Why Are Chinese People Good at Math? - Why Chinese (E4)

It’s a common stereotype peddled by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and others: Chinese people are good at math. Where does this reputation come from? Is it more than just an impression? In this episode of “Why Chinese,” we dive into the stereotype of Chinese people’s math prowess and also meet some math prodigies in Hong Kong.

This is “Why Chinese,” a series where we’re debunking common stereotypes about Chinese people one Google search at a time.

0:00 Math quiz
3:08 It’s part of the culture
5:32 Meet the math whizzes
7:42 An obsession with tests
9:12 The Chinese language is better for math
10:34 Learning Chinese trains your memory

If you liked this video, we have more explainers about China, including:

Why Do Chinese People Seem to Eat ‘Everything’? - Why Chinese (E1)

Why Do Chinese People Prefer Drinking Hot Water? - Why Chinese (E2)

#math #whychinese #explainer

Producer: Jessica Novia
Editor: Hanley Chu
Animation: Ray Ngan and Cyan Cheung
Mastering: Joel Roche

Music: Audio Network

[supertrouper]

In the Chinese culture, they take education very seriously and the parents often put them into extracurricular educational activities and tutoring programs and push them to get straight As, whereas in American culture their thinking is there is more to life than advanced education and would rather let their children enjoy life and be able to still get passing grades instead of always needing to have a straight A or 100%. The professor gave a very good last point. Because the Chinese writing system is very complicated, it requires being deeply detail oriented, which trains their brain to pay attention to details, which is why they can learn the details of math more easily and as well as science and with academics overall.

[Obscurai]

Yep, I entered grade school with 2 years head start in math because of my parents insistence in learning the multiplication tables. This head start was leveraged into learning other STEM subjects, attaining the necessary grades to qualify for university and allowed me to skip or breeze through my first year university courses. So, yes learning basic math early gives a huge advantage in our technological world.

[KevLKev]

chinese viewer here
not going to lie, i WAS good at math in china, but moved to the US at 3rd grade, and forced to learn at the same pace as the americans, now i have a constant 85 on my math class
now after 5 years of interacting with everyone but my family with english, my chinese has gotten worse too, and now i don’t even have time to re-learn it

[hmajaya]

This "why Chinese" series makes me proud of my Chinese heritage. Kudos, keep up the good work!

[raymondchow]

Many Chinese are good at something that doesn't require talking trash.

[micac]

I’m Chinese and I used to enjoy memorizing the times tables from 1-9. Got them all down by 5yrs old. Every time there’s a car ride with my family it’s a times table competition between me and my older sister. Good times HAHAHA

Prof Leung was also right in saying it’s a whole lot easier to memorize the times table in Chinese compared to English. Every time someone asks me a math question in English I have to process it in Chinese in my head to get the answer quicker. Maybe it’s just me 🤷🏻‍♀️

[monteillin]

I came to Canada 40 years ago when I was 9, just started grade 4 in China and I was learning algebra and quadratic equations. Couldn't believe it when I got here and they're still teaching basic arithmetics. I thought it was a joke. The math foundation I learned in China tide me over to almost grade 9! I really hope they've closed the gap in the last 40 years.

[egali]

i rmb as a kid when i first started learning the times tables my father forced me to memorize it by heart and i was so sick of it, however i was glad that i learned it in mandarin since i was in a chinese primary school, so now even till this day i can recite the multiplication by heart because as mentioned in the video, its easier to memorize numbers and digits in mandarin coz its simpler, and this skill totally helped me in numerous situation in life, and really glad that my dad forced me to learn it as a kid so it became a life long skill

[Arinaretina]

I used to fail all of my math tests back in Hong Kong, and getting like 20% in my exams. Then I went to a UK school, and I'm top set and one of the best in the class (UK has sets for different ability levels).

[malaysianmapping]

Answer: if we screw up math, our parents would beat us up

[zackzou]

those question were basically often seen and not even could be challenge in Chinese primary school, like 10yo pupils.

[Luboman]

At 1:25. The question is written wrong. It should say "Which two numbers have a sum of 15 and ARE FACTORS of 36?" 12 and 3 are not products of 36. They're factors since you multiply them to get the product of 36. Tisk, tisk...

[MrBoliao]

I'm from Singspore in a school that's mainly chinese or SAP schools, and all the maths is taught in a mix of English and Chinese, no joke. And honestly I didn't even grow up in a Chinese speaking home and it's easier to catch.

[ehong]

I'm a Chinese going to school in Germany. When I was younger in China in primary school, I always hid my math homework in order to skip them... And now in Germany I have a good mark. Sometimes I ask myself, do I get a good grade because I'm a Chinese or am I really good in math.

[ronaldoggha]

After watching this video I’m so proud of being chinese

[sjacks]

I could understand the idea of talent vs hard work.
Some people don’t like a challenge.
If it doesn’t come easy to them, they just don’t do it.
Or find a way around it.

Other people are motivated by challenge.
When they are not good at something, they try harder, do whatever it takes to master it

[johnli]

"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" - Thomas Edison.

[cohlinn]

The language is also more math friendly. Just learning 1 to 10, you can count to 99. Counting to 999 just require learning 1 extra word. Imagine my disbelief in learning how to count in French. 91 = 4x20 +11 😵

[rl]

I've always felt that getting A's in math up to high schools level is just basic due diligence and a good learning environment. You don't need talent to excel at basic math, just the right teachers and the right learning environment. Basic math is unchanging.

I'm pregnant now and I've been planning to teach my kid math early just so they have enough of a foundation for it to not worry about it so much in the future. I'd rather they grasp the basics early on and then enjoy the rest of their childhood exploring sciences, arts or sports to see what they really have the talent for or what they're really interested in. I'd probably also send them for music and dance lessons just for them to have a chance of exposure to them.

[AmIWhatIAm]

Woah 3:30, my class actually participated in that. We were literally doing maths and science exercises repeatedly in that year. The whole class got to bond with each other more with the rapid discussions. One of the best memories ever!