People can go to great lengths to avoid using mathematics. According to a study conducted by Duolingo, the survey indicated that 30% of people would rather join a real-life “Squid Game” than take a three-hour math quiz; 28% would choose to get stuck in traffic to cut a cake into 14 equal parts, and 45% would give up their favorite drink in order not to do multiplication or division. Additionally, more than a third of those surveyed (34%) stated that they had difficulties with the subject in primary school.
Mexico was placed 37th in the ranking (41 countries) that measures mathematical performance according to the 2018 PISA test, the score for women was 403, which indicates 84 points below the average (487) of the countries. that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), while for men the indicator stood at 415, 77 points below the average (492).
“According to the PISA test, mathematical performance measures the ability of a 15-year-old student to formulate, use and interpret mathematical problems in a variety of situations to describe, explain and predict phenomena, by recognizing and understanding the function of mathematics in the world. The mean score is the measure. Students with mathematical competence make well-founded judgments and make the necessary decisions as constructive, committed and reflective citizens ”, according to information from the OECD site.
At the end of October this year, Duolingo launched Duolingo Math, the application (app) uses machine learning algorithms, interactive exercises and animations to learn mathematics.
What is it about?
The app has two course options for users: Elementary Math (basic mathematics), aimed at children who are in elementary school with exercises typically seen in a classroom, and Brain Training, (brain training), aimed at adults to strengthen your mental abilities and some more advanced topics. However, the courses are open to everyone, regardless of whether you are an adult wanting to resume basic knowledge or a young person looking for a greater challenge.
Concepts covered by the Elementary Math option include:
· 
Multiplication (tables, commutative and associative properties, factorization).
· Division (tables, odd and even numbers, prime numbers)
· Fractions (normal, improper, mixed and comparative fractions)
· Areas and perimeters
· Geometry (angles, parallel and perpendicular lines)
· Measurements (reading and setting clocks, use of rulers, metric conversions)
· Decimals (conversions between decimals and fractions, floating point decimals, operations and comparisons)
The Brain Training option covers similar content with greater difficulty, focusing on brain training and concepts of daily life, such as conversions between pounds, ounces and kilos, for example.
Making math accessible and entertaining is a natural next step in Duolingo’s quest to bring high-quality education to everyone around the world. In the words of Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo: “As long as there are people in the world who want to continue learning, we still have a lot to do. We will not have won until we have taught everything there is to teach.”
Whether studying fractions at school or calculating a tip at a restaurant, mathematics is a fundamental part of our lives. However, they are not necessarily something easy or to everyone’s taste. Many of us experience great stress when faced with day-to-day situations where we must use numbers or do numerical operations. This is known as “math anxiety”.
