100 pages of music, no problem:Washpost,1/9/08

On page C14: "When Yuja Wang was 14 she moved from Beijing,China, half way around the world to Canada. Her parents stayed in China. Since leaving China 6 years ago, Wang has played all over the world. She will be at the Kennedy Center on Jan. 26th. Wang practices two to three hours a day for two weeks to memorize 100 pages of music." My comment: When I consulted my advisor at the Graduate School at Georgetown University in 1948,he asked me if I had to memorize all the Chinese characters in school. I remember that training of persistent memory work since childhood is the requirement for all schools in China. Such commitment generates success in our later careers especially the philosophy of life from Chinese classics. In other words,success entails hard work for memorization. Perhaps such habit is one of the reasons of success of Chinese in every nook and corner in the world. In the United States,such memorization does not seem to be stressed but having other ways to encourage children to have independent thinking leading to success as well. Teaching and learning methodology deserves to be commented. Any scenarios? Francis Shieh,an octogenarian recalling back in my schooling in China to study Chinese and English for bilingual training and my graduate studies in the United States in English since 1947 with my daily habit of living and learning in the American society as a lifelong student with zeal. Xie Shihao on January 10, 2008 at 6.40 a.m.