The Beauty of the Virtual Abacus Online: December 2020 New

The virtual abacus is a rising trend in 2020. With everything made digital, students can learn from home online.

This article talks about what students need to know before playing their first abacus online.
 

I'm the author of this article and I'm a qualified abacus teacher, answering questions from around the world online abacus and various questions from online-soroban.com students.

Table of contents

We have several tools at our fingertips today, be it online courses, teachers, online videos, calculators, learning apps... and no matter what you’re studying it’s critical to always have the correct tools and the best information available to study the subject of choice.

After all, nothing is as frustrating as finding out way later, after you’ve invested dozens of hours learning something that you have been learning wrong, or that the tools or techniques you have been using are inefficient or subpar for what you’re trying to learn.

And that’s when our beautiful boy, the Abacus, comes in, a vintage piece some may think, others may think these old apparatus belong in a museum, but the truth is: Learning the Abacus is learning to learn -- Acquiring the skills that will empower your learning in all areas of life, such as literature, math, social skills or anything else.

And you don’t need to worry about buying a physical one yourself, countless apps and websites offer you the same functionality at the touch of a screen or one click away!

1-1.Understanding Virtual Abacus Online

To understand the Abacus, we’ll have to learn which beads are moved where.

Every column will represent a different number.

The first column to the right will represent the “+1 counters” (single-digit), and in the same column, we have five single-digit counters under it, and two additional “+5 counters” above it.

If all the beads are set away from the middle bar, it means they’re in the “resting state” meaning the Abacus current count is zero.

Now with this information in mind, we should try to apply this information into a simple addition operation.

If we move one bead a “+1” bead up until we reach a total of “5”, we can then return these “+1 beads” to their resting state and move down one “+5” bead. And this all naturally follow, if you keep going until you reach the count of “10”, return all the “+1” beads to their resting positions, add a single “+5 bead”, and follow by moving to add a lower bead in the “+10 column”, it’s that simple.

And with a little practice, your brain will do this movement as if second nature.

1-2.What Can Students Learn With Virtual Abacus Online?

Learning to correctly use our old boy, the Abacus, comes with a reap of life-long benefits.

We know that the best student must first learn to recognize patterns, otherwise, how could we exercise any kind of analytical thought?

The Abacus makes this much easier as practicing will help train the brain to easily visualize patterns.

To summarize, finding patterns is important, but that’s not all, you must also comprehend said patterns, how to recognize them, and use them in your favor.

The moment the student becomes proficient in this skill, it will be easy to be confident and secure in any area of your life, be it academics, love, work, social, or whatever may come your way.

You may ask yourself: What are some ways the skills I’ve acquired learning the Abacus may help in my daily life?

The Abacus will teach us fundamental skills such as concentration, pattern recognition, and critical thought.

Once the student understands the skills taught in the Abacus, such as pattern recognition, numerical analysis, and decomposition, they understand how to learn.

The Abacus will present how concepts are formed, their importance, and how to best work with them.

Greatly helping the student approach any difficulties or problems they may face in any facet of life.

Be it recognizing the pattern of a toxic relationship, understanding why something keeps getting lost in the pipeline of your company, or how to find the best deals for that new pen you need, this strong foundation will carry you throughout life.

1-3. Benefits of Virtual Abacus Online

To summarize what we have learned so far, students that have learned and practiced the concept taught by the Abacus will enjoy several benefits.

Let’s say you’ve met that one special person, how can this skill benefit you?

Some examples would be questions you would ask yourself, introspective questions to help solve the problems you may face: What should you do if you’re meeting their family?

How do you get from your place to theirs?

What kind of plans should you make for the weekend?

What’s a good way to save money to make the most of your time together?

How to approach a delicate subject tactfully?

How to offer meaningful counsel to something your significant other is struggling with?

These types of questions are critical when dealing with relationships, be they romantic, friend, family, professional or what may it be.

Being accustomed to this “cause and effect” way of thinking is learned with the Abacus.

The entire concept of “what if” questions help with building an analytical concept that is essential for any area of education.

The Abacus student will often ask themselves “What if I’m adding 2 on top of 7 to the number 4?”.

It’ll be clear that the result of this answer is 2 greater than 7+4.

With this deeper understanding of this specific numerical relation and will easily apply the same understanding to any other math problems.

Overall  
Be you a student trying to get one step ahead, a parent trying to give their children the best tools for life, or a teacher trying to use old ways to teach wonderful habits, it’s undeniable that using an Abacus, virtual or physical, can provide you with valuable skills that every professional, student, teacher, leader or anyone would benefit from.

Having an app on your phone for some quick Abacus operations is a wonderful way to keep your math swift, your brain sharp, and your logic ready for anything.

Of course, if you can, get your hands on a physical one and teach your fingers some new tricks!