Book about being smart as an asian

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Book about being smart as an asian

Postby HwaRang777 » Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:17 pm

I'm sorry, but I find this too funny to keep to myself

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here's the publisher's summary:

Asians and Asian-Americans make up 4% of the U.S. population...and 20% of the Ivy League. Now find out how they do it.

The numbers speak for themselves: 18% of Harvard's population; 25% of Columbia's; 42% of Berkeley's; 24% of Stanford's; 25% of Cornell's...

What are Asian parents doing to start their kids on the road to academic excellence at an early age? What can all parents do to help their children ace tests, strive to achieve, and reach educational goals? In this book, two sisters-a doctor and a lawyer whose parents came from South Korea to the U.S. with two hundred dollars in their pockets-reveal the practices that lead Asian-Americans to academic, professional, and personal success.

The authors contend that Asian-Americans are no more intelligent than any other race or ethnic group. They say, "the reason Asian students out-perform their peers in the classroom has nothing to do with how they
Author Biography: Dr. Soo Kim Abboud is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and is active in the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Otolaryngology, and the Association of Women's Surgeons.

Jane Kim, Esq., works as an Immigration Specialist of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and has received numerous writing awards and has published essays dealing with cultural issues in literary magazines including America's Intercultural Magazine.
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Postby Slater » Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:36 pm

I can foresee this being closed since that's such a racial stereotype...

Edit: Sorr, no offense by that... it's just that I remember a lot of my asian friends at school not liking that stereotype when it came up...
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Postby Debitt » Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:47 pm

>_> It's a lot of family pressure - in my own experience it's the expectations that the parents put on you and the consequences of not succeeding that drive you.

I too don't like the stereotype. =) I'm Asian and I'm as dumb as a brick. Whoever wrote that book needs a serious reality check
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Postby Fsiphskilm » Fri Oct 07, 2005 8:34 pm

I think p
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Postby Mr. SmartyPants » Fri Oct 07, 2005 8:57 pm

Slater wrote:I can foresee this being closed since that's such a racial stereotype...

Edit: Sorr, no offense by that... it's just that I remember a lot of my asian friends at school not liking that stereotype when it came up...


it's not really a steryotype... it's sort of true......

Nearly ALL asian parents who were born out of the US are all... over-achievers and go like "YOU GOTTA GO TO HOPKINS/PRINCETON/MIT/YALE etc etc... NO NOOO NOO COH-MOO-NITY COLLEGE!" or something

this SAT teacher was telling us (shes chinese) about her dad told her "You got 2 choices... Princeton or Johns Hopkins..."

she went to Hopkins


Thats where the steryotype comes in that "all asians are super smart..."

Whats TRUE is that parents are like "DO THIS AND DO THAT GO TO HOPKINS!!!!" etc etc
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Postby Debitt » Fri Oct 07, 2005 9:01 pm

Mr. SmartyPants wrote:it's not really a steryotype... it's sort of true......

Nearly ALL asian parents who were born out of the US are all... over-achievers and go like "YOU GOTTA GO TO HOPKINS!" or something

this SAT teacher was telling us (shes chinese) about her dad told her "You got 2 choices... Princeton or Johns Hopkins..."

she went to Hopkins


Thats where the steryotype comes in that "all asians are super smart..."

Whats TRUE is that parents are like "DO THIS AND DO THAT GO TO HOPKINS!!!!" etc etc

*high fives Ryan*

Prezactly. o.o\
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Postby Mr. SmartyPants » Fri Oct 07, 2005 9:02 pm

f'sho yo! *high fives back*
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Postby Conner999 » Fri Oct 07, 2005 9:45 pm

"I can foresee this being closed since that's such a racial stereotype..."

"I'm Asian and I'm as dumb as a brick. Whoever wrote that book needs a serious reality check"

"That's such a Horrible Stereotype. I mean calling a group of people SMART is just plain rude."


Gosh.. Did any of you actually read the description of the book, or did you see the title and automatically assume that you know what it says? You read what RYAN SAID, but not anything else, because you would have seen that it says pretty much the same thing as what he said.

"Asians and Asian-Americans make up 4% of the U.S. population...and 20% of the Ivy League."

"The numbers speak for themselves: 18% of Harvard's population; 25% of Columbia's; 42% of Berkeley's; 24% of Stanford's; 25% of Cornell's..."

"What are Asian parents doing to start their kids on the road to academic excellence at an early age? What can all parents do to help their children ace tests, strive to achieve, and reach educational goals?"

"The authors contend that Asian-Americans are no more intelligent than any other race or ethnic group. They say, "the reason Asian students out-perform their peers in the classroom has nothing to do with how they [are raised at home.]"


...>_> Sorry, I just hate it when people jump to assumptions without reading the rest of something.


Edit: Left out a %.
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Postby Ingemar » Fri Oct 07, 2005 9:49 pm

*puts politically incorrect hat on*

I say we need less Asians but more Filipinos in all our universities.

*removes hat*


Seriously, where I go [University of [REDACTED], [REDACTED]] the ethnic makeup is roughly equivalent to that of Hong Kong. I'm deciding or saying whether that's a good or bad thing.

And MSP is generalizing. When I was working at McEvil, I had a Chinese coworker (obviously an immigrant) whose son went to a COH MU NITY college. I also have a high school classmate who is Japanese who goes with me to my college, but also started out in a JC. (In fact, she must have spent a year in hiatus since she was one year my senior in highschool, but now we are both juniors).
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Postby Debitt » Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:03 pm

1. >> I posted before Ryan...lol

2. Okay - maybe I didn't state what I meant clearly enough: It isn't anything special or magical that Asians do in raising their children. There is no "parenting technique". It's family pressure, and I see that as a distinct difference, which is the point I think Ryan was getting at.

3. He didn't say "all Asians" either, but "almost all Asians whose parents were born outside the US", which is somewhat different in its meaning. It's in the culture - Japan has the most in-school hours in the world, if I understand correctly. The idea of pushing oneself to succeed academically and monetarily IS seen more in the developed areas of Asian countries than in other countries.
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Postby shooraijin » Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:05 pm

Kokoro, you are, of course, *not* dumb as a brick.
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Postby Alice » Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:07 pm

Can I pretend to be Asian so people will think I'm smart?
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Postby Debitt » Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:09 pm

Alice wrote:Can I pretend to be Asian so people will think I'm smart?

:lol: But you already are~ <3
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Postby Locke » Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:10 pm

I want to write a book called Fasian 101 ( inside joke xD)
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Postby Conner999 » Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:31 pm

"1. >> I posted before Ryan...lol"

I'm sorry. I went totally berserk. :D:D I didn't at all see the first half of your post. I didn't even see Ryan's post until the last second and threw that in without thinking lol. I didn't mean to specificly direct it at anyone. I meant to say basicly "The book isn't about how all Asians are smarter than everyone else, it's about how they raise their children differently than a majority of the U.S." It changed somehow when it got to my fingers. rofl


Note to self: Think posts through in the future before pressing "Submit Reply."
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Postby Slater » Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:35 pm

I know what the description says, I'm just saying that even though those are statistics there, it's still a stereotype and often is accompanied by other racial slurs, and that my friends (some asian, some not) think that it is still a rude one.
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Postby Yojimbo » Fri Oct 07, 2005 11:00 pm

Yeah and you too can learn how to put extreme pressure on your kids in these easy steps.
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Postby Technomancer » Sat Oct 08, 2005 5:23 am

I don't think it's really a question of putting kids in some kind of academic pressure cooker Yojimbo. Frankly, I think a lot of it has to do with basic cultural values. If you raise kids to value achievement, self-discipline and intellectual pursuits, they will do better. By and large though a lot of North American culture focuses on instant gratification, is often explicitly anti-intellectual, and takes a dim view of "keeners".
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Postby Mave » Sat Oct 08, 2005 5:45 am

Hehehe....honestly, after 5 years of being in the U.S. as an international student, this is the first time I've heard that "Asians are smart." Seems like a compliment considering that the stereotypes I've heard are pretty negative instead.

If the book intends to point out that we aren't born more smart; it's just that our culture prioritizes education and academic excellence over anything. Sometimes in an extreme sense," I agree with it.

In my culture......

It's quite a taboo if you don't go to college. Among the Chinese Malaysians, if you get the chance to study overseas, your status is somewhat elevated. If you have an advanced degree, everyone in my culture goes "Oooohhhhhh. So smart!" Oh and if you picked the "smarter" majors such as engineering, medicine and law, then expect more "Ooooohhhhh". :eh:

:lol: Ah those were the good old days...but you know, I'm pretty sure there are many other cultures/individual families believe in the same thing and this can't be exclusively for Asians.

When I think back at my school years, it all does seem a bit silly but I also understand that my parents did it for my own good and I appreciate that. I am what I am today, mostly thanks to my parent's upbringing. All my parents wanted for me was to be successful and happy. Of course, "successful and happy" can be defined in many ways but the typical thinking would be good education, good job and good financial standing. It's quite secular in thinking but my point is my parents were focused on me and my future, sacrificing their personal dreams and needs for me.

The academic pressures and high expectations were difficult and stressful but I see the fruits of it now that I've started to enter the working world. This may sound bizarre but I think that these pressures teach you how to cope with what may come in the future ("good training"). Well, at least, that's what I believe God has led me to. My parents played their role by wisely balancing between having high expectations on me and loving me unconditionally.

Now, I've never read that book but man, I -cringed- when I saw the cover. In my household, there are two things you cannot walk over. 1) Wallets/purses/handbags 2) Books. My mum would have seriously whipped me if I ever stood on books like that. I find this interesting coz this shows what my culture prizes and respects.
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Postby HwaRang777 » Sat Oct 08, 2005 6:06 am

Well, see I'm korean and the only reason why I put this up is because I didn't know that there was a such a book, and I wondered as to what I would humourous ideas I would find. As in, if the book says to raise the child one way and my parents did it in a completely opposite way. I'm not saying my parents are bad or anything, I just find the fact of such a book being available is hilarious
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Postby Technomancer » Sat Oct 08, 2005 6:19 am

Mave wrote:Now, I've never read that book but man, I -cringed- when I saw the cover. In my household, there are two things you cannot walk over..... 2) Books. My mum would have seriously whipped me if I ever stood on books like that. I find this interesting coz this shows what my culture prizes and respects.


Same here (and I'm not asian). You treat books with respect, and never, ever throw one in the trash. Even if you don't want it, you can always give it to the Sally Ann or somebody who does.
The scientific method," Thomas Henry Huxley once wrote, "is nothing but the normal working of the human mind." That is to say, when the mind is working; that is to say further, when it is engaged in corrrecting its mistakes. Taking this point of view, we may conclude that science is not physics, biology, or chemistry—is not even a "subject"—but a moral imperative drawn from a larger narrative whose purpose is to give perspective, balance, and humility to learning.

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Postby Alice » Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:26 am

I guess this is just me, but it sounds odd to have parents who are that set on you going to college.

I always assumed college would be in the mix for me, but my parents didn't.

And, it turned out it wouldn't have worked out anyway. But that makes it kind of frustrating that I worked so hard in highschool! xD;;
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Postby Fsiphskilm » Sat Oct 08, 2005 9:41 am

There w
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Postby Shao Feng-Li » Sat Oct 08, 2005 9:49 am

*Reads topic and posts carefully... Thoughtfuly hums...*

Ah well, not my problem.

And also, not being off topic, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates, or so I hear.
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Postby Ingemar » Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:10 am

Technomancer wrote:By and large though a lot of North American culture focuses on instant gratification, is often explicitly anti-intellectual, and takes a dim view of "keeners".
Don't be ludicrous]When I think back at my school years, it all does seem a bit silly but I also understand that my parents did it for my own good and I appreciate that. I am what I am today, mostly thanks to my parent's upbringing. All my parents wanted for me was to be successful and happy. Of course, "successful and happy" can be defined in many ways but the typical thinking would be good education, good job and good financial standing. It's quite secular in thinking but my point is my parents were focused on me and my future, sacrificing their personal dreams and needs for me.

The academic pressures and high expectations were difficult and stressful but I see the fruits of it now that I've started to enter the working world. This may sound bizarre but I think that these pressures teach you how to cope with what may come in the future ("good training"). Well, at least, that's what I believe God has led me to. My parents played their role by wisely balancing between having high expectations on me and loving me unconditionally.[/quote]I believe that is all better than an attitude of entitlement (like most [UNMENTIONABLE] have), but it can lead to unrealistic expectations. For every success there are even more failures, and the more you ATTAIN, the more you must MAINTAIN. In one of Ravi Zacharias's books, he described the intense familial pressure in India to succeed drove some children to commit suicide if they didn't get the test scores they wanted (Ravi himself tried to poison himself because he couldn't cope with the stress).

One thing I believe in life is important is not only to learn how to succeed, but also "how to fail." Money, status and security are all fleeting and are guaranteed to no one. The important thing is to learn how to cope if one day you lose it all. There is always the chance to break out of your rut--in Bible study, we talked about a man who cleaned up and became a Pastor after twenty years of battling alcoholism and homelessness. There is also some freedom in poverty (but that is for another topic).
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Postby mitsuki lover » Sat Oct 08, 2005 1:22 pm

I really don't think Asians are smarter than the rest of us.As the statistics from the
book blurb point out they are only something like 4% of the total U.S. population.
Being in such a minority it probably just appears that they're more successful
when it comes to education.
Basically it seems to me to be based simply on the ratio of Asians to Anglo
Americans.In other words the statistics are screwed a bit because Asians are
a minority.
An analogy would be if say Swedes made up only 3% of quarterbacks in the NFL
but had a success rate of 80% when compared to non-Swedish quarterbacks.
Could you see someone coming out with a book entitled HOW TO WIN IN
FOOTBALL LIKE A SWEDE?
What I'm saying is that it all seems to me to be just screwing with numbers.
If Asians made up more than 4% of the population we would probably not even
be hearing about this subject.
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Postby Doubleshadow » Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:54 pm

It's a matter of instilling correct values, that's all. Hard work, self-discipline and prioritzing. My Dad's Dad was a high school drop out and my Dad has a bachaelors in engineering and a masters in Logistics and whatever. My Dad just made the descision he did not not want to work in the coal mines (being a coal mine manager was my Grandmas grand hope for him). On the flip side, my Mom's Dad told her when she was failing high school algebra, "Doesn't matter. You'll be at home with the kids, you don't need math." She initially got a three year nursing degree by starving through school and living on free pop becuase my Grandpa didn't pay a cent on nursing school and the pastors wife arranged a schoalrship for her to pay the necessities. You decided to do what you have to, or you don't. Different cultures place different amounts of emphasis on this, but it's hardly a race exclusive secret.
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Postby Mr. SmartyPants » Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:39 pm

Ingemar wrote:In one of Ravi Zacharias's books, he described the intense familial pressure in India to succeed drove some children to commit suicide if they didn't get the test scores they wanted (Ravi himself tried to poison himself because he couldn't cope with the stress).


he spoke about that! He took swallowed some chemicals from the schools chem lab... luckily he was saved, put in the hospital, he accepted Christ on his bed of suicide so to speak. Such an awesome testamony I think
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Postby Little T-chan » Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:48 pm

I don't know....I mean, I joke around with my friends with stereotypes like this...but I, myself, don't really have that great of grades and my parents don't expect me to become a doctor or a lawyer...Actually they did and I was a fabulous student until I decided it wasn't the road for me. They now support me to become a fabulous fashion designer~ ^^ I guess it's actually pretty much true but with a few exceptions....? AHHHHH I dislike this topic very much!!! Yet I feel that I should say something about it...I don't know...our family is in some aspects very alike the typical asian household...but in other aspects we are SO different....I'm just rambling...^^;; haha
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Postby mitsuki lover » Sun Oct 09, 2005 12:27 pm

Anyways having the best grades in school doesn't necessarily mean success in life.Remember Einstein pretty much flunked math class. :)
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