A childhood belief about counting

[i went to a french school, btw]
When I was in 1st and 2nd grades, I was convinced that however you said the numbers, was how they should be written, as in, the number twenty-two, should be written 202 [20-2]
if you wanted to write 22, you should say two-two.

I was adament that this is how it was, and would throw crying fits when my teacher tried to tell me otherwise.