My blog views in December 2024 and January 2025

 

                                  75% of total views in January is from the US.

For a better view, click on the two images on this page.

From October to November, there were no less than 2,000 views per day from China. This was surprising as the Chinese from Mainland China don’t have access to overseas blogs. Before that, I hardly had any views from China. This could be because of my several posts on Pinyin taught wrongly in China. You may read one of several of my posts here. LINK.

Since November 2024 I started tweeting incessantly in response to Tweets by Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk. 

My discoveries

Now proven:

i.                    Since 2010 I wrote extensively that phonological awareness deficit cannot be the cause of dyslexia. Many researchers disagreed with me and asked me for evidence. Many blocked me. I persisted because of my experience and not because of some book theory. That theory was debunked in 2017.

 

ii.                  In 2016 when I saw the quote by Pamela Snow, I disagreed with it. She said ‘‘Reading (and its corollary, writing) is a human contrivance that has existed for only approximately 6,000 years. This recency of reading as a human skill is important, because 6,000 years is a mere blink in evolutionary terms, and the human brain has not developed specialized neural pathways to support a skill that is widely agreed to be essential to successful living in first-world developed economies and to the social and economic trajectories of developing nations.”

Unlocking the Potential of China's Dyslexic Students (Part 2)

 

This article was written in 2018 and the situation is still the same. It will never improve as China is barking up the wrong tree.

Here are extracts from Sixth Tone and my thoughts.

Sixth Tone:

How Dyslexia Remains Invisible in Chinese Schools

The need for recognition of the learning disability in China is pressing: An estimated 11 percent of the country’s primary school students have dyslexia, a total of about 10 million children, according to research published in 2016 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Despite this staggering number, there is little understanding and barely any support for dyslexic students on the Chinese mainland — the Weining center, located in southern tech hub Shenzhen, is one of few organizations dedicated to the cause. Dyslexia is well-known and well-researched in many Western countries, but awareness of the disability remains low across the Chinese mainland; without support, those affected are unable to compete in school, stifling their future potential.

Xiaogu could not understand why he struggled so much in something his peers could easily master. His aversion to schoolwork grew. Eventually, he stopped trying altogether, submitting blank exam papers even though he could have answered some of the questions.

Unlocking the Potential of China's Dyslexic Students (Part 1)

 

Global Times:

Since 2010, a campaign has been afoot in Chinese schools to improve children's literacy, as educators have warned that young people are increasingly having problems writing and reading Chinese due to their extensive use of electronic devices. LINK

South China Morning Post – 翻译成中文

 

South China Morning Post – 翻译成中文

A prelude to my post tomorrow

Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city's newspaper of record. Our teams span across Asia and the United States, working together to connect with news consumers around the world. We are committed to informing and inspiring through journalism of the highest standards.

They claim:

‘Our vision is to “Elevate Thought”, and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about Hong Kong, Greater China and Asia.”

Elevate thought? Let’s examine this in my next post.

Curious kids flushed out of schools in China

 

Recently, I posted an article stating that many curious, intelligent kids in China are being pushed out of school due to poor grades. This issue arises from the confusion created by teaching Pinyin using Bopomofo initial sounds. This situation mirrors what happens in the Western world, where letters are taught with extraneous sounds, causing many children to disengage from learning to read.

 

Here is a video to illustrate what I mean by extraneous sounds. [LINK]

Dyslexics and phonological processing

 

In my post about why many schools in China are teaching Pinyin using Bopomofo initial sounds, DrJulie Safri made a comment and this is a short extract that I decided to reply to separately from the rest of her comment.

DrJulie Safri

Good morning Luqman, let me clarify my statement.....Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental condition, meaning it originates from differences in how the brain processes language, particularly phonological information. However, it is important to note that these neurological differences don’t mean a person with dyslexia cannot learn to read, they just require tailored, evidence-based instruction that accommodates their unique learning needs.

My thoughts:

“Tailored, evidence-based instruction that accommodates their unique learning needs” is something I’ve frequently heard from many teachers providing intervention for dyslexic kids.

I don't know how the brain processes languages and would be grateful if DrJulie Safri can educate me and whoever else is interested. 

Why are many schools in China teaching Pinyin using bopomofo initial sounds?

 

I asked the above-captioned question on Quora.

Paul Denlinger, who has been speaking, reading, and writing Chinese since 1958 with an

M.A. in Linguistics (Uni Master's), University of St Andrews Graduated 1980 said:

‘I have no idea.’

A Chinese woman, on the other hand, answered differently. Before reading extracts of my discussion with the Chinese woman read the following Facebook post by Benedict Morais which is relevant.

Analysis of a video by 'Difference frames the world'

                                                           

                                                           

Here are extracts from a video I watched and my comments. LINK

From the video:

Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s the United States has become the only superpower militarily, technologically, and economically until the rise of China.

China’s 2025 strategy includes government support for research and development investment in promoting the development of indigenous Innovation.

中国与美国

 

This is a Google translation of my post, China vs the US

以下是我观看的视频摘录和我的评论。链接

来自视频：

自 20 世纪 90 年代初前苏联解体以来，美国一直是唯一的军事、技术和经济超级大国，直到中国崛起。

中国 2025 战略包括政府支持研发投资，以促进自主创新的发展。

CCP Education in Peril (Part 2) with Chinese translation

 

                                                                           Xi Jinping

 

向下滚动查看中文翻译

Here is a discussion on Quora that confirms my findings that Pinyin is taught wrongly. This explains why many kids in China and Malaysia today can’t read in Pinyin. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to comment.

 

Luqman Michel · Nov 3

 

Unfortunately, too many Chinese teachers from China are messing up Pinyin by teaching it wrongly. Here are two of many examples. Teachers from China screwing up Pinyin. LINK, LINK

CCP education in peril (Part 1)

Education remains a priority of nations. The development of any society is based on its education system.

In my recent post, Maggie Chiang asked: ‘Is there a fundamental issue of Education?’

In my post about the above on Facebook, a friend said that China is too busy stealing and copying and that it has no time for its research and development.

I would agree with him. I have done research on the fundamental issue of education in China. Pinyin is taught wrongly not only in China but the Chinese have corrupted the teachers in Sabah too. I have reported this to authorities in China and they have not responded. LINK

Dyslexia in China (Part 4)

 

Maggie Chiang:

Let's be real, China was known in the world for Scholars, thinkers, philosophers, and developers like this in the past Century or two. China doesn't have many developments I guess but before that like the compass, the watch the paper, and fireworks, these are like Innovations. Where did it go? Why isn't China winning any Nobel Prizes? Why is China far behind in Innovations? Is there a fundamental issue of Education?

Dyslexia in China (Part 3)

 

This is a continuation of my post yesterday. LINK

Here are the paragraphs highlighted in red in yesterday’s post.

As Maggie pointed out, if you cannot achieve the best grades, you are cast out.

Further, students who performed poorly in Pinyin reading tended to perform poorly in future reading comprehension tests.

Previous evidence showed that poor readers in higher grades (e.g. Grade 4) suffer more from Pinyin reading difficulties than normal readers (Yin and Weekes, 2003; Ding et al., 2015).

The Pinyin phonetic symbols are continuously presented alongside Chinese characters in textbooks until Grade 3 and are provided only when new characters are introduced.

Dyslexia in China (Part 2)

 

                                            Looking without seeing- the researchers of the 

                                               Pilot project below looked but did not see.

                                    

This is a continuation of my post yesterday. LINK

This is an important topic and I have highlighted sentences I want to elaborate on in my next post.

Dyslexia in China (Part 1)

 

I listened to an interesting Dialogue between Martin Bloomfield and Maggie Chiang, who translated the book The Dyslexic Advantage into Chinese. LINK

Maggie Chiang:

The Chinese language uses pictograms so dyslexia and symbols usually go hand in hand. A lot of the time these individuals might struggle in mathematics, chemistry, physics, or English.

My book ‘Teach Your Child to Read’ in China

                                                                  46053882386 抖音
 

My book has now reached the shores of China.

An adult learner has received my book and learning to read in English.

He is now posting the lessons on Douyin.

Douyin is China's most downloaded video-sharing platform feeding light-hearted content to its 400 million daily viewers.

Since Douyin is only available in Mandarin Chinese, most non-Chinese people don't use it and can't understand what content is being posted.

Anyone in China who wants to learn English please visit my student's Douyin.

46053882386 抖音.

Pinyin taught wrongly in China

 

Here is a discussion on Quora that confirms my findings that Pinyin is taught wrongly. This explains why many kids in China and Malaysia today can’t read in Pinyin. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to comment.

Luqman Michel · Nov 3

Unfortunately, too many Chinese teachers from China are messing up Pinyin by teaching it wrongly. Here is one of many examples. Teachers from China screwing up Pinyin. LINK

Swallowing whole date - 囫囵吞枣

 

Yesterday, a few of my friends and I gathered for a get-together during dinner. The food and company were excellent.

During the discussion, I mentioned that many Chinese teachers are teaching Pinyin wrongly causing many kids to shut down/disengage from learning to read.

One of my friends quickly retorted that this statement was uncalled for. We had a healthy discussion on this matter.

PRC politician Xu Xudong (徐旭東/徐旭东) on Pinyin

 

A PRC politician wants schools to spend more time teaching Pinyin.

You may read the full article here.

The following are extracts and my comments.

Xu Xudong (徐旭東/徐旭东), a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a professor at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, is advocating that public schools in China allocate substantially more time to the teaching of Hanyu Pinyin.