ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Mathematics as a language

Mathematics is like a language that helps us to talk and understand numbers. Instead of saying words, we use symbols like + and - to communicate information. We use the symbols to show how two numbers interact with each other. The symbols can be like a sentence that helps us figure out how much something is or how many of something there is. It’s like a code that we can understand if we learn how to read it.