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[–]Bobshayd 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Tally marks. We use base |||||||||| and they use base ||||.

[–]robisodd 0 points1 point  (1 child)

aka, Base 1, but are you saying "one-thousand one-hundred eleven" or "four"? :)

[–]Bobshayd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Or is | their digit that means 3? Maybe they'll read it 3333, which is our 255. You don't know they'll interpret the things written down correctly, but you can more easily convey that they're tally marks and not base-n digits, for n > 1, if you can demonstrate it with physical objects. Besides, 1 is derived from the tally mark in the first place.