NeilM
Well-Known Member
I learned to tell time in the 1960s when there were no digitals only analogue. And I had a lot of trouble grasping it until I realized it was due to sloppiness on the part of the instructor.
They would use a dummy clock (one with only hands, no internal workings, or a hastily drawn circle on a chalkboard) and position the hands at a particular time and ask me what time is that? But in doing so, say for 8:30, they would point the minute hand at the 6 but point the hour hand straight at the 8. Eventually I realized that on an actual clock, at 8:30 the hour hand would be halfway between 8 and 9. And at 8:45, it would point almost to the 9, no even close to the 8. Furthermore, the dummy clocks too often were made with the hour and minute hands too close the same length. So it was hard, in the above example, to tell 8:30 from 6:40.
Once I was able to get away from clock mock-ups and only deal with real ones, I had no problems.
They would use a dummy clock (one with only hands, no internal workings, or a hastily drawn circle on a chalkboard) and position the hands at a particular time and ask me what time is that? But in doing so, say for 8:30, they would point the minute hand at the 6 but point the hour hand straight at the 8. Eventually I realized that on an actual clock, at 8:30 the hour hand would be halfway between 8 and 9. And at 8:45, it would point almost to the 9, no even close to the 8. Furthermore, the dummy clocks too often were made with the hour and minute hands too close the same length. So it was hard, in the above example, to tell 8:30 from 6:40.
Once I was able to get away from clock mock-ups and only deal with real ones, I had no problems.