the west i just go counting things on my fingers, and im an adult now. I feel like I should try to learn these details to get faster by calculating higher sets of numbers in one go. just to get smarter.
@@Bodragon First off my good sir, no need to bring negativity in here. He was trying to make the video fun and intresting and unless you taught your kids how to use an Abacus from the begining even your childern couldn't give a damn about it. What Eoin is trying to say is, not that Eddy is a jerk or trying to mislead or spread false information but the fact that abacus can help you in your early years and then you can toss it in trash. Just like math lovers do with there calculators because why waste time with a machine when you can do it in your head and be correct 100% of times.
Eoin Kelly I learned how to add playing with an abacus at my Montessori school, now I want my child to learn it the same way. Completely agree with you!!
Still using my 4th grade (memorized by flash cards and rote) multiplication tables, and 65 years later this has never failed. A return to this teaching method would benefit the public school system.
"We are gonna learn a useless skill"
Later
"This is fancy"
XD
Fancy≠Useful Fancy=Unique or cool
XD
you explained it well, except for the multiplying with 2 digits I noticed you slid 2 of the top ones over instead of 1 at a time. You forgot to slide one in the beginning to include the 21 that was already at the bottom.
I found several very good and advanced reasons an abacus is not only useful but highly practical for everyday life, over a digital calculator:
1: Digital calculators can screw up long addition chains if you push one wrong button, or the buttons themselves do not always respond when pushed. They also rely on memory and a battery or a power source of some kind and sometimes shut off on their own. An abacus is more reliable than a calculator since it does not come with the added problems and risks of a digital device.
2: I have autism and ADHD, I have trouble with short-term memory and executive function. As a visual and hands-on learner, it's easier to count with some sort of clear visual to work with, like, a multicolored abacus. If I forget where I last counted, I can look at the abacus and see where I'm at. It also engages muscle memory from repetition. As the guy in the video demonstrates, once you get into an established flow, counting starts to be done unconsciously, which allows for fast and efficient processing of numbers.
3: It has career functions. I do inventory logging and simple accounting as a merchant. I have to keep track of hundreds of items and make sure I don't get the numbers muddled. Since most people can't always rely on memory, it's easy to make errors since you're not entirely sure of the steps you've taken. An abacus doesn't require a memory, it's a memory card of sorts for the math you "entered" into it by moving the beads. If you understand where you put the beads, you know what you just entered. Again, very useful for someone with short-term memory issues like me.
4: In a world that seems to be dominated by tech and as someone who has run afoul of the flaws in online and digital technology, it's nice to have the old devices and old knowledge. At least I know I will not be rendered helpless if the tech industry implodes due to corruption of interest and monopolization.
5: I'm a medieval enthusiast and a fantasy writer. I love this stuff. It gives me access to two ways of life and a creative way to explore different solutions to problems. It also allows me to create detailed and interesting writing by mastering the nuts and bolts of life from a bygone era.
🤔You might want to look into Slide Rules and Napier Bones. They are really cool mathematical instruments of years gone by. 😎
Great video Eddy.
When I was a middle-schooler in Egypt I remember abacuses were used as a primary form of solving problems, with calculators being used only to verify your answers afterward.
The equipment is obviously outdated but I'd argue an abacus is still a powerful tool for building one's mental arithmetic skills.
mueez adam they say that the mathematicians from thousands of years ago were much better than today's computers.
I wouldn't say better than today's computers; but better than today's computer users by far.
This is fantastic! Thank you! I bought this EXACT abacus yesterday from a charity shop - £2!! ...For my nephew who loves numbers. I came to youtube to learn how to use it, so I can reach him, and your video came up. I clicked because it was the same abacus as mine - I thought "what are the chances" 😄 I stuck around because the explanation was great! I'll need to watch again to grasp it. But it was great. Thank you!!
Being locked down & trying improve the kids math whilst Homeschooling. Brilliant explanation & very helpful.
Thank you. This is definitively the best 7 minutes i wasted today! No Sarcasm, I really loved it!
I can use this when the teachers say no calculators allowed. One of the most useful tutorials in my life. You should watch too
imagine hearing the teacher say that caculators arent allowed so you just pull a giant abacus out of your desk and start doing math with that
.....except that an abacus is, technically, a calculator?
Hi just wanted to say Thank you so much for this video....useless or not, knowledge of new things is a good thing. At 49 years old, I never knew how to use an Abacus, for that I thank you!!
I used to think this is the most complicated thing in the world when I was a kid :) Now after 15 years to see how simple they are
Not at all useless, it gives you a better understanding of what numbers are and how they work. Excellent explanation!
I have finals. I really need to go back to studying.
LOL relatable.
funny.
Did ya graduate?
@@Science-ev1he yeap
@@valentinakaramazova1007 after 5 years you came back. Im proud of you, bro
This is a great video - it's the first one I've seen explaining multiplication and division on the abacus that I could really follow. I have always been fascinated by the abacus - I just think they are so cool. I love learning how to use them.
7:11 It's not useless! It's completely functional. My husband got it for our kids but I ended up liking it. I looked it up. The sumerians used it!
You might enjoy this video. The japanese version of the abacus is the soroban. There are heaps of tutorials on it.
ua-cam.com/video/s6OmqXCsYt8/v-deo.html
Your video is so helpful and much easier to watch than the other ones. Straight to the point and engaging. I need to know this as this works for students with Visual Impairments.
Old concept will always be relevant regardless of advancing technology. Love this video and learn the abacus 🧮 techniques
Learned to use an Abacus when I was little, but totally forgot “How”, so popped onto YT to relearn (Math is my Nemesis), so glad I found Your video! You make it seem so easy, and I can’t wait to do some calculations of my own...Thanks for Sharing & Teaching..
Which abacus do you use and did you try to learn a different one?
this is one of those things that were always at the back of my mind to one day learn, but i never really remembered of doing so. pretty fun and more like a curiosity than anything useful, but still... worth the time.
Totally not useless my kid got an abacus for Christmas and this was really useful to learn how to use it. I think it's going to be great for when he's learning math in school.
Thanks for the basic tutorial, I knew how to add using an abacus as that is straightforward even though I've never actually used one however, I wasn't sure how you do other mathematics on them. Cheers from Australia.
I'm only here because my 3 year old wanted to spend her birthday money on one of these and after she fell asleep I wanted to learn how to use it lol. Thanks for the video
This rudimentary system came into use about 2000 years ago and formed the basis for digital computing. How long did it take you to master, Ed? Thank you for the video.
Vy
This is actually great for teaching young children some simple math. Lots of color, very visual and hands on.
The ONLY thing wrong with your video is that you call it useless. You explained it so clearly and I wanted to find a video to show to my granddaughter, who is just about to start kindergarten. I don't want her to ever think a learning tool is useless. I would love to see you edit that out. Fun is fun, no matter if it can be done a faster, easier way. You even say it is fun, which makes it useful. (raspberries)
It is since we got calculators
this is 3 years late but you could have skipped to the part after he said it was useless, then called your granddaughter and pressed play.
P.S. it is beyond the shadow of a doubt useless, even in 2017 when you made this comment.
Brilliant. You made it so easy to understand. Got the idea in a few watches. Now I’m going to practice until I’m fast and accurate. That’s going to take longer. Thank you so much.
Loved your explanation and so did the kids ;-) Presentations need to be a bit entertaining to get the kids interested. They liked your zombie scenario.
Thanks Erik!
Erik Engheim AWESOME
Five little babies
Erik Engheim i
what are you? a jinxy?
for me has always been a mistery how it worked... i has one but never unterstood it... so now im happy starting 2017 one less problem and one more lesson taken
But that's not even a proper abacus?!?
Amen to growth
I thought it was just for counting and never thought i can do divisions with it!
I’m microbiologist we barely use math in our work, I also have finals but instead of studying I’m here learning how to use an abacus !!
This is not silly, it's awesome. Knowledge is the only way to alive.
I had abacus as a kid but never new how to use it properly, we just counted the beads 😂 this is awesome, I will buy one for my daughter ❤
I bought one for my son for x-mas, thought I should know how to use it in case he asks though at 8 months old that may be a while. Great video!
kaput450 you need to get better at procrastinating
I am mathematically challenged, but this was interesting. I've been thinking of buying an abacus for my granddaughter, who's about to turn 1. I figure it will be fun to play super simple math games with her and we can increase the complexity when she's older.
Thank god someone takes serious the preparation for the zombie 🧟♀️ apocalypse
It is useful, my 2 yr old daughter loves her abicus, so I'm teaching her multiplication and division on it
Who else watchin this in the zombie apocalypse
🙋
Yeah in the negative year on the x axis -6000BC, the brother dimension
Thank you so much. I needed the info to reteach my grandchildren how to look at numbers and math. You are a God send
that was AMAZING! dont underplay the skills...the brain muscles were throbbing and pumping in excitement! :)
This was really useful. Or at least fun. And now I know a little bit what to do with the abacus in my kids room. The next step is to teach them. Wish me luck!
I really want to find a credible and intellectual video on how an abacus really works.
"Hello everyone today we are going to learn a completely useless skill"
*Clicks back button*
funny thing is he actually teaches you how to use it.
@@DonutKop And does a really great job walking through all the steps
I also didn't like the negative comments at the beginning, it's not about your viewpoint ... its about your audiences viewpoint..
Yes I could be useless to some people because of technological advancement but it's still good to gain knowlegde about it.
hahaha I almost did the same thing....it turns out that he was being sarcastic
This is by far the best video on all things abacus. Thank you!
Why is this not taught in schools? I’ll teach my son how to use one
My son has suddenly grasped maths thanks to this. He is 6 and has autism and visualises things rather than counts in his head. Thanks
so I'm teaching my kids to use it and you have been the most helpful out of all these other dumb videos so it may have been useless for you but super helpful the generations coming up!
Gwen Floyd word
In Romania we used abacus in our early school years and it was very efficient. Don't know if it still used,but was very good for developing the logic,solutions seeking and creativity beside the mathematics skills.
There's a reason you can still buy something dating to the 2nd Century BC - How could something which helps us do math ever be 'useless'??
It's a toy for kindergarten kids who like to push beads around.
This was a very nice tutorial. I was able to quickly work out how to do some of the stuff that wasn't shown. If you multiply two 2 digit numbers, for example 17x21, you do the 7x21 as shown, then you simply move up 1 rung on the bottom and you're doing 10x21. For division, if you're doing something that's not even, like say 125 / 4, you first do 5/4, then you use a 4th rung to denote the 1 remainder, and then you do 120/4, which breaks down exactly as shown in the video, with the added complication that 10/4 is not an even division and thus takes a bit longer. It can be sped up by jumping straight to 40's instead, in which case the process will be similar to addition: Move 20 from the top, break down the 100 into 10s, move an extra 2, now you've got a 10 in the bottom with 80 left in the top. You end up with 31 on the bottom, with the 1 remainder in the top.
Also, if you have no paper, you can do addition of up to two 5 digit numbers using only the abacus. Rungs 1-5 is the first number, 6-10 is the second number. Now you just add beads into rungs 6-10 for each bead in the corresponding rungs 1-5.
Another thing to note is that you don't actually need to count all the way to 10, you just need to count to 5, and either start from the left, or the right. 2 from the right is 2, 2 from the left is 8.
i guess its just grouping haha. i had know idea. but it's the world's first computing system. or "computer" so it's pretty neat to know how it works. Thank you!
Great Explanation.... i loved it and I am going to teach my kid to use abacus.. it seems kids still struggle with understanding place holder using conventional system..
"..6, 7 , 8" *whispers "who do we appreciate" 🤣 2:55
Hey Eddy I like the videos you make. I am 10 years old and I understood pretty much everything. Watch your videos every day. Keep up the good work! :)
That was actually awesome! I think that could help children learn to count easy!
Back in the 80s in Russia, the abacus was used everywhere in all supermarkets, bakeries, shops and kiosks. Even the grandmothers in the market who had never been to school were real geniuses using this “device”.
21x7 takes less than 1 second to do in my head and this took 53 seconds!! SMH 🤦♀️
Can’t imagine the (Convoluted) Common Core.. 5 minutes? 😂
Ok I was given and taught the abacus even before I started kindergarten in Asia. But the best method was to work it in my head faster or the borrow method, because we’re family business merchants and speed calculations is key or you lose..
Ok for those of you who’s lost here’s what you do in your mind:
10x7 =70
2 x 70=140
(because 2x7=14 & 14X10=140)
140+7=147.
Way I do tips:
$25.97
Tipping 10%
Move dot back $2.597 round up $2.60 because we don’t have anything below pennies. If you’re generous 20% you double it.. $5.20)
This was NOT useless... I'm totally using this tool to teach my kiddo math and this was very helpful! Thanks!
this is not useless !! zombie apo IS coming !! good job on the vids
Ha ha. Get the guns!
Thanks for the notification
time to watch all the zombie movies and TV shows to prepare for it
Nice explanation of an abacus, kids liked it thanks for the video.
thank you for a helpful and fun video
Very Helpful In Getting Started With Abacus, Loved It!
You push 2 beads @ 4:27. Edited??
I think he did that because he realized that he started out by not accounting for the 21 already there.
love your sense of humor.
Me for no reason: "Why is he holding it like a Harp"
Thanks, I still remember abacus being used in shops where I grew up, always wondered how they worked, now I know
but what if there's decimal numbers involved though? how can you do that? I asume that this only works with whole numbers.
It does work with decimals. I use it to do accounting (money = 2 decimal numbers)
You'd just allocate more beads for the Tenths, Hundredths, Thousdandths, etc.
It’s 3 AM and I’m watching an abacus tutorial
Same!!!
if your calculator sucked up use your trusty old 2000 year old calculator
I watched this video ages ago after seeing an abacus used on "The Shakiest Gun in the West" and wanted to know how to use it.
I found one at a garage sale and bought it because I knew how to use it, and I'm now doing math for fun, which is something I thought would never happen 😂
Ugh my standard brain thinks this is complicated
Mines too. I'm totally confused
Ditto
I think because he was talking too fast...
😂😂😂
For me its fine bet when it comes to division and multiplication its complicated
This is not useless. Good explanation. Learnt something new today!
Great video! but at 4:26 you moved two beads at once on the top but it did not mess up the multiplication of 21 by 7 because you should have started with no beads on the bottom instead of one on tens and two on ones.
Shahidullah Kaiser Ya and I'm wondering why he got a correct answer
Definitely not useless! It helped me understand mental math which used to be really hard even for small numbers.
Excellent for visual learners! 💛
Thanks for this tutorial, I feel ready for my AP calc exam tomorrow
Perfect! LOL. I hope it went well.
Thanks goodness the zombies didn't eat the abacus 0:12
This invention is genius. Can't wait for my kids to learn this (and Japanese multiplications !)
Thanks, just got one for the grandkids. Now I won't look like an idiot when I show them how to use it. 🤣
:D
For some reason I thought of how I never knew how an acacia worked. I've always lived math. I can multiply 2 digit numbers in my head but that's about it.
One thing I thought of is that the availability of paper and pencils to do large math calculations is fairly recent in human history. This thing could be made entirely out of wood, so it was the go to device millennia ago. Probably an excellent tool for those less than trustworthy to make a few coin off of the unsuspecting.
Thanks for a cool demo. Bucket list item checked!
Thanks for using the word ‘crap’ while I was showing my child how to use an abacus.
Crap ain't a bad word wdym
Shut the fuck up, your kids will hear it eventually.
@@aWILDsomethingCAME 😂😂
I'm 40, Pretty good at maths. I;m an engineer, I use maths everyday. My Brother's kids are just getting old enough to start learning basics of addition and subtraction. I would have never thought of an abacus. I think It would be a great tool to help them learn because it's physical. They have a bit of developmental delay and find numbers especially hard because it's not something real to them. I'm definitely getting them one each. It's a bonus too because it seems like a toy, and learning is way easier when you have a toy and are having fun
Actually I like it better then a calculator. I’m dyslexic with numbers but my brain seemed less resistant to it.
I have dyscalculia and the first time I ever saw something like this, math made all the sense in the world!
It is very helpful thanks for u great explanation 😊
Awesome!
Im trying to teach my 6 year old how to use it, I’m going to show him this video!
It was annoying you kept calling it useless. I got it after the first time.
edin shealtiel racist
It's useless