Questions by Suri Charles and my responses

 

“Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.” Carl Jung

 

Suri Charles

Luqman Michel You’ve mentioned that the children you came across and/or worked with couldn’t read because they 'shut down,' yet you also stated that you taught 80 dyslexic children from 2004 to 2019.

1. How do you reconcile these two positions?

2. Are you suggesting that these 80 children had both emotional or psychological shutdowns as well as dyslexia, or were they misdiagnosed as dyslexic?

The Dyslexia Debate – A Re-examination

 

 

Advocates for dyslexia persist in asserting that individuals with dyslexia face a literacy issue. How stupid does one have to be to believe this nonsense?

Those who benefit from this narrative often block me on social media.

 

Consider this for a moment:

How did David Chalk manage to read in just 11 days at the age of 62?

Why was he unable to read until then?

What led David Corcoran and Tom Cruise to leave school as functional illiterates?

How did they learn to read after their formal education ended?

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

My Response to Savannah's Comment

                                                                Savannah Jackson NGO

'Great work requires being stubborn about your goals but flexible about your methods. The best people I know stick relentlessly to what they want to achieve, but quickly adapt how they'll achieve it when they see a better way. Most people do the opposite - they cling to their methods even when better options appear.'

I recently posted an article quoting Siegfried Engelmann's statement that there is a procedure for teaching reading that can reach virtually 100% of children. Savannah, a teacher, responded with her own experience:

The South China Morning Post - Disinformation

 

I read an article in The South China Morning Post entitled ‘Zhuyin sounds key to children learning Mandarin as a second language.’ LINK

I emailed South China Morning Post as follows:

Luqman Michel <luqmanmichel@gmail.com>

Dec 15, 2024, 10:22 AM

Dear Sir,

I read an article in your papers.

It said the following:

‘However, no method is better than the other, and – more importantly – there is never a perfect method to learn Mandarin. Even so, there is always a perfect combination that suits your child’s Mandarin learning journey.’

 

What combination is the author talking about?

Thank you and kind regards,

Luqman Michel

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.

The human mind – in response to DrJulie Safri’s comment

 

The following comment is an example of what Charlie Munger said, ‘The human mind is like the human egg.’ Once a sperm has entered an ovum, a membrane will be formed and no further sperm can enter.

Here is a comment on my post on 'Why many schools in China are teaching Pinyin using bopomofo initial sounds?' LINK

I have replied to this comment on Facebook and this is for posterity.

Dictums (Part 2) (Diktum (Bahagian 2)

 

(Untuk terjemahan bahasa melayu tatal ke bawah)

4. The four basic types of people:

Cipolla categorizes individuals into:

Helpless people, who harm themselves while benefiting others.

Bandits, who benefit themselves at the expense of others.

Intelligent people, who benefit both themselves and others.

Stupid people, who harm both themselves and others.

5. Stupidity defies logic:

Rational reasoning cannot explain the actions of stupid individuals. Their behaviour often defies analysis, making them frustrating and challenging to address.

We had a procedure for sounding it out that would reach virtually 100 percent of the kids (Siegfried Engelmann)

                                                      

More than 20 years ago the researchers of the Children of the Code were aware that unvoiced sounds should be unvoiced.

The following is an extract from an interview of Siegfried Engelmann conducted by David Boulton.

Siegfried Engelmann:

The mistakes the kids made guided us to see that we had something missing. For instance, at first, we had them sound out words traditionally. We never permitted "ch-aa-tah” for chat. Unvoiced sounds were unvoiced -- "ch-a-t."

So now we had precise corrections related to what they had learned earlier. We had a procedure for sounding it out that would reach virtually 100 percent of the kids. So, we could teach even really low performers now to take the first step on the ladder. Then they can follow the entire sequence and they can learn at a rate far faster than would have been anticipated.

See what Dr. Richard Selznick and Dr. David Kilpatrick said on this matter. LINK

Dictums (Part 1) (Diktum 1)

 

(Sila lihat di bawah untuk terjemahan Bahasa Melayu)

Carlo M. Cipolla's "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" offers thought-provoking insights into human behaviour and its impact on society. Here are 10 wonderful lessons derived from the essay.

My friend, Harold Rozario, posted the above on Facebook and commented, ‘Read numbers 7 and 9 again. Do you recognize it in your environment?’

Let’s look at the remaining 8 while I think a little more on 7 and 9. 

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]

Neurodivergent kids

 

These are from a video I watched this morning. LINK 

From the video:

At minute 49: Neurodivergent kids describe someone whose brain works differently and not defectively.

At minute 1.14: There are certain areas that neurodiversity will take you to the level of excellence. We need neurodiversity people because they are the original thinkers. They are the individuals who can find answers to what no one else can.

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. 

Asking for my credentials.

 

I made a comment on Facebook stating that I have worked in the accounting and auditing field for most of my adult life. Following that, I received a comment from Suri Charles, who is aware of my previous experience teaching dyslexic children before transitioning to teaching their parents.