Chinese children learn to Code as American kids learn to Twerk

China Money Report ^ | 23 November2015 | D. Collins

[Lorianne]

Nanjing mother Zhang Minyan began encouraging her 5-year-old daughter to learn coding from Wu after watching a video of an American child who wrote an app for friends so they could share their views on Canadian singer Justin Bieber, she said. Before that, Zhang hadn’t thought it was necessary for children to learn.

‘Big impression’

“That made a big impression on me,” Zhang, 32, recalls. “I thought, since my child is playing games on an iPad everyday already, why not give her some guidance and let her learn something in the process?” Also children are learning to code in other countries and Zhang doesn’t want her daughter to be left behind, she says.

Encouraging children to learn how to write the instructions for computer programs may help China move up the technology value chain, making it more of an innovator of software and digital tools, rather than a mass manufacturer and a component supplier

[ClearCase_guy]

I have a fair level of experience with Chinese IT workers here in the US.

My impression is that if you tell them what to do, they will follow instructions and do what you told them. BUT if you expect them to figure out what needs to be done, they are lost. No vision, no initiative. They sit and wait for someone to explain it to them. They are not really creative problem solvers.

But others may have seen a different side.

[SandRat]

...you mean Computer code not Morse code?

[Johnny Carcinogen]

"Chinese children learn to Code as American kids learn to Twerk"

"Nanjing mother Zhang Minyan began encouraging her 5-year-old daughter to learn coding from Wu after watching a video of an American child who wrote an app for friends"

I don't know whether to laugh out loud or to twerk.

[Uncle Miltie]

Chinese don’t code.

Indians code.

[applpie]

I bet most chinese children are taught to work in factories or fields and keep their mouths shut. Sick of hit pieces that imply americans are inferior.

[Secret Agent Man]

And then Americans get the Indian code and have to totally redo it.

Highly overrated and more and more places are waking up to the reality.

[cynwoody]

BUT if you expect them to figure out what needs to be done, they are lost. No vision, no initiative. They sit and wait for someone to explain it to them. They are not really creative problem solvers.

Give 'em time, and they might invent git. Who knows?

[eyedigress]

Journey

Listen to this one

[cynwoody]

tl;dl

[eyedigress]

I don’t know. I like it.

[eyedigress]

I’m not the bus driver.

[eyedigress]

Maybe

[cynwoody]

I was making a joke at the expense of ccg's software product namesake.

Over the years, I have used both cc and git, and I declare git the winner by a wide margin.

[cynwoody]

Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAIneRQ_joU

[cynwoody]

Sorry, that should be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAIn3RQ_joU

[Johnny Carcinogen]

They’ve had 5000 years. It isn’t a good bet.

[ronnietherocket3]

My impression is that if you tell them what to do, they will follow instructions and do what you told them. BUT if you expect them to figure out what needs to be done, they are lost. No vision, no initiative. They sit and wait for someone to explain it to them. They are not really creative problem solvers.

My experience with a particular ethnic group in college is that they had it down to a science how to cheat on tests. I then had a coworker who was part of said ethnic group but was generally an upstanding person.

[Oatka]

My impression is that if you tell them what to do, they will follow instructions and do what you told them. BUT if you expect them to figure out what needs to be done, they are lost. No vision, no initiative. They sit and wait for someone to explain it to them. They are not really creative problem solvers.

I've seen that with Asian Indian programmers.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I have heard the same thing. Though in general I have found much to like and admire in the Chinese people I’ve known.

They were all hard-working.
They were all very family oriented.
They all valued education.

The ability to follow directions faithfully and produce faithful copies is apparently a longstanding cultural value there.