Math Word Problems Are a Translation Exercise, Not a Math Exercise

Most people who struggle with math word problems do not have a math problem. They have a translation problem. They can solve 2x + 5 = 15 without difficulty. What they cannot do is read "Sarah has 5 more apples than twice what Tom has, and together they have 15 apples" and produce the equation 2x + 5 + x = 15. The math is the easy part. The hard part is converting English into equations. The translation framework Every word problem follows a pattern: it describes a scenario using words, and your job is to: Identify the unknown(s) -- what are you solving for? Assign variables to the unknowns Translate the relationships described in words into mathematical expressions Solve the resulting equation(s) The translation step has common patterns: English Math "is" / "equals" / "was" = "more than" / "added to" + "less than" / "fewer than" - "times" / "of" * "per" / "for each" / "twice" / "double" 2x "half of" x/2 "5 more than twice a number" translates directly: 2x + 5. Common word problem types