50 Questions Non-Americans Asked Americans with Surprising Answers

Not maths, just math

You’ve probably heard on American TV shows that the character has to go to trig or calculus. They have algebra class right after geometry. Stuff like that. What’s confusing to some people around the globe is why these actors call math classes by different math subjects instead of, you know, maths.

First of all, we don’t call it maths. Every mathematics subject is simply just math. Secondly, American high schools usually split up math classes by subject. So, if a character has trig, they’re studying trigonometry for that semester, trimester, or quarter. At least, this was the case in my old high school and those that my friends attended.