Question His way of solving math problems is unique.

[hirashin]

Dear native English speakers,
Do both these sentences sound natural?
(a) His way of solving math problems is unique.
(b) His way to solve math problems is unique.

Thanks in advance.
Hirashin

 

[Lothor]

The first one sounds natural to me, the second one doesn't.

 

[hirashin]

Thanks for the help, Lothor.
Let me ask you another question.
Which would British people say, (a) or (b)?
(a) The Beatles was very popular in the 1960s
(b) The Beatles were very popular in the 1960s.

 

[Michael2]

Definitely (b) above.

Also, I would most naturally say "He has a unique way of solving Maths problems"

 

[johnnyG]

Also, I would most naturally say "He has a unique way of solving Maths problems"

Maths...

That makes me think back to when I took one daughter to New Zealand and put her in a local school for a month. She revealed that it had taken her a while to realize that what she was hearing as "mess" was "maths." :

 

[Lothor]

Hirashin - UK maths, US math.
I've met British mathematicians (I used to be a maths teacher) who think it's rather insulting to describe such a huge subject in the singular rather than the plural.

 

[hirashin]

Thanks, Michael2, johnnyG and Lothor.

I know British people say maths while Americans say math. In the textbooks used here in Japan, American English is dominant. So we usually learn "math" when we are in junior high school. I learned(/learnt) in college that British people use "maths" instead of "math".

JohnnyG's daughter had an interesting experience. How old was she when you took her there? By the way, did you understand New Zealanders' English easily? When I talked with a young teacher from New Zealand for the first time several years ago, I couldn't catch his pronunciation of "first". His accent was really hard for me to understand.

 

[joadbres]

I've met British mathematicians ... who think it's rather insulting to describe such a huge subject in the singular rather than the plural.

Then those people must have a problem with a sentence such as the following:

Maths is studied by all students in Years 7-11.​

Right?

If not, then it seems that they must find themselves insulting.

 

[johnnyG]

How old was she when you took her there? By the way, did you understand New Zealanders' English easily?

She was maybe 10...? (If we were catholic, she might've heard "mass". With the assimilation of th>s, that or "mess" is probably not distinguishable out of context.)

NZ English--no it wasn't hard. A lot of the vowels are higher, e.g., "been" in american in "ben", in NZ it's "bean".

But it did take a full month to get comfortable with having an accent!

 

[mdchachi]

I know British people say maths while Americans say math. In the textbooks used here in Japan, American English is dominant. So we usually learn "math" when we are in junior high school. I learned(/learnt) in college that British people use "maths" instead of "math".

I didn't know that until this thread.