Why are so many Indians good at spelling bees?

[007ELmO]

Being born in Kentucky, but my parents from Bangladesh - I just wonder what's going on here. People might think the parents are extremely strict (maybe), but in general these kids are happy and IMO extremely intelligent.

Bangladesh is a 3rd world country, but India is not - it's just super overly crowded and breeds massive competition. That's what the world needs, and specifically USA, competition between ourselves.

-ELmO

 

[purbeast0]

i actually heard on the radio yesterday that they are changing the rules of the spelling bee tournaments so that now they HAVE to use the word in a sentence or give the meaning of it as well (it was something like that, even the radio guy didn't know the details). they were discussing how the change was probably so that non-native english speakers won't totally own the americans in spelling bees.

 

[OinkBoink]

India is a 3rd world country too largely. But parts of India are fairly developed.

 

[007ELmO]

I'm sorry this is a duplicate thread, I see a few posts down someone says the last X number of champions were Indian.

I think many of the kids are American, born here. It's the parent's culture being flown through them. Being born in America but having parents born elsewhere shows you two cultures.

My parents being from Bangladesh have a driven to succeed attitude that is unmatched by many people I meet here in America, we are lackadaisical in our approach to work, inefficient, and overall kind of lazy. We take for granted simple things that 3rd world countries would do anything for.

Their driven attitude is to a fault though, they don't know how to stop, when to stop, or why they should stop. It breeds a level of competition where people will compete against themselves if there's no outer competition.

 

[TwiceOver]

i actually heard on the radio yesterday that they are changing the rules of the spelling bee tournaments so that now they HAVE to use the word in a sentence or give the meaning of it as well (it was something like that, even the radio guy didn't know the details). they were discussing how the change was probably so that non-native english speakers won't totally own the americans in spelling bees.

Hrm, not that I really care about the Spelling Bee, but it's a spelling bee. Not the Dictionary Bee.

 

[lxskllr]

India is a 3rd world country too largely. But parts of India are fairly developed.

I always stumble on how to describe India. It ranges from dirt floor hut, to hyper-technical. Third world is probably close enough, but it doesn't seem quite right at the same time.

 

[OinkBoink]

i actually heard on the radio yesterday that they are changing the rules of the spelling bee tournaments so that now they HAVE to use the word in a sentence or give the meaning of it as well (it was something like that, even the radio guy didn't know the details). they were discussing how the change was probably so that non-native english speakers won't totally own the americans in spelling bees.

Umm...dunno, but I thought I'd just add this. I clarified this with a linguist, but a "native" speaker of a language doesn't have much to do with where you were born or what the majority language of your region is. It has more to do with if you picked up a particular language during the critical period of your brain when you were young (and even this definition has refinements being made to it constantly). And you can have multiple "native" languages. I have three. I picked them all up before the age of 3 and English is one of them (the others being Hindi and Telugu). So, I don't see how asking them to use certain words in a sentence would be a problem because they most likely would be able to do that. Am I missing something here?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

This spelling bee was intense but the kid who won deserved it more than the other kid because the other kid was a cocky little fucker.

 

[Jaepheth]

I've heard it said that that area of the world emphasizes memorization-based knowledge. Which would play well at a spelling bee.

The anecdote I heard was when a visiting professor asked a class a question that was in the book the students were quick to answer. When he asked them to apply that knowledge in an abstract way not covered in the book, they drew a blank.

 

[007ELmO]

I have an indian coworker who most definitely has a photographic memory, or has an extremely rare capability to remember the smallest details for years. It's a major fault for him, it's embarassing in a professional environment because he can't control it - and he expects everyone to have the same memory. Most of us don't remember what we had for lunch an hour later.

It's hard for me to classify a powerful memory as being intelligent. You can ace most exams from most colleges or at least get B+ straight from memorization.

I went to Case Western Reserve for a few years, many of the students there had a photographic memory. They were lazy, read something once, got it, type attitude (actually averaged a 2.0 GPA). These are not usually the people who are actually successful in the world, they don't use their power effectively. It's like being given a talent (Lebron james) and not actually using it (if he wasn't a basketball player, let's say he was a landscaper). lol.

 

[OinkBoink]

I've heard it said that that area of the world emphasizes memorization-based knowledge. Which would play well at a spelling bee.

The anecdote I heard was when a visiting professor asked a class a question that was in the book the students were quick to answer. When he asked them to apply that knowledge in an abstract way not covered in the book, they drew a blank.

You should read about Richard Feynman's experiences in Brazil. It encapsulates what you've mentioned perfectly.

And yes, a lot here in India is based on memorisation/memorization. Even the stuff that isn't exactly memorization can be quite a waste of time if you want to grow up in a holistic manner (though of course, this is just my subjective opinion. Others might see it as useful, and there are lots of people who have grown up in a holistic manner in spite of this system). Just ask anyone who's prepared for entrance exams to get into top Indian institutes in their 11th and 12th standards/grades in India. Getting into some of these institutes can be ridiculously hard. It takes a lot of preparation and practice to clear those exams. There are "coaching centers" that make a huge amount of money off of it. Though, in itself it's not a bad thing, it's become an obsession for people here to take this route in life: after 10th grade, take up either Maths, Physics and Chemistry or Biology, Physics and Chemistry in your 11th and 12th grades, work your ass off for 2 or 3 years, clear entrance exams and then join a reputed college to be either a doctor or an engineer. And people here lie to us. They say, "All you have to do is work hard for 2 years to get into a good college and your life will be set after that.". I want to punch the people who told me that (and probably myself for having taken it even slightly seriously). College is even harder, if not just as hard as 11th and 12th grade. And it doesn't get easier. If you want to move ahead and stay on top of your game, you have to work hard throughout your life.

 

[007ELmO]

Does having a photographic memory (trained or not), qualify as intelligence? It's needing to connect the parts, not knowing the part's barcode numbers by heart.

Regardless, some of us still can't even remember all that stuff if we tried, I think (including myself). People need to find their passion in life and drive through it. That is a sure way to be successful and find a sense of meaning (financially, or not).

 

[OinkBoink]

Intelligence is complex and memory is certainly a part of it. Though someone with an average memory but good logic skills can be good at math(s) for instance.

 

[Vdubchaos]

India and China lead the race of "beating the kids with a stick over the head" with education.

Not necessarily a bad thing I guess, just sucks for the kids.....

If you do nothing but learn your entire life you will end up with more experienced/better individual. The problem with that is that these poor souls are left with no childhood.

 

[007ELmO]

I don't know, someone must have cracked a joke in that photo because they are all smiling and having a good time?

Most Indian kids I meet are extremely intelligent and a little bit more mature than they should be for their age (the stick with the head thing). My dad was pretty strict with me, I was allowed to do whatever I wanted, but I would be penalized for stepping out of line. I know I will be strict when I have kids someday, whether that's a good or bad thing who knows, there is a balance - but my wife better be the non-strict one then because the kid won't be able to handle both of us, lol.

 

[OinkBoink]

There should always be the right balance between discipline and independence when it comes to your children. Disciplining children is certainly important, but it doesn't mean that you own your children because you gave birth to them and because you pay for their lives till a certain age. You made the choice to do that. I see parents who just don't understand this and it makes me irritated. But I guess the other side of the coin exists too in terms of children taking too much for granted when it comes to their parents.

 

[jman19]

Rote learning.

 

[Cremaster]

Because "bees" is so easy to spell?

 

[Fritzo]

All the time they save cleaning leaves them extra time to study.

::duck and cover::

 

[Train]

I've heard it said that that area of the world emphasizes memorization-based knowledge. Which would play well at a spelling bee.

You can't memorize your way to a national spelling bee win. Most of the kids are spelling words they never even heard of in the finals.

You have to study things like word origins, and how English is influenced by other languages, then assemble the word on the fly using a combination of word origin knowledge and basically a reverse engineering of the pronunciation.

 

[momeNt]

All the time they save cleaning leaves them extra time to study.

::duck and cover::

Tea leaves are not "cleaned" when they are harvested, they are dried once they have reached the appropriate darkness as the chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are released. From there they are crushed and then can be steeped in hot water to brew tea.

Regardless, Indians do know their tea, and tea has been shown to have beneficial cognitive effects which may explain Indians performance in spelling bees.

 

[Fritzo]

Tea leaves are not "cleaned" when they are harvested, they are dried once they have reached the appropriate darkness as the chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are released. From there they are crushed and then can be steeped in hot water to brew tea.

Regardless, Indians do know their tea, and tea has been shown to have beneficial cognitive effects which may explain Indians performance in spelling bees.

Whoa...that could honestly be read two different ways. That's twice my mind has been blown today.

 

[Train]

Tea leaves are not "cleaned" when they are harvested,

right, which is why they save time cleaning them. ;P

 

[joejoe666]

I always stumble on how to describe India. It ranges from dirt floor hut, to hyper-technical. Third world is probably close enough, but it doesn't seem quite right at the same time.

i heard this once on a TED video and i think this sums up India the best...

"Anything you say about India, the opposite is also true"

 

[SSSnail]

And no one has given a relevant answer? Have you seen these kids' names? I would be surprised if they DON'T win the spelling bees contest.

ATOT, I am disappoint.