I have found that most of my chinese friends including myself prefer to study maths and sciences rather than subjects rather than english and history. I am curious to know whether this is just my friends or whether the majority of China is just highly mathematically skilled?
My maths teacher also gave me an article on the differences between english and chinese university admission tests (related to maths) and the chinese one is bloody impossible.
Maybe we are naturally good at life sciences, while the english are good at english hence its their language to begin with.
i dont think chinese are especially good because they are chinese its all to do with upbringing chinese parents/culture emphasize education a lot and maths is something that is seen as vital
i'm Chinese and I hate Math! Had to do Calculus 1-4 in college ... and after I'm done with Cal4; I swear I'm not doing anymore math!
I'm Chinese and I dread math. I only took up to statistics and calculus (both required) and nothing beyond that. I am really the opposite of what you mentioned -- good at English and History, yet bad at Math and Sciences. As mentioned here already, it really depends on the persons upbringing. The ones I've known that are good at math are either naturally intelligent or that their parents forced them to learn Calculus in the 6th grade. The ones who immigrate from China are smart in math because they PROBABLY learned algebra in the 2nd grade, geometry in 3rd, calculus in 5th and so on (these are just guesses). Their education system is hella more stricter than the American system, it's not surprising that they're more knowledgable in math.
In general (there is always exception) it is harder for Chinese or Asian (who were not raised in an English speaking country) to compete with Caucasians on English Literature fields. As one posting said it is there native language after all. We compensate by working extra hard on science/math fields.
but it is a real sterotype, most people that i meet take for granted that i am better at math...and this happends to be true. but on the other hand i have a chinese friend that is really scared of maths and is vey talented in the languages,so it my little brother for that matter. so i think it depend totally on the individual.
i dont kno..i think prob cos my maths teacher likes to push my class thats why me and my friends (chinese) end up being good at it n are taking it for A Levels.. on the contrary..i also like english..even tho some of more chinese friends hate..i think its just a matter of preferences n maybe how we're brought up..n also depends if we can 'hack' the maths aswel..
yeh i remember seeing a programme about schools in china, they teach advanced stuff way before any children in western countries will learn it
Yup, another Maths hater here! I've probably scored a low grade record at my school and I was relieved I could drop the subject by the end of 3rd grade in highschool otherwise I would have never gotten my diploma. For my finals I just needed a minimum of 3.1 (out of 10 points) and you've already earned yourself 1 point if you showed up and can write your own name on the paper. -lol ...the first time I didn't pass as I scored an amazing 2.8 and the 2nd time was a 9.9 (! My first and last good grade for Maths ever) because I forgot 1 lousy detail. But to answer the original question: Guess Chinese put more value in money/business than arts/humanistik and language than other cultures, hence Chinese parents try to push their kids to do their best for Maths?