I took an algebra class when I started homeschooling my children. I am very linguistic and very scared of math. The teacher, when we met in her office, had me diagram the math sentences so that I realized each sign was just a verb and told me to do something. Then, instead of just learning the name of the symbol, she had me learn the action involved and say it when I read the sentence. I had always divided when I saw a percent sign, because a percentage of something is a part of it. When she taught me to use the word multiple, the whole process suddenly made sense. So for me, it was a matter of translating it into words, and sometimes even having to rewrite the numbers and symbols into words that made sense to me. I just don't think in symbols. Story problems were easier, because they didn't start with any symbols.
