There is an ancient Chinese saying that "everything is inferior, only reading is high", which reflects the importance that the Chinese nation has always attached to reading. So what books are Chinese children reading today?
When walking into Cheng Qidi’s bedroom, the most profound impression on the reporter was the large bookcase opposite the bed. The 7 bookshelf is divided into three columns: upper, middle and lower. All kinds of books are neatly arranged on it. On the desk, a dozen books of varying thicknesses take up most of the table, while several posters of American NBA superstar Allen Iverson hanging on the wall add a bit of vitality and youthfulness to the room.
The owner of the room, Cheng Qidi, is a boy in the second grade of high school in Fengtai District, Beijing. Due to limited conditions, this room has the functions of a bedroom and a study at the same time. "Besides reading and playing basketball, I don't have any other hobbies." Cheng Qidi told reporters, "But don't look at the many books in my bookcase. In fact, there are few that I want to read."
"I don't have time to read the books I love to read"
Through the glass door of the bookcase, the reporter saw a large number of items such as "Four Points and One Practice of English for Senior High School Students" and "Comparative Notes on Ancient Chinese Poems for High School Students" displayed inside. Such teaching reference books are available from the first year of high school to the third year of high school, and there are even a few college entrance examination sprint guide-type books placed in obvious locations.
“Some of them were purchased by the school as required by the students, and some were purchased by my mother for me. I had time to actually read very few of them.” Cheng Qidi said, “Especially those few college entrance examination books. I can’t understand the guide at all now, and by the time I reach my third year of high school, these books will probably be out of date.”
Cheng Qidi closed the door to his room and opened the locked drawer of his desk. "These are what I have been reading recently, but I have to finish homework and review homework until 10 o'clock every day, so the progress is very slow." He told reporters.
In his drawer, the reporter saw "Home" by Mr. Ba Jin and "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami. Cheng Qidi said that his parents did not know that he was reading these novels. If they knew, they would definitely be confiscated.
“The homework assigned by the school every day usually takes about 2 hours to complete, and then you have to review the homework by yourself.” Cheng Qidi said helplessly, “Parents’ requirements for daily study are calculated based on time. Instead of calculating the amount of study, that is to say, if you go to bed at 10 o'clock, you must study before 10 o'clock. Even if you are fast and review the day's homework in advance, you have to continue to do the reference exercises as long as the time is not up. , I can only read extracurricular books for a while before going to bed every day. I don’t know if other students also like to read extracurricular books, but they also don’t have time.”
As he said this, he suddenly smiled slyly. "Of course, I also closed the door and read secretly, and I was able to hide the book before they came in to check it out."
When the reporter pulled out a Japanese comic "Basketball Flyer" from the bottom of his drawer , he smiled sheepishly. "I also like basketball, but I rarely have the opportunity to watch NBA games on TV because we were mostly in class at that time. Many of our classmates were reading this comic, which is really good."
"I can understand the feelings of my parents and teachers, and I will try my best to comply with their requirements. However, I will not give up my hobby of reading. In the future, I will have the opportunity to read all my favorite books in college."
Comics and cartoons are favorites
Not all children are like Xiao Cheng who have no time to read extracurricular books. What books are those children who have time to read?
A middle school Chinese teacher in Nanning City, Guangxi Province, southwest China, conducted a simple questionnaire survey. More than 100 students from two classes wrote "their favorite extracurricular books." The result was " "Reader" (a popular publication loved by Chinese readers, originally modeled after the American "Reader's Digest", and has now developed its own style that focuses on humanistic care and integrates ideological, intellectual and interesting elements). . However, according to a "folk" survey conducted by some classmates, the results were quite different, with comics and martial arts novels ranking first.
According to a survey in Nanning City, when asked what extracurricular books primary school students like to read, they got almost standard answers: comics, brain teasers, myths, and essay selections. The reading scope of middle school students is wider, involving entertainment, computers, martial arts, games, fairy tales, popular science, military, sports, Tang poetry and Song poetry, campus novels and many other categories.
Among the 112 read titles provided by the first-year students of Nanning No. 14 Middle School, comics ranked first, with 31 books; there were 37 fantasy, suspense, love, martial arts, and campus novels; and 9 Chinese classics. Among the 224 read titles provided by first-year students of Nanning No. 2 Middle School, martial arts novels by Jin Yong and Gu Long are far ahead, accounting for 25%; computer magazines such as "Popular Software" and "Lord of the Rings Trilogy", "Haha" "Lee Porter" and other magical novels, each accounting for 10%; foreign masterpieces accounted for 7%; Chinese masterpieces accounted for the smallest share, only 2%. (Data source: South China Morning Post)
Which books are good for primary and secondary school students to read after class has become a matter of concern to experts, scholars, and even the entire society. Teacher Peng Junjiao, leader of the Chinese language group of Nanning No. 2 Middle School, believes that although today’s middle school students have a wide range of reading, some students have not developed good reading habits: some students are curious and are only interested in the storyline; I'm obsessed with comic books.
As a Chinese teacher, she hopes that students will have a wider range of reading, which will be of great benefit to them in accumulating knowledge and increasing their understanding. She does not advise students to read teaching aids, especially composition selections. Although there are good sample essays on them, reading too many will lead to a fixed mindset and the things written will be the same and have no personality. She believes that reading classics has a certain impact on the moral infection and edification of students.
There are too few books suitable for Chinese children
Although today’s bookstores have a large sales area for children’s books, including fairy tales, stories, cartoons, comics, art, children’s encyclopedias, children’s literature, etc. There are also a wide variety of children's books. However, cartoons and comic books from Japan, Europe and the United States account for a very large proportion. Although many famous books such as "Journey to the West", "A Dream of Red Mansions", and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" have been released in cartoon versions, they are also difficult to compete with the imported books from Japan, Europe and the United States. In the bookstore, many children read Japanese comic books with gusto, while few people paid attention to Chinese literature, children's encyclopedias, and classical poetry books.
“I’ve been reading stories about Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie since I was a child, and now I’m not interested at all.” Li Mingming, a sixth-grade primary school student in Beijing, said that except for fairy tales written by Zheng Yuanjie from China, most of them are exposed to It is a comic from Japan, and there are very few other suitable books to read.
According to a staff member of Xinhua Bookstore, generally younger children prefer cartoons, comics, mazes and detective books. However, such books are almost blank in China. Older children like to read them. Children's literature, but many domestic children's books are only excerpts and lack originality.
Some educationists believe that children’s books are not in line with children’s psychology, the plots are not attractive to children, and the language is obscure and difficult to understand, all of which have led to the unpopularity of domestic children’s books among children. On the other hand, children's interests are also different from before. Affected by the fast pace of society as a whole, children's culture has gradually become "fast food". TV programs and the Internet are becoming more and more attractive to children. They spend most of their spare time sitting in front of the TV or computer, leaving little time for children to read. Even when reading, they choose “fun” and “relaxing” books, which has also resulted in children’s books becoming more entertaining and interesting. Moreover, with the introduction of Japanese and Korean culture, a trend has formed among young people, especially Japanese and Korean comics, which are a major hobby for them.
Deng Lidong, deputy director of the Nanning Institute of Educational Sciences, talked about the possible negative impact of the lack of suitable children's books. The current social environment is not good for students' reading. There are too few authors who create children's books, and there are not many books suitable for students to read. Books that are not suitable for students' age are occupying their reading position, such as "pocket books" and romance books, including illegal publications. The students looked at it and didn't know what to learn and what not to learn, so they imitated it. This has a negative impact on their morality and premature maturity.
Is it harder to study or buy books?
In the Xidan Book Building in Beijing, Guo Hong (pseudonym) is taking her 10-year-old son to select books. The child seemed to be interested in a hardcover version of "One Hundred Thousand Whys", but when Guo Hong saw the price of several hundred yuan, she had to give up the idea of ??buying it.
“I don’t understand how these books for children can be sold so expensively?” She pointed to the books beside her and said, “The cheapest ones cost twenty or thirty yuan, and those in sets are easily overpriced. Hundreds, not to mention the hardcover version.”
The reporter saw here that most of these beautifully packaged books are expensive, although many parents pay to satisfy their children’s wishes.
However, more people choose to read books for free here instead of buying books.
"To be honest, I can't afford these books." A student-looking boy squatted quietly in a corner of the bookstore holding a copy of Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "Every weekend I "Everyone comes here to read free books." He said that the collection of books in their school library is too small and the content is relatively simple. Not only is there a wide variety of books, but there are always new books on the market for you to feast your eyes on. He once had a book. The experience of spending every day in the bookstore during summer vacation. "Books are so expensive now, and there are so many books I want to read, it's impossible to buy them all. In addition, you can get free air conditioning here in the summer, and you can read a lot of books, so why not?"
In addition to the high price, many children's books do not put much effort into the content of the book. "Today's children's books are 'magnificent' on the outside, 'cut out the complex and simplified' on the inside, and the quality is too 'watery'!" Ms. Meng Hongxia from Xinjiang complained recently when she bought books for her 3-year-old son.
Not long ago, she bought the children's book "Selected Grimm's Fairy Tales" from a large bookstore on Youyou Road in Urumqi. This extremely beautifully bound children's book, published by a publishing house in Shanghai, does not respect that the original book includes all the original stories. It only selects five fairy tales and has about forty or fifty pages. Each page only has a few lines of phonetic notations suitable for young children. text, and most of the rest of the page is filled with colorful cartoon drawings. Ms. Meng complained about the strange current situation of children's books on the market: the packaging and printing are particularly gorgeous, but the actual content is streamlined and streamlined.
Regarding this phenomenon, many parents said that although people's living standards have improved and they are willing to invest in their children's preschool education, both parents and children believe that content with rich connotations is better than pictures. and color are more important. If the content of the book is too "watery", no one will buy it.