Most people memorise times tables as 100 unrelated facts, which is exhausting. In reality each table has a pattern, and once you see it, you barely have to memorise anything. Here's how to learn them the efficient way.
Those four alone cover a huge chunk of the grid, and they're all pattern, not memory.
Hold up all ten fingers. To work out 9 × 4, bend down your 4th finger from the left. Fingers to the left of the bend are the tens (3), fingers to the right are the ones (6): the answer is 36. It works for 9 × 1 through 9 × 10. There's also a shortcut without fingers: for 9 × n, the tens digit is (n − 1) and the two digits always add up to 9. So 9 × 7 → tens digit 6, and 6 + 3 = 9, giving 63.
You don't need separate tables for every even number. The four-times table is just the two-times table doubled (4 × 7 = double of 14 = 28). The eight-times table is the four-times doubled again. The six-times table is the three-times doubled. Learn to double smoothly and three "hard" tables come free.
3 × 8 equals 8 × 3. That instantly halves how many facts you actually have to learn — if you know one order, you know the other.For a fact you haven't drilled, split it. 7 × 13 is 7 × 10 plus 7 × 3 = 70 + 21 = 91. 6 × 14 is 6 × 10 plus 6 × 4 = 84. This decomposition means you can reach any product from the simple facts you already own.
After the patterns above, only a small handful of "middle" facts remain — things like 6 × 7, 7 × 8 and 6 × 8. Drill just those. 7 × 8 = 56 even has a memory hook: 5, 6, 7, 8 — "56 = 7 × 8." Focusing your memory on the few genuinely tricky facts is far more efficient than grinding the whole grid.
Flashcards work, but they're dull, and boredom kills practice. A faster, more enjoyable approach is short daily reps where multiplication rounds are mixed in with everything else. In MathLeap, the × operation unlocks as you progress and keeps reappearing, so your tables get rehearsed naturally. Pair this with the mental math tips and see all our guides.