Listening mental math practice
Nothing on screen. The numbers are spoken, the abacus is imagined, and the answer is said out loud.
- 5 rows × 1 digits, add & subtract
- About 7 min
- Free, no account
Sample problems
Real problems from this drill, with answers. Nothing to install, no account, no email — work them on paper, on a physical abacus, or in your head.
- 18+ 4+ 6+ 1− 6?
- 21+ 3+ 7+ 9+ 1?
- 34+ 1+ 8+ 7+ 9?
- 42+ 6− 4+ 5+ 6?
- 59− 1+ 2+ 9− 6?
- 64+ 1− 3+ 7− 4?
- 76− 4− 1+ 8− 2?
- 85− 1+ 6+ 7+ 9?
- 98+ 3+ 7− 2− 1?
- 101+ 4+ 3− 2− 6?
Full answer key
- 8 + 4 + 6 + 1 − 6 = 13
- 1 + 3 + 7 + 9 + 1 = 21
- 4 + 1 + 8 + 7 + 9 = 29
- 2 + 6 − 4 + 5 + 6 = 15
- 9 − 1 + 2 + 9 − 6 = 13
- 4 + 1 − 3 + 7 − 4 = 5
- 6 − 4 − 1 + 8 − 2 = 7
- 5 − 1 + 6 + 7 + 9 = 26
- 8 + 3 + 7 − 2 − 1 = 15
- 1 + 4 + 3 − 2 − 6 = 0
This page is one drill. The app is the whole programme.
Kani Math is a full mental-arithmetic course, not a single exercise. Free to start, no signup, and it runs on the web, Android and iPhone.
It also delivers the numbers for you — flashed on screen or read aloud, with the speed, digit count and number of rows under your control. That is the one thing a printed page cannot do.
- ✓Nine levels, from the first bead to division
- ✓Guided lessons that teach the technique, not just drills
- ✓Flash, listening and abacus drills at a speed you set
- ✓Versus matches against friends or the computer
- ✓Say your answers out loud — the app listens and marks them
- ✓Streaks, coins and badges, with parent and teacher views
Practise it now
The same drill, live in your browser, with a virtual soroban and instant marking.
This problem type runs in the full app rather than the inline drill:
Open in the app ↗Explore the free virtual abacus →How to use an abacus →Mental Math Drill →
About this drill
Listening drills — read anzan in the Japanese tradition — remove the visual channel entirely. The learner hears each number, converts it to a bead movement, and never sees a digit. This is harder than flash practice for most people, because the conversion from sound to bead image has no visual anchor to lean on.
It is also the format that transfers most directly to everyday life, where numbers arrive spoken far more often than written: prices at a counter, scores called out, a phone number read aloud. A learner who can only add what they can see has half a skill.
How to practise it
- 1Use headphones or a quiet room — this drill is unusable with background noise.
- 2Close your eyes if it helps hold the bead image.
- 3Move the imagined beads on the sound, not after it.
- 4Say the answer aloud before checking it.