Are times tables math or memory?

Most parents think of times tables as mathematics. Brain research says otherwise — and the distinction has direct implications for how children should practice and how quickly they can improve.

What the research says

Research by Dehaene & Cohen (1997) established the “triple-code model” of arithmetic: times table retrieval activates the language regions of the brain — the same areas used to recall words, phrases, and verbal sequences. This is distinct from the mathematical reasoning areas, which activate for calculation but not for automatic fact recall. A subsequent brain-imaging study by Dehaene and colleagues published in Science (1999) confirmed that exact arithmetic — including times tables — is acquired in a language-specific format and transfers poorly to a different language, unlike approximate numerical reasoning which is language-independent.

A 2024 brain-imaging study by Cerda and colleagues provided complementary evidence: in proficient bilingual adults, smaller multiplication facts recruited the left temporal and frontal regions associated with verbal memory — the language areas of the brain, not the mathematical ones. The broader literature on bilingual arithmetic shows that multiplication facts are typically processed more fluently in the language of learning, further confirming their verbal rather than mathematical nature.

What this means in practice

Treating times tables as a math problem to be solved — or teaching them through mathematical reasoning alone — misses how they’re actually stored. Methods that engage verbal memory — saying answers out loud, using retrieval rather than calculation — are more effective precisely because they match the brain’s storage mechanism.

Try this

• Encourage your child to say the full fact out loud: “six times eight is forty-eight” — not just the answer. This reinforces the verbal memory trace.
• Don’t worry if your child can’t explain how they know an answer. Automatic recall feels different from calculation — and that’s the goal.
• If your child switches languages when answering, that’s a sign the memory is in their stronger language. Consider practicing in both.

Last reviewed: 2026-08-01