Going from arithmetic to abstraction is difficult for some. One is word problems at about 5th grade. Its fairly simple to replace key words by symbols and oper

Going from arithmetic to abstraction is difficult for some. One is word problems at about 5th grade. Its fairly simple to replace key words by symbols and operators to find the answer. But this confuses some people. The next step is algebra at 8th or 9th grade. Letters and numbers confuses people too. In my case I succumbed at Analysis. I like applied math, but dislike constructing proofs.