Answer:
I'm not sure how they teach multiplying today, but when I was in school, it began with memorizing. We had to memorize the 'times tables' that had all of the numbers from zero to ten times all of the other numbers from zero to ten. Once you could name any of those from memory, we learned how to lay out a formula to multiply larger numbers, first by zero to ten, then by any larger number. The letter X was used as the symbol to tell you to multiply the numbers. When you start learning, we laid the problem out like this: You and two of your friends each have eleven marbles; how many marbles in total for the three of you:
11 marbles
x3 friends
33 total marbles
Or if each of you has twelve marbles:
12 marbles
x3 friends
36 total marbles
Once you've memorized the 'times tables' and learned to do this simple form of multiplying, you can ask how to multiply larger numbers. You will find a times table with some helpful hints on the link below.