(The following comes from one of my former posts.）

Chinese should invent equal phrases for foreign terms in science.

Why Newton cries on Chinese schooling?

Most of science books were “invented” by foreigners,  The Chinese versions are different from those aboard. Sometimes such difference is unacceptable! For an example:

The Newton Law of Force: F=ma

What is “Force”?  It is translated as “力” in Chinese.

According to my experience as a student and then a teacher， this translation is a terrible mistake that has made too much troubling to Chinese students! Why?

“力” means “strength”, that is not Newton’s original meaning! Instead, “Force” should mean “the strength that drives an object  make some change”, and it should be understood as “迫力” or ‘强迫’ or 迫 in plain Chinese language!  (In english dictionary ‘force’ means ' To make sb do something by vilence； Or to make sth change with firm measures'. ） 

The  formula above tells us: It is force that forces “Matter’ to change its state of movement (  the latter gets an acceleration). 
If Newton's Force was translated as ‘迫',  his formula would have been explained in this way as the following: 

F=m*a      迫=物*速变    An object will not change its moving state without external force（迫）.  In simple words: '迫物变速"
In foreign country,     1 newton= 1kg*1meter/second/second,     What a fresh unit-concept that the scientist tried to introduce to the local people.  Why didn't Chinese scholars also produce an equal reasonable word for ‘newton’?
In SEARU'S mind:               1迫=1kg*1 m/s/s=1N                                   The simple word 迫 is a nice explaining to Newton's primary idea. 

In China science is a serious business and no one dare challenge the authority of those ‘classical’ textbooks those have existed in schoolyard for decades。 Searu does not attend to make himself a fool to post strange saying here in the forum。 But I am really glade to struggle for truth at any price since that is good for the development of China education！ 

The word ‘迫’ is the instant key to the gate of the Newton science theory, American students may take it as a candy, since that is very easy to understand without any language obstacle;  Our experts made the short story into a long novel that misleads the poor learners into a riddle-palace.  …… I can’t tell out how much time have been wasted. This is the sadness for the Chinese education! If I could tell the whole story to Mr. Newton, He would cry in loud voice: “what is wrong with the Chinese schools?”

-------I had spent half a month to write a thesis on this issue, later I posted it to a magazine on teaching; Unfortunately it didn't get approved!

 
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About the main point of the Darwin‘ evolution theory，we have the sharp summary: '适者生存’ (The creatures who can adapt to the environment will survive in the nature. ）
Now SEARU‘s saying of ‘迫物变速’’ should be thought as a good conclusion to the Newton's second law on movement.  One Chinese character 迫 can also help learners quickly understand the other formulas：
W=F*S           Work（功）is the existing of such 迫（force）in space-span;

Searu always believe that teachers should do lectures in oral words.  I remembered that it was failure when I tried to copying professor‘ teaching to the middle school students in early 1990s. So I had to turn the deep theory into plain words plus enough practical tests. In the factory those workers had their own understanding on how the electric motors run in the magic way without fuel-consuming.   

F=m*a        The formula tells us: "Any object will not change its velocity without external influence'.  SEARU has a Chinese idiom to describe the phenomenon that is ‘我行我素（速）’: I will do what I am doing as usual.  Anything will not change its habit without force from the outside.   (That is the Newton‘ first law. ）

In Chinese 素 means ‘usual’； 速 is ‘speed’ or ‘velocity’.  
 
 

pnp Post time: 2020-6-10 11:00  
Please do foreigners a favor by including hanyu pinyin against your Chinese characters! Don't assume ...

Thanks for your feedback-information first that is great support to my post! 
Now let me explain those Chinese characters word by word as following:

力 （li）means ‘strength’ which looks like a human body with the two strong legs plus the arms waving in the air. （I had a special thread on it. What is 力？
https://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1891521&fromuid=1341001
）迫 (po):  One object acts some force on another one.

强（qiang）：an adjective, it is opposite to 'weak'.   Why 强 means ‘strong’?
https://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1890697&fromuid=1341001 ）
物（Wu）: means 'object’ or ‘matter’ or 'mass''
变速(bian-su) ：change-velocity. 
适者生存（shi-zhe-sheng-cun）:  'adapted-ones-live-survive'.
功（gong）:  ‘Work’ or ‘achievement’；
我行我素（wo-xing-wo-su）:  I-walk-I-usual (I go as usual.)我行我速 （wo-xing-wo-su）:    I 'drive' at my own speed that is as same as before.)
  
 

 The following Chinese-version of the first passage of the post is good for native students. The translation job was done mainly by the cellphone, certainly modified by SEARU.

为什么牛顿对中国学校大声疾呼？

大多数科学书籍都是外国人发明的，中文版本与外国的不同。有时这种差异是不能接受的！例如：

牛顿力定律：F_ma

什么是F？ 它被翻译成中文的’力’。？？

根据我当学生，作老师的经验，这个翻译是一个可怕的错误，给中国学生带来了太多的麻烦！为什么？

‘力’的意思是‘力量’，这不是牛顿的原意！相反，F 代表’Force’应该意味着‘逼迫物体做出一些改变’，它应该被翻译为‘强迫’或‘迫力’或‘迫’！

上面的公式告诉我们：是’强迫’迫使物体改变其运动状态（后者得到加速）。

如果牛顿力被翻译为‘迫’，他的公式 F=m*a解释为：    迫=物*速变

没有外界的（逼迫），物体不会改变其运动状态。 简而盖之：‘迫物变速’

在国外，1牛顿=1千克*1米/秒/秒，牛顿试图向当地人介绍的是一个全新的单位概念。为什么中国学者没有为牛顿力发明一个同样合理的词呢？

在SEARU的心目中：1迫=1千克*1米/s/s=1N 简单词 ‘迫’是对牛顿根本想法的一个很好的解释.

在中国，科学是一项严肃的事业，没有人敢挑战那些已经存在了几十年的经典教科书的权威。Searu本不想使自己被称为傻瓜，在这论坛上标新立异。但我真的很高兴能为真理而奋斗. 因为这有利于中国教育的发展！

F这个词是牛顿科学理论大门的金钥匙，美国学生可能会把它当成糖果，因为他们很容易理解牛顿英文的原意.

(W=F*s  功是这种‘逼迫’在空间上的持续;  冲量是‘逼迫’在时间上的持续。功和冲量以不同方式影响物体的运动状态.)

· 
 
 

What are wrong with Chinese textbooks on nature science?

SEARU

Mar 16, 2015, 15:03

When I was little, there was such a saying: If you learn mathematics,physics and chemistry well, you would fear nothing no matter where you go around the world!-----(学好数理化, 走遍天下都不怕! in Chinese.)

Encouraged by this belief, I had invested great energy on science lessons. Carefully listened to teacher’s lecturing on some natural phenomenon and its scientific explaining; did thousands excise-problems on paper with my pen!

However, I have noticed one problem in the education field: our science books were not well written that are difficult for kids to understand! For an example:

Some book told me: The Moon circles round the Earth, and the Earth also go round the Sun with the Moon! -----so that we could see the Moon from dark to half-bright to full bright ….; We have altered seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter!)---------All the changes are determined by the movements of the Earth, the Moon and the Sun!

But all the statements were expressed in words and you could not see any vivid definite things for experiments! So I had to learn them by heart and got ready for exams with rote materials!

The other day, I visited that kindergarten where I occasionally found a special instrument that shows the movements of the three huge globes!---------I became so excited that I played with it for half an hour. At the same time, I told the young teacher how happy they were with such advanced teaching instruments!

Chinese science books are difficult for kids to understand, why?

The author often talked too much about theory that seems far away from reality and beyond your comprehension! --------From formula to formula, form principal to mountains of exercise! ---------Some Chinese scientists have make a short story into a long novel!

IF you don’t believe my words, I could show you another example:

Chinese students are familiar with Newton whose theory on force have troubled them a lot!

The key concept word ‘force’ should mean ‘making something to change its state’ (迫) and it should not translated as 力 (which means ‘strength’ in Chinese).

I think the fatal wrong translation has brought terrible burden to Chinese students to correctly understand Newton’s original thinking!

( I have talked too much on my Blogs: such as ‘leave more space for students’ …..)

Dear reader-friends, what are your comments?
 

Really, strange phenomenons have puzzled me for a long time!

Our dictionaries explain each Chinese character with simple abstract words that seem like this:"water is water; hand is hand!";
English dictionaries show every new word with several wonderful short texts that are as vivid as a film and could drive you to think a lot about the word!----------------------(　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ａ　ｂｌｏｇ　＂is it right to rewrite our dictionaries?")

Our textbooks teach science in a 'magic' way that make the earth as mysterious as the Heaven where there are too things you would never know no matter how hard you work!
I wonder if it is fair that some scientist's days of thinking would cost you several years of hard work to study???!!!
Am I too stupid? Or was the scientist too genius???
Do our textbook act as a bridge or a man-made obstacle for us to reach the point of his view?

When I was junior Middle school，all chemistry lesson was taught on the blackboard without any experiment. The teacher told us he had taught himself chemistry and there was no short-cut for learning but rote!

The biology lesson told us there are many organs inside our body and there is a paper-like thing between the chest and stomach which movement could help our breathing!---------------My eagerness to knowledge drove me to find some animal to do experiment!----------One day I caught a big rat with broom! Then I killed it with a knife in my shaking hand. -------What inside the body was really a good text that let me have an ideal----------I wished I would become a doctor when I grew up!

Our great China should have one set of high quality textbooks for the new generation that would become a national project on education and culture on which I have an article 'the great walls in my eyes'.

In the recent years, with the development of the real estate industry, many schools have set up beautiful buildings.
Textbook is the soul of our education!

The following is one of comments on my twin-blog that is so wonderful!-----------

(Dr.Bill.Shen 2015-3-16 16:06                     

“You have raised a very valid point. Indeed, many math and physics concepts were translated into Chinese without an aim for a precise and easy understanding. Some Chinese characters are far from unique in terms of its meanings. Sometimes, only writers knew what they wanted to say. This has led to a wasting a lot of time in order to grasp the essence of some theory. At least I find it is a lot easier to read scientific subjects in English.)

Searu replied: “There is a reasonable saying that goes like this:
Nothing is perfect in the world

We often 'boast' (please pardon me!) that our great nation has long-history shining culture. But many ancient things were written in difficult old language with '之乎者也' (The four Chinese characters were often used in ancient writings that were hard for young people to follow.)---------
I admit that some of our ancestors' thinking was advanced compared with other nations' at that time.----but it would be a huge challenge for us to fully understand their meaning and introduce them to our foreign counterparts!!!

For an example: about 2000 years ago, the 'modern' transporting tool was the cart pulled by four horse that was one of human civilization.
Train was invented in England and we were backward; We had learned a lot from their advantage and now our country can make the most powerful bullet train!!!

The west software could make computers to do excellent jobs;
Textbooks should be thought as something that could mark a national ability!!!

We must work hard to know what are the real treasures of the human spirits, no matter they came from China or other corners of the Earth!”

What is the basic problem existing in our education field? Parents have paid great attention to the exam-results! and they care little what are taught in school and how the teaching is done in the class!!!

I think our urgent task should be to produce a good set of high quality textbooks that are scientific and easy for our kid to accept as pleasure!

Textbook is the engine of the school car that would become software to support the kids' actions in future!
2015-03-17

I have taught in the vocational school for more than twenty years. I do feel we are lack of fitable textbooks even they are at provincial level!----------- Sometimes we take those so-called 'textbooks' as reference ones that only help us to make our own teaching plan. ------ What a shame and a pity it is not only for me but also for the current schooling situation!
2015-03-17

I think reforming and improvement should be permanent topic for our teaching work!

Rewriting textbooks should be national project that would need many experts to co-work for a long time to complete.

Thank for your advice. I would like do my best to contribute for our cause!

Textbook should be the best writing on the Earth under the sky!
What for children must be expressed in the way that should be scientific, logical, simple, artic, vivid! Any kind of error, mistake, inaccuracy are not allowed!

An army would become a paper tiger without powerful modern weapons!
Similarly we teachers can hardly make a living without national standard textbooks!

(I admit there is corruption phenomenon in the current publication field that I hate very much. I think it has done too much trouble to our education. we must struggle against it till it disappears.)

The other day, one little boy who lives in my neighborhood asked me to help him finish his homework：Write a short note to describe what a strong wind looks like.
I thought for a while. The question reminded me my early years when I was a junior middle school student who had to walk to the five-mile-far-away school every day and sometimes I met with hard wind and fought against the terrible weather condition:
"That man was in the hard wind，bending his body，covering the head with hands and squinting the eyes.
He took each step with strength who looked as if a leaf-like little boat struggling in the waved sea in storm."

The little pupil seemed pleased with my reply although it seemed that he could not fully understand what I described!

Now I wonder if there is similar homework for the foreign students in their own country. In China children are often asked to write flowery words for composition. But according to my experience and observation，such ‘flowery’ requirement is not always good for the kids’ development on logical thinking.

To our dear editors:

Now the reader friends could not freely visit my blog-space as before the hacker-attacking in 2018 or so.  I have to copy one of my related posts on the same topic. Sorry for that it means extra work for your editing job.

Chinese science textbooks may need revolutionary change!

SEARU said：

（Jan 06, 2017, 15:01）

‘As a ordinary middle-school teacher, I have taught science for many years. I deeply feel that something must be wrong with the current science textbooks since many of them have been used for decades without change.
 

We must rewrite our own textbooks in Chinese which would be more accurate, logical, vivid and active with the trade-mark of ’made in China". Teachers would teach the content with less words and more tests. Students almost learn them by themselves with little on-paper excercise who can have more time to talk about the soul of the author!
2017-01-16

It is difficult to change Tom‘s habit. And that would be harder to do with the education 'custom'! But we should or must realize what potential wrong doings are with our routine work and then make some reform. That will need a long process! ----------I admit Searu also has been one of the sacrifice of the traditional old style teaching method! I have suffered a lot from the shabby education mood! That was so painful which experience was worse than if someone try to choke me on the neck!
2017-01-16

Many days ago, I read a report about a Chinese teacher who visited America and shouted：我们搞教育，还是被教育搞了？--------We teachers deal with education affairs, are we dealt by them? --------It means that we are not real experts although we have worked for so many years on education！（Since we must have done many foolish things which have wasted too much in past!）

May I draw such a　conclusion？－－－－－－－－
Ｉenjoy reading dictionary since it can offer you wonderful explaining to every word! In English you can express one idea in many ways that is the magic attraction to me. I think our textbooks should be written in this kind of style that will encourage students to freely tell out what they have understood or seen. We teachers never asked pupil to do unnecessary repeating work! Let's say goodbye to reciting!

Of course, mathematics and other science subjects also are included. In maths class, too many abstract formulas are taught without shapes which left no concrete image in my mind! Can those maths teachers do their job in a vivid way?

There is an interesting story in the kingdom of animals: The parent lion has caught a wolf but the former would keep the later alive to feed the young lions! Why? The badly-hurt wolf is good ‘textbook’ to train the kids! The young would learn how to hunt that is more important for the limited food itself!

Human's textbooks should play such role on our children through which students can get amout of so-called knowledge but the more valuable thing should be how to do exploring work by themselves and their interest in the struggle!

It is shameful for me that took me almost thirty years to fully understand Newton's law （F=M*a）! This also is a real sad story about our education cause! I wrote an essay in Chinese but that magazine fused to publish my discovery! Thanks for the Chinadaily where I can freely post some useful information for all of you!
Thanks for your reading and constructive comments!

Our government should should pay more attention to the book market since books are special goods those mean a lot for the civilization! Textbooks must be written by a group of top-level experts that national project would be more meaningful than the building of the Great Wall!

 
Thanks for your support! I think have benefit from that English-to-English dictionary which has taught me a lot about how words were invented and how to freely use them. May I boast that my writing ability is admired by many English teachers in our county although they had studied the language for four years in university?!

We have about 20000 Chinese characters while English has about 2000000 words! So please permit me say our language is weak to correctly express some idea! Furthermore it is said hundreds of English words are invented every day to fit for the development of the era! Should we also produce new Chinese character for the challenge?

I think the basic problem may be that we Chinese usually are encouraged to say words with multiple meanings like ancient poems. That kind of speaking and writing style has caused terrible sacrifice for teachers and students. Textbooks should be written in plain words with clear meaning that is easy for pupils to accept without misunderstanding!
2017-01-09

I wish good textbook would work as nice tour-guide who will lead you into the mysterious inside of the unknown world of science! 

Some of education officers may feel uncomfortable about my post! But we must examine what is wrong with school before education reform.
On behalf of myself, thanks all of you for the constructive comments since they are useful for our future work!

I think the main task of education ought let kids have powerful thinking ability and wonderful interest on books! The two points are important than the limited knowledge they can got from schooling! Our future textbooks should be fit for the goals!

In China we teachers often ask students to answer questions without single_character_error (一字不错) that is as same as what in the text! Now I think it is wrong! Why?
On language, different nations give different explaination to the same word; On science, we can express the same law in different ways! Furthermore we should pay more attention to how the scientist climbed up the tall tree and picked up the sweetest fruit that is more important than his achievement itself!

Our books should be written in direct simpl vivid way that is easy to learn and arise more interest to kids!
Yes, the experiment condition was quite poor when I was middle school. In the physics class, we learned something about electricity and I saw a picture of strange thing: 试电笔-----electricity-test-pencil in which there was a tiny special-gas-bulb that would light on when its end touches the live-line! I was eager to get the real one and have a close look! But it was a dream! ---------Months latter one of my classmates showed me a wonderful instrument which he got from his father who worked on railway! I still remember the happiness when I saw the new weapon!

Chinese science is taught from book to the blackboard then to exercise-book with little practice! Children think technology is the scientists‘ business and it is hard to achieve!

I remember that chemistry lesson was awful when I was in junior middle school since we had to memorize many reaction equations without any real test!

educational methods? Yes, you are right. Something must be wrong with the management of schooling system. Why kids are asked to memorize so much unnecessary things no matter if they can fully understand!
In language class, you must learn the text word by word without any mistake! It is useless to repeat others' words like that bird! Students should be encouraged to express the same idea in different ways just as foreigners do!
I can not tell out how much time and energy has been wasted on reciting and summing when I was young!
Chinese teachers and students work in low efficiency although they are so hard with less than six-hour-sleeping every day!
The first thing to deal with the problem should be to begin with the textbooks!
2017-01-07

Textbooks seem like the guns for teachers to use in the battle-ground. Sometimes I feel sorry for the shabby weapon with me!

To students， the textbook is their mental grain that shoud be green agriculture products without sand in it!
 
 
 
Science books should be written in accurate words. And the interpreter should offer readers the original texts when (s)he meets with difficulty on the work!

And our English textbooks should include those original materials.

I think my blog-writing needs government support since we should form a blogger-team for further-study on Chinese textbooks that is national project! ---------

In practical teaching work, I explain science theory in a vivid way. For this reason, most of the pupils enjoy my lesson.
In Chinese, we have an idiom ‘盲人摸象' -----------‘blind men touching the elephant who told you different stories about the huge animal! ’ ----------The strange beast looks like 'log, fan or wall' depending which part of animal you have felt with their hands.

Many science books are produced in a curved way, readers often feel that theory is too deep to understand and knowledge is far away from life and scientists are fair-like talented people with powerful brain! Why Newton's instant thinking cost you years to learn? The poor textbooks are written in dim words and taught on the blackboard with little experiment or test. One of their chapters only tells you what the elephant looks like in some part. Where is whole image of the beast? That would depend on your imagination after years of studying on the topic!

Too many science theories were invented by foreigners. So most of Chinese textbooks are interpreted from English books. You can many inaccurate sayings with them! For an example:
About the Newton's law （F=Ma), the ‘F' is ‘Force' that means to make something change, it should be understood as '逼迫’or '迫' in simple. But our scientists had translated it as 力 （'strength‘ in Chinese ）that wrong interpretation has caused terrible trouble for the local teachers and students!

In Newton's eyes, F=Ma， 迫=物*速变率， In simple words：‘迫物变速’--------To making some object change its movement state.

In Chinese, 力 looks like a man who is working with the two arms waving in the air. This character always reminds me how strong Tom is and how much strength he used to pull or push some object. 力 is not Newton's original idea of ‘force’. If I am wrong, his law should have been expressed as 

" S=M*a ”      （S is strength）’.