I am trying to teach myself the trachtenberg system of basic math.

The book advocates doing the sums on paper but I want to be able to do them in my head, is this possble after some intensive training?

Also when doing the 11x tables my brain is telling to work from the left to the right as it should theorectically be faster? is my brain faulty

I am a bit of a numpty when it comes to numbers.

trying to teach myself this by doing the calculations in my head. having trouble with carrying numbers in my head, especially when carrying 2's.

Any advice would be appreciated or is it practice practice practice the only advice i'll get?

Practice would be my advice, not knowing specifically what kind of calculations you are trying to do mentally.

There are "tricks" and "techniques" for mental arithmetic, but all require practice to master.

In my opinion, success in mathematics always hinges on practice, practice, practice.

If you have having a particular problem with a specific technique, tell us what it is. You mentioned multiplying a number by 11. This is a pretty simple technique, but as the numbers get larger, the mental calculation gets harder unless you're writing it down on paper.

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He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool, shun him. He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a child, teach him. He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep, wake him. And he who knows and knows that he knows is wise, follow him.
-- Persian Proverb

Well my objective from learning speed arithmatic is to be able to do large calculations in my head at the felt of a poker table - I am slowly working my way through the book,(only chpt 1 atm) very slowly might I add. Maybe if i learnt this at a younger age it would be much more fluent.

I am pretty good when it comes to a pen and paper as the techniques are pretty simple - I am using Arithmetic Game - Online Speed Drill which I found on here to measure if i am getting better, pretty much putting in an 30mins to an hour a day.

Three questions for you my friend.

First Question
Do you visualise the numbers when doing these speed crunches in your head? The individual calcs are pretty simple but logging them and then repeating them in the correct order is sometimes confusing on 10K+ figures.

Second Question
11's are pretty simple the trachtenberg way. Is there ever any reasoning for working from the left most didget first so you dont have to invert the products for the end figure (think that makes sense?)?

Third Question
Do you know of any speed math forums for me to discuss techniques with?

Thank you kindly good sir