Why are Asians better at mathematics than the rest?

The curiosity was aroused by a little picture. At first glance, the people in the picture seemed to be the passengers of a Chinese fleet, a couple of subcontinental people were stunned, then they had to correct the mistake by looking at the flag in front, they were actually representing the United States!

Curiosity was satisfied just by surfing the internet for a while. It is not the fault of this writer that at first glance it seems to be a Chinese group, their ancestors have their roots in China. The two who were mistaken for subcontinental are also of Indian descent. The 30,000 American students who won the chance to represent the United States at the 59th edition of the International Mathematical Olympiad in Romania won 115 countries.

The key question then is, why are American-born American students lagging behind Asian-American students? China has been named Asia's representative 20 times at the top of the medal tally in the latest 31st edition of the Maths Olympiad, or Singapore was named the best country to teach mathematics in a test conducted in 2016 among 600,000 students worldwide. , Where is the secret of such triumph of Asians? '

The question is, of course, yours as well as this author, and we have the famous author Malcolm Gladwell on our team. The author is trying to tell you the reasons by capitalizing on his widely read book 'Outlayers' and accompanying some more research.

Asia's most effective education system

Even a few days ago, memorization was being strongly discouraged in the countries of the western world. According to Joe Boiler, professor of mathematics at Stanford University,

"The more we emphasize memorization, the more reluctant students will be to think about numbers, the less their sense of numbers will increase."

In order to increase the interest of soft-spoken children in learning, Western countries are emphasizing on what subjects students want to know. That is, the curriculum will be decided by the students, the teacher will only come to the class to help him a little. In contrast, China and Japan still adhere to that traditional method of teaching. In China, teachers still enter the classroom and pick up chalk-dusters, and students become enchanted listeners. The practice of memorizing the names of Japanese children begins at the age of seven or eight. This namata, which is learned by reciting rhymes, is stored in the brain for life. They also spend about three hours a week on mathematics education to achieve the ability to calculate the multiplication of three or four numbers without a calculator.

Research shows that this conservative Sino-Japanese education system is more productive than the modern British-American education system. They claim that this is why Chinese students are getting at least 30 percent higher marks than British children.

Since, Chinese numbers are easy to say

Once you try to read these numbers word for word: 4, 6, 5, 3, 9, 7, 8. This time look at the other side and take 20 seconds and try to assimilate the numbers according to the rules. 20 seconds later, say it again! If you study English, you have a 50 percent chance of success. But if you try to memorize the same numbers in Mandarin (the main language of China), rest assured, you will succeed almost 100 percent of the time.

The numbers are the same, but why the difference? Because the human-brain type is such that the loops of that number are best preserved, which can be said in two seconds. In English, 4, 6, 5, 3, 9, 7, 8 inevitably takes more than two seconds. Because, each of the words 'eight', 'five', 'seven', 'nine' takes about 0.33 seconds to pronounce. In Mandarin, on the other hand, numbers are smaller (for example: 4 is called 'si' by the Chinese, 6 is called 'qi'), so most of the numbers can be pronounced in less than 0.25 seconds. That is why the English, not the Chinese, suffer as much as they do remembering the numbers mentioned earlier.

That is, we can say that the relation of memorization to the ease of pronunciation is proportional. Because the Chinese pronunciation is easy, they can remember numbers better than the English.

Eleven means ten-one

Looking at the naming system of numbers, it is clear that there is a big difference between Asians and Westerners. In English we say, sixteen (16), seventeen (16), eighteen (18), or nineteen (19). If someone who is just learning English thinks that the previous numbers will be Wantin (11), Tutin (12), Thritin (13), he cannot be blamed for one. But as he reads, he finds out that Vantin has to call him Eleven, Tutin to Twelve, and Thritin to Thirteen. Again, when he goes to read forty or sixty, he may think that the proximity of the numbers is probably forty (four) or sixty (six). The same statement applies to twenty, thirty or fifty, as anyone sitting at the first reading might think সংখ্যা the numbers are related to two (two), three (three) and five (five), respectively. In fact, the opposite is true.

To solve this problem, in the numbers above twenty, the English used to pronounce the number of the house of the decade before (eg: 21 means twenty-one), but in the number of 'teens' they used to pronounce the number of the house of the unit before (14 is called fortin). All in all, the process of learning numbers in English is becoming very complicated. In contrast, Chinese speakers have no problem. They learn that eleven means ten-one, twelve means ten-two, twenty-four means two-ten-four.

For this simplification of number pronunciation, Chinese children learn to count long before Americans. One study found that a four-year-old Chinese boy could count to forty, while an American child of the same age learned to count only fifteen, and by the time he reached forty, most Americans had reached the age of five.

Because of this difference in naming numbers, Chinese children have an advantage over Americans in addition or subtraction. If a seven-year-old American is asked to add twenty-two to thirty-seven without a notebook-pen, he first has to sort the numbers inside his head (36 and 22). Only then can he concentrate on adding. In contrast, if you ask a Chinese student of the same age to add two-ten-two with three-ten-seven, you will get the answer much faster than the American.

The vastness may not be a matter-of-fact matter. But Malcolm Gladwell says that with this small advantage of naming numbers, Chinese or Asian students advance in basic mathematics education for about two years.

Clarity of fractions

In most cases, most American students lose interest in math education as they move into third or fourth grade. According to Karen Fujon, a psychologist at Northwestern University, the reason behind this loss of interest is fractions.

In Bengali what we call three-fifths, in English it becomes three-fifths. But the Chinese explain the same thing, in the sentence 'take three out of five pieces'. In Fujon's eyes,

"This difference in the expression of fractions makes the vision of looking at mathematics completely different. Instead of just memorizing, fractions can be made understandable in this way of expression."

Because, Asians produce rice

Surprising but true, there is also a relationship between rice production and math skills, and the relationship is quite deep. According to anthropologist Francisca Brar, the whole process of rice production demands ultimate agricultural efficiency. The land has to be cultivated with skillful hands, water has to be given enough, weeds have to be raised according to the rules Historically, the amount of manual labor of paddy farmers is much higher than that of any other farmer.

Asians, especially the Chinese, being a rice-dominated nation, have to spend the winter cultivating rice. Even in that bone-chilling winter, before the sun rises, they have to reach the fields and work hard to reap the harvest. In the short leisure time that comes after paddy cultivation in a year, he does not even sit at that time in search of an alternative livelihood. In contrast, Europeans spend a long period of time hibernating from November to March, during which time they do not have a particular job, this trend of laziness is passed down from generation to generation.

According to an official associated with the Mathematical Olympiad, they can almost accurately guess who will perform best in the Olympiad without presenting any mathematical problems to the examinees. He said in the light of his experience, the countries that are traditionally hardworking and more focused on trying than fruit, are more likely to win gold medals at the end of the day.

The truth of their philosophy is also found by analyzing the results of 'TIMMS' test and Maths Olympiad. China, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong or South Korea; These countries are at the top of the list.

And, this is where the issue of paddy production comes to the fore. Rice production is having a huge impact on the economies of each of these countries, with each of these East Asian countries believing in the phrase, 'You can't bring prosperity to your family unless you get up 360 days a year before sunrise.' Rice production requires ultimate concentration, diligence and hard work. The same qualities are needed to solve the problem of Maths Olympiad or to answer the long question paper of 'TIMMS' exam.

Maybe it's not too much trouble to match two or four.

Summer vacations are short in Asian schools

Taking this argument a little too seriously, the Americans introduced long summer vacations in their schools and colleges, even if the land loses its natural fertility if not left vacant for some time during the year. An analysis of the academic years in several countries shows that the academic year in the United States lasts only 160 days, in South Korea it increases to 40 more days, and in the United States the difference with Japan is 60 days.

Because of this short-lived academic year, American teachers have had to finish the course in a hurry. Students have to choose the 'sink-and-swim' method without taking into account what they did not understand in the lesson. The division among the students also becomes clear. The one who understands quickly, the molasses of success is in his destiny. One study found that the difference between a child from a poor family and a child from a poor family was 52.46 points due to the long summer vacation. Because, at that time of closure, the rich Dulal does not get the benefit of education, but the benefit of the child of a poor family.

The results of the study are not inaccurate, as is the case with Kip School, which is responsible for educating poor students in the United States. By reducing the scope of summer vacations, they emphasized continuous improvement. The results matched hand-in-hand, with 90 percent of Kip School students now getting more than 84-percent marks in math or science. As a result, they are also getting the opportunity to study in all the reputed high schools with scholarships or stipends. The reason for Asian students to excel in mathematics is the lack of summer vacations.A paddy farmer; Image credit: Getty Images

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize the differences, there's no big change with the rest of the world. Yet it is in this subtle, subtle change that Asians are showing their superiority in mathematics and science. 'Small grains of sand, drop by drop water; Builds continents, seas abysmal; The two lines were most probably written by the poet with the East Asian countries in mind.