Beadbay: the soroban
Flash sums: mental arithmetic at speed
In Flash sums, numbers appear one at a time for a moment each. You add them in your head and type the total at the end. It is the exercise many people know as flash anzan: soroban learners do it by picturing the beads moving.
Flash sums
Choose a level and press Start. Keep your eyes on the number.
How to do it
Do not try to remember the numbers. Keep a running total and let each new number change it. Soroban learners keep the total as a picture of beads and move them in their mind, often with their fingers twitching on the table.
- Sit so the number is straight in front of you.
- Start slow enough to get most of them right.
- When a level feels easy, go up one.
The levels
This page has the 6 one-digit levels, from three numbers at 1.2 seconds each to seven numbers at 0.6 seconds. In the app a staircase finds your level: two right in a row moves you up, a miss moves you down.
Beadbay Pro adds two-digit and three-digit numbers, up to fifteen at a time, and a set-your-own mode for how many, how big and how fast.
Why it works
Adding quickly in your head is mostly about not stopping. A number that is about to vanish gives you no time to count on your fingers, so you learn to trust the picture.
Questions
Is this flash anzan?
It is the same kind of exercise: numbers flashed one after another to add mentally. Our mode is called Flash sums.
Do I need to know the soroban first?
No, anyone can train with it. Knowing the soroban gives you a way to hold the total as beads, which is what makes the fast levels possible.
How fast can it go?
On this page down to 0.6 seconds a number. In the app with Pro, down to a fifth of a second.