Author: zombie

I love maths, but I don’t understand what it is. Now how crazy is that?…

My mum was an expert at catching flies and she taught me how to do it. It’s usually a two hand job, but once you know the trick a single hander will also often work. If nothing else, it’s a good party trick.

Imagine that you were learning English for the first time. You would struggle with the verb “to be”…

I assume you know how sudoku puzzles work. I’ve studied the techniques and enjoy the challenge of “Expert” puzzles. However, because of my abacus maths training, I don’t just want to solve the puzzles, I want to find the quickest way to do so. Here’s what I’ve found -…

Ever heard of the golden spiral? Take a look at it.

Whew! Being a math genius is hard work! But at Gallagher School in Midrand, we know how to work hard and have lots of fun doing so. You already learned how to add, subtract, and multiply with the Japanese abacus. Are you ready to learn how to divide?…

Did you ever look back on the crises in your life and realise that they turned into blessings?…

So far, we have learned the principles of addition and subtraction. Now let’s look at multiplication.

An exam is not to find out what you know, it’s to find out how many marks you can score. This one thought is critical if you want to pass first time, every time.

In a previous article, I introduced you to the Japanese abacus, or soroban. Now I’ll teach you to add and subtract.

About 10 years ago my hands had developed uncontrollable shakes and I took myself of to a neurologist. After testing me for Parkinson’s Disease, she concluded that I had something called essential tremours. Eight years later, I cured it with Mind Power.

In late October 2018, I was a guest speaker at the World Abacus Maths Competition, which for the first time, was held here in South Africa. Holding the attention of some 400 kids was going to be a challenge, so I chose to talk about something close to their hearts.

At Gallagher Combined School, abacus maths is a compulsory subject. Many of the parents are curious about what their children are doing and would like to know more, so here’s a short introduction to the Japanese abacus.

Back in the 70’s, I was trained in Advanced Self Management by a guy named Sedley Burger. One of the stories he told was of a guy who wanted to borrow his neighbour’s power cable.

Philasande Mahlangu came 2nd out of about 45 competitors in the inter-schools Natural Sciences contest this week (16th May). He scored 23 out of 30 but was just pipped at the post by the winner who scored 24.