Why? Hello and welcome. My name is Jonathan Crabtree. As a child I once failed mathematics. Perhaps like many, I found chanting the times tables boring. If I did a maths problem three times I might get three different answers and still not know which was was right! As a young man I broke my back, bouncing off the side of a truck. Not recommended! The surgeon described my spine as "A Violet Crumble chocolate bar, smashed on the end with a mallet!" I was told quite bluntly, that if I moved I'd never walk again. My future was bleak, so in March 1983 I made a spiritual and personal promise. If I was ever able to walk again and have children, I'd change the world for the better!  So in 1987, after having failed and hated maths and with no formal mathematics or teacher training, I quit my job to teach young children mathematics! My impossible dream was to change the way the western world taught mathematic!. Perhaps you may not be that excited, yet for me, the prospect of hundreds of millions of children loving numbers will be a worthy gift. And who know, maybe my 'lucky break' and the fact I've kept my promise will make my life count! So now, 21 years later and having taught children maths online along the way in more than 130 countries, my homework is finished and I'm sharing it with you to enjoy absolutely free.

Terms of Use: If you share, copy, adapt, alter, transform or build upon Australian Numerals, you:

An Introduction to Australian Numerals

The function of mathematical symbols is to abbreviate with no loss of exactness. The symbols that describe the meaning of mathematics, whether for simple digits, arithmetic or calculus work pretty well. However, it is my view that the deficiency of Hindu Arabic Numerals is they inherently deal only with natural, or positive numbers rather than integers, that can be positive or negative. A Hindu Arabic numeral becomes negative only when a minus symbol is placed in front of it, while an Australian Numeral may be negative without the need for an extra symbol.

Therefore after more than 20 years of thinking about and experimenting with numbers, I've created Australian Numerals to deal with this deficiency. The main advantage of Australian Numerals for arithmetic is they are simply easier to use than Hindu Arabic Numerals alone. If a child can add and subtract and know their times table to 5 x 5, they can do almost any basic arithmetic! Examples such as 9 x 5, or 28 x 3 or  97 x 2 are easy and even 987 x 789 can easily be done without knowing beyond your 5 times 5 tables as shown further below. 

By the way, the explanation of Australian Numerals on this page is separate to the free lessons you can register for at the bottom of the page. Should a child learn and enjoy Australian Numerals they may be able to do mathematics other children their age can't. Should you or a child learn and enjoy the additional free lessons I provide, like others around the world, you will be able to do mathematics a mathematics teacher can't!

As I have just released Australian Numerals after more than 20 years, as a personal celebration I'm giving the first visitors to this page a free e-book, Australian Numerals conversion chart and two math lessons. There will also be a dedicated book on Australian Numerals soon.  So simply pop your name and email in the form below if you've come directly to this page!

Australian Numerals digits and pigits

The Hindu Arabic Numerals (digits) are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Australian Numerals include these and also a set of pigits! As the 'd' in digits points up, the integers are +ve. As the 'p' in pigits points down, the integers are -ve. As you can see, 'pigits' are simply digits rotated 90 degrees to the left. That's why the A in the Australian Numerals logo is also rotated to the left, to point which way the pigits go!

Learn How to Convert Small Numbers from Hindu Arabic Numerals to Australian Numerals

As Australian Numerals include Hindu Arabic Numerals, many numerals will remain the same. As the only requirement for Australian Numerals is basic addition and subtraction and a knowledge of your times tables up to 5 times 5, it's not necessary to convert 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. However it will make sense to convert 9, 8, 7 and 6 if you don't know these times tables already.

Most people learn their 1 times and 10 times tables easily. Multiply any number by 1 and it stays the same. Multiply any number times 10 and you just move all the numbers to the left one place and put a zero on the right hand side. So 4,587 times 1 is 4,587 and 4,587 times 10 is 45,870. So the goal is to multiply by 10 whenever we can and then adjust our answer accordingly.

Let's start by converting the Hindu Arabic Numeral 9 to Australian Numerals*.

Nine is only 1 away from 10 which is easy to multiply by! So let's add 1 to 9 to make it 10 and then take 1 away to keep it the same value. So 9 = 10 - 1 and as -1 in Australian Numerals is pone, 9 can also be called tenty-pone!

Nine becomes tenty-pone (we use our 1 times tables for multiplication)
Eight becomes tenty-pwo (we use our 10 times and two times tables for multiplication)
Seven becomes tenty-pee, (we use our 10 times and three times tables for multiplication)
and six becomes tenty-pour (we use our 10 times and four times tables for multiplication)

There's no need to use an Australian Numeral for 5 as we'd still use our 5 times tables!

Examples of digits and pigits in use.

5 - 8 = pee (-3)	1 - 5 = pour (-4)	19 = twenty-pone
28 = thirty-pwo	38 = forty-pwo

Converting Really Big Numbers to Australian Numerals!

Once you're familiar with the set of Australian Numerals To convert a 'long' numbers with high digits to Australian Numerals, simply start off at the units column and 'round up' all the digits higher than 5 to ten. Then simply add '1' to the column on the left. As an example, let's convert 829,371,629 to Australian Numerals, starting from the 9 in the units column. Remember you only need convert digits higher than 5 to pigits!

Convert right to left, starting in the units column.

Conversion Example Explained
In the above example, we start by rounding the 9 in the units column to 10. As 9 is 1 away from 10 we put down 'pone' underneath it and then simply add one ⁽⁺¹⁾ to the 2 in the tens column, which becomes 3. 

We then look at the 6 in the hundreds column and round it up to 10. As 6 is 4 away from 10 we put down 'pour' underneath and then simply add one ⁽⁺¹⁾ to the 1 in the thousands column, which becomes 2.

Then 7 gets replaced by 'pee' and we then simply add one ⁽⁺¹⁾ to the 3 in the hundred thousands column, which becomes 4.

So have a go looking at the rest of the digits in the number and continue the process from right to left. Then get some paper and make up a few examples of your own to play with! When saying the number out loud you simply used the written pigits as you'd use written digits.

It sounds odd when you first start to read large numbers with a mix of digits and pigits. And like anything in learning, practice will help!

And as you may know how to convert positive numbers to pigits, have a go at working out how you might convert a negative number to pigits. (Hint - reverse the process!) 

Special Australian Numerals Launch Offer!

Register your interest in Australian Numerals and I'll give you:

1) An Australian Numerals Conversion Chart
2) A special 25 page e-book, and
3) Two special fun speed math lessons that will almost certainly have you doing mathematics most math teachers can't do!

Are Australian Numerals FAB?

Features 

• The pigits are simply digits rotated to the left
• Both positivity and negativity are now implicit in the numeral. 

Advantages

• You need only know up to your 5 times tables to perform multiplication. eg. 789 times 987! 
• Addition and subtraction can also become easier.

Benefits

• People who find mathematics difficulty to learn and understand may become more confident with numbers.
• Home school parents may find subsequent lessons capture the attention and imagination of their children.
• A lack of instant recall of the 6, 7, 8 and 9 times tables should no longer require children to repeat years of math education.
  

Here's an example of how Australian Numerals work. Using digits and pigits mathematics can become simpler. So 9 x 5 simply becomes (10-1) x 5 or tenty-pone x five as below.
   

The only rule (which is the same as the old rule) is the product (multiplication) of integers heading in the same direction is a positive experience! The product of integers heading in different directions is a negative experience! ie. (+6) x (+6) = (+36) while (-6) x (+6) = (-36)

Whenever you have a higher order digit such as six, seven eight or nine, simply go up 1 in the  column to the left and use a pigit instead of a digit. I've included some examples of Hindu Arabic Numerals converted to Australian Numerals below. Can you understand them? If not look back at the table above.

So here's an example of simple multiplication done with Hindu Arabic Numerals and Australian Numerals, side-by-side.

With Hindu Arabic Numerals a child would have to know their 8 times tables, yet with Australian Numerals you need only know your times tables up to 5.

TEACHERS & PARENTS PLEASE NOTE!
I still recommend people know their times tables. Yet it may not be necessary for children to chant them out aloud in a classroom environment over several years. The logic behind Australian Numerals is simple. Learning the pigits may take as little as 10 minutes! Of course learning to write the pigits takes a little longer, yet is helped by turning and tilting your head to the left as you write them.  The techniques I teach are an addition to not a replacement for any formal curriculum you or your child may be using.

d for digits p for pigits!

d points up so digits are positive and p points down so pigits are negative! As for the pigitss, they're simply digits blown over to the left with a puff of daylight from the morning sun!  Get a child to imagine little number characters getting blown over and they may even learn the pigits in 10 minutes or less! 

Once again a child that either doesn't know or struggles badly with their times tables may be able to do 97 x 2 as you can see below! The only story (rule) to remember is the one where two integers with the same point of view aligned in the same direction always have a positive experience when they multiply and have children (the product). 

Let's do another multiplication without the using any more than our five times tables.

Hindu Arabic      Australian

As you can see from the example above, the absence of any knowledge of your tables beyond 5 can be dealt with by using Australian Numerals and a couple of extra steps. In the Hindu-Arabic Numerals example on the left it was necessary to 'carry a 6' as well as know your nine times tables. In the Australian Numerals example on the right, all that was required was a knowledge of the two times tables and there was no complexity of 'carrying' any numbers.

So let's look at 987 times 789. which using Hindu-Arabic Numerals, would be impossible without a knowledge of your times tables!

    Hindu-Arabic                  Australian

Mathematics can become much faster AND easier as I hope you will soon discover. My experience teaching kids with their eyes shut through fairytales and guided visualisation indicates it may be 10 times faster, easier to remember and enjoyable too! 

So please give me some feedback as you are GENUINELY one of the first people in the world to play with Australian Numerals. While I've taught math through visualisation, I've NEVER shared this information before.

So if Australian Numerals seems simple - it is! Will I achieve my 20 year long goal of changing the way the Western world teaches mathematics? I don't know... Yet you can be one of the first in the world to tell me what you think!

Now you know a little bit about Australian Numerals, please fill in the feedback form below and I'll teach you how to read numbers and much more! 

You can also click here for testimonials about my mathematics lessons.

Fun stuff you'll learn free includes...

• Know all your 9 x tables in 30 seconds Easy!

•  426327180342080521 x 11 Easy!

• 1 hour 48 minutes plus 2 hours 33 minutes equals? Easy!

• 726354 x 3618273 = 2628147066642 right or wrong? Easy!

• 4610473856732134 x 9 = ? Easy! plus My amazing math addition challenge WARNING!  Your friends may refuse to believe you can do this! ... plus much more!