This paper suggests that many adult learners lack the skill of reading and writing larger numbers. Two Ovid computer searches of the ERIC (Educational Resources and Information Center) database are used to provide the background research. Issues in and teaching methods of reading and writing larger numbers, particularly a language-symbol approach, are discussed. The paper finds that place value concepts are not essential to reading and writing numbers, and difficulty with those concepts should not prevent acquisition of reading and writing larger numbers in the hundreds of thousands, millions, and billions. Anyone who correctly reads and writes all of the numbers 0 to 999 can quickly and easily build on those skills to master numbers in the billions and trillions. (ASK)