Are all Chinese people good at math?
所有的中国人都擅长数学吗?
重点摘要：
The traditional nature of family throughout much of Asia, whereby children (or in this case, the child) care for their parents in old age, means that parents have a strong self-interest in ensuring that their child does well in school – so that he can later earn enough to support them.
亚洲大部分地区传统的家庭，是孩子照顾他们年老的父母，这意味着父母在确保他们的孩子在学校表现良好方面有着强烈的自我利益，这样孩子以后就能挣到足够的钱来养活他们。
Kevin D. Aslan, Entrepreneur, Author, Podcaster
企业家，作家，播客
No, but they have a small advantage that can turn into a big one: their language.
不，但他们有一个小优势，可以变成一个大优势:他们的语言。
In Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, the Story of Success, he discusses how a small advantage at the start can lead to a huge one down the line. The kid born right after the hockey cut-off date will be a little bit older, and therefore bigger, than a lot of his peers. Eventually, that small advantage means that he makes the team more often, gets selected into higher and higher leagues and teams, until you end up with a majority of Canadian hockey players born in the first few months of the year.
在马尔科姆•格拉德威尔(Malcolm Gladwell)的《成功的故事》(the Story of Success)一书中，他探讨了如何从一开始的小优势，发展成日后的巨大优势。在曲棍球比赛截止日期之后出生的孩子会比他的同龄人大一点，因此也会比他们的同龄人大一些。最终，这个小小的优势意味着他能更频繁地加入球队，被选入越来越高的联赛和球队，直到大多数加拿大曲棍球运动员都出生在一年的头几个月。
A small advantage at the start can compound, until it becomes a crushing one.
一开始的小优势可以叠加，直到变成毁灭性的优势。
Now when it comes to math, the Chinese language is RIDICULOUSLY logical. And I'm comparing to the other end of the spectrum, France, where the word for 97 is "four-twenty-seventeen". For China, 97 is 九十七 － literally nine, ten, seven - nine tens and a seven. 583 is five, hundred, eight, ten, three. Five hundreds, eight tens, and three. And so on and so forth (until you get to 100,000 where it gets slightly more complicated)
现在说到数学，中文的逻辑就荒谬了。我在和另一端的法国做比较，法国97的单词是"4-twenty - 17,97"。对于中国来说,97年是九十七,九,十,7 - 9和7。583是5百8十3。500, 8个10，和3。以此类推(直到达到100,000时，情况变得稍微复杂一些)
You only need to know 13 characters to count up to 99,999! And people say Chinese is hard ^^
你只需要知道13个字符就可以数到99,999!人们说中文很难学
Understanding how the numbers work suddenly becomes a lot easier - it's IN THE LANGUAGE. Chinese provides the explanation.
突然间，理解这些数字是如何工作的就变得容易多了——这就是语言。中文给出了解释。
And this is even more apparent when it comes to fractions. Five seventeenths? Eight twelfths? How many kids have started to cry because they didn't understand fractions?
当涉及到分数时，这一点更加明显。5/17吗?8/12吗?有多少孩子因为不懂分数而开始哭泣?
Meanwhile, in Chinese 8/12ths would be 十二分之八 － from 12 pieces, take eight. Again, the language itself makes it easier to understand a complex mathematical concept.
与此同时,在中国8/12ths十二分之八——从12件,8。同样，语言本身使理解复杂的数学概念变得更容易。
Now I'm not saying that all Chinese people are great at math. But I am saying that, perhaps, the logical nature of their language allows them to have a small step up at the start.
我并不是说所有的中国人都擅长数学。但我想说的是，也许他们语言的逻辑性让他们在一开始就迈出了一小步。
And that can compound into incredible results.
这就会产生令人难以置信的结果。
Edit: OK, after fifty million comments of: "but I'm Chinese and I'm not good at math" or "But [insert nationality] is great at math" let me attempt to clarify this post.
再次编辑：好的，在5000万条评论之后:"但是我是中国人，我不擅长数学"或"但是(插入国籍)数学很棒"，让我试着澄清这篇文章。
This does not mean EVERY SINGLE CHINESE automatically becomes great at math. Or the best at math. All it does is give a small helping factor at the start. On the scale of an average population, I would say this would translate into a slight boost in the AVERAGE level. Again, not talking about extremes here.
这并不意味着每个中国人都会自然而然地在数学上变得伟大。或者数学最好的。它所做的只是在开始时提供一个小的帮助因素。就平均人口规模而言，我认为这将转化为平均水平的小幅提升。再说一次，这里不讨论极端情况。
Obviously, this is only one of many factors at play. The fact that SE Asian immigrants tend to adopt cultural codes of success and pass them on to their children (think the piano and the violin) definitely plays a role. Cultural choices also play - the French EXCEL at fundamental math, because math is seen as the royal choice when it comes to school, and compared to Anglo-Saxons, we put a higher value on fundamental, but not immediately applicable, research. The average level of the math population is not necessarily higher though - but there's a very high variance.
显然，这只是众多因素中的一个。事实上，东南亚移民倾向于采用成功的文化准则，并将其传递给他们的孩子(想想钢琴和小提琴)，这一点无疑发挥了作用。文化选择也很重要——法国人擅长基础数学，因为数学在学校里被视为王室的选择，与盎格鲁-撒克逊人相比，我们更重视基础研究，但不是立即适用的研究。数学群体的平均水平并不一定高，但是有一个非常高的方差。
Finally - the number of characters is for oral, not written. In English we have eleven, twelve, thirteen, …, nineteen, twenty, thirty, … ninety - that are additional levels of complexity and completely non-intuitive (compared to Chinese).
最后，字符的数量是口头的，而不是书面的。在英语中，我们有11、12、13、……、19、20、30、……相对于中文，复杂而不直观。
Kim Iskyan, Co-Founder & Publisher, Stansberry Churchouse Research
Stansberry Churchouse Research联合创始人兼出版商
There's an old cliché of a "hard-working Asian student."
有句老话叫"勤奋的亚洲学生"。
This reputation for hard work is the culmination of China's long tradition of scholarship, along with intense competition and an overwhelming demand for academic excellence.
这种努力学习的声誉是中国悠久的学术传统的顶峰，伴随着激烈的竞争和对卓越学术的强烈要求。
Just take a look at how intense China's National College Entrance Examination is…
看看中国的高考有多激烈吧……
Students entering test examination buildings must use fingerprint and iris-matching equipment to verify their identities under the watchful eyes of security guards. Meanwhile, drones hover above and scans for radio signals sent in or out.
进入考场的考生必须在保安人员的严密监视下，使用指纹和虹膜匹配设备进行身份验证。与此同时，无人机盘旋在上空，扫描进出的无线电信号。
The "National Examination" was central to China's feudal history prior to the nationalist revolution. Traditionally, to succeed in China, a man (women were not allowed) must score highly in the national exam. The best performers would be trained to become local officials working for the government.
古时候，要想在中国取得成功，一个男人(女人是不允许的)必须在全国考试中取得高分。最优秀的员工将接受培训，成为政府的地方官员。
The concept of "Sheng Guan Fock Choi" is deeply-rooted in China's DNA. It means "to be promoted in the ranks of the government and become wealthy", and it has influenced Chinese culture for millennia. Academic achievement is viewed as an ingredient of a successful and complete life.
它的意思是"升官发财"，它已经影响了中国几千年的文化。学术成就被认为是成功和完整人生的组成部分。
Getting into the best universities is competitive in any country. But it reaches a different dimension in China. The country's one-child policy (which was only abandoned in January 2016) means that parents are even more intensely focused on ensuring that their only child excels and is part of China's growing middle class. Education is critical to that objective.
但它在中国达到了一个不同的层面。中国的独生子女政策(2016年1月才被废除)意味着，父母们更加专注于确保独生子女出类拔萃，成为中国不断壮大的中产阶级的一部分。教育是实现这一目标的关键。
The traditional nature of family throughout much of Asia, whereby children (or in this case, the child) care for their parents in old age, means that parents have a strong self-interest in ensuring that their child does well in school – so that he can later earn enough to support them. Additionally, more so than in many other countries, the college a Chinese student attends has an immediate impact on career and even marriage prospects.
亚洲大部分地区传统的家庭，是孩子照顾他们年老的父母，这意味着父母在确保他们的孩子在学校表现良好方面有着强烈的自我利益，这样孩子以后就能挣到足够的钱来养活他们。此外，与其他许多国家相比，中国学生就读的大学对他们的职业生涯甚至婚姻前景有着直接的影响。
And China's macroeconomic backdrop is slowly becoming less supportive for young people. The gradual slowing of the Chinese economy has made the job market more challenging. Additionally, the slow but steady shift of the focus of the economy away from manufacturing and towards services means that the definition of a well-paying job is rapidly changing. Moving up the socioeconomic ladder is increasingly challenging in China.
中国的宏观经济背景对年轻人的支持也在慢慢减弱。中国经济的逐渐放缓使就业市场更具挑战性。此外，经济重心从制造业向服务业缓慢而稳定地转移，意味着高薪工作的定义正在迅速改变。在中国，提升社会经济地位的难度越来越大。
As a result, Chinese families will go to great lengths – and spend much of their wealth – to improve their child's educational preparation, and thus his chances of a successful (and well-paying) life. Also, people already in the workforce or close to joining it are under heightened pressure to have practical and applicable skills.
因此，中国家庭将竭尽全力——并花费大量财富——改善孩子的教育准备，从而提高他过上成功(和高薪)生活的机会。此外，已经进入职场或即将加入职场的人面临着更大的压力，要求他们具备实用的技能。
The pressure starts in kindergarten. Parents scramble to enrol their children in the best pre-schools, which in turn lead to the best middle and high schools. This has created an educational arms race as parents spend their income on private education to give their children a better shot at the top universities. For example, there are now more private than public kindergartens in China, according to consultants McKinsey & Company.
压力始于幼儿园。家长们争先恐后地让他们的孩子进入最好的幼儿园，这反过来又导致了最好的初中和高中。这就造成了一场教育军备竞赛，家长们把他们的收入花在私立教育上，以便让孩子更好地进入顶尖大学。例如，咨询公司麦肯锡(McKinsey & Company)的数据显示，目前中国私立幼儿园的数量超过了公立幼儿园。
So Asian societies are notoriously competitive, and China is no different. Parents in Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China send their children for extra tuition after school. The "fear of falling behind" goes hand-in-hand with the pride of "getting ahead". The two work together to create a sense that life is a competition.
因此，亚洲社会的竞争是出了名的激烈，中国也不例外。新加坡、日本、韩国、香港和中国内地的家长放学后送孩子去补习。"害怕落后"与"领先"的自豪是并驾齐驱的。这两个人一起努力创造出一种生活就是一场竞争的感觉。
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