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I am just going to give you one example. At least 11 out of the last 15 spelling bee champions are of asian descent[1]. I don't know about changing the educatio

I am just going to give you one example. At least 11 out of the last 15 spelling bee champions are of asian descent[1]. I don't know about changing the education system. I actually don't agree with the author of the original article but to answer your question, the innovation that US is so proud of has major contribution from Aisans also and is not something you can attribute entirely to Americans. The reason there is so much innovation could also be due to the fact that US is a developed county with abundant resources and most asian countries are not. When you don't have to worry about pollution, population, food etc, the mind gets freed up to think about innovation and creativity. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scripps_National_Spelling_Bee_champions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scripps_National_Spelli...

jff 12y ago
I used to do the spelling bee thing. I did ok, would generally make it from my school -> local -> regional, but not beyond that. That's because I was good at spelling from all my reading, but I didn't study for the bee at all. Now, the kids who did really well at the spelling bee, they didn't have time to read. Their moms were making them spend 3 hours a night with the little spelling bee booklet, learning how to spell every possible word that could be asked, and forcing themselves into the rhythm: "'Rote'. May I have the language of origin? 'Rote'. Can you use the word in a sentence? 'Rote'. May I have the definition? 'Rote'. R-O-T-E". (Hilariously, I once watched a girl do the whole routine over the word "talons", even getting "the eagle had sharp talons" as the sentence, then spelling T-A-L-E-N-T-S. Her mom made a fuss over microphone placement and got her back into the round) Is this a worthwhile thing to do? What useful things does this method teach? Spelling is extremely good, but like I said I'm pretty good at spelling because I read a lot. Maybe I could have been the Spelling Bee Champion if instead of reading, I'd memorized the entire word list. Then I would be extremely good at spelling "prestidigitation", that's for sure.
- vaishaksuresh 12y ago
  Spelling bee was just an example of what people achieve with persistent effort. I understand the use of the said skill is debatable. The key is that most asian families enforce rules on kids and the kids do well in their life. Asian families set higher expectations and do not pander to their kid's childish desire to play minecraft or chop wood. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/08/forget-tiger-moms-asian-american-students-succeed-because-its-expected-say-scholars/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/08...

jff 12y ago

I used to do the spelling bee thing. I did ok, would generally make it from my school -> local -> regional, but not beyond that. That's because I was good at spelling from all my reading, but I didn't study for the bee at all. Now, the kids who did really well at the spelling bee, they didn't have time to read. Their moms were making them spend 3 hours a night with the little spelling bee booklet, learning how to spell every possible word that could be asked, and forcing themselves into the rhythm: "'Rote'. May I have the language of origin? 'Rote'. Can you use the word in a sentence? 'Rote'. May I have the definition? 'Rote'. R-O-T-E". (Hilariously, I once watched a girl do the whole routine over the word "talons", even getting "the eagle had sharp talons" as the sentence, then spelling T-A-L-E-N-T-S. Her mom made a fuss over microphone placement and got her back into the round) Is this a worthwhile thing to do? What useful things does this method teach? Spelling is extremely good, but like I said I'm pretty good at spelling because I read a lot. Maybe I could have been the Spelling Bee Champion if instead of reading, I'd memorized the entire word list. Then I would be extremely good at spelling "prestidigitation", that's for sure.

vaishaksuresh 12y ago
Spelling bee was just an example of what people achieve with persistent effort. I understand the use of the said skill is debatable. The key is that most asian families enforce rules on kids and the kids do well in their life. Asian families set higher expectations and do not pander to their kid's childish desire to play minecraft or chop wood. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/08/forget-tiger-moms-asian-american-students-succeed-because-its-expected-say-scholars/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/08...