If a normal childhood means being noisy and excited, playing 65,438+00 hours of video games and watching a lot of TV cartoons every day ... then Zou Qiqi does not have a normal childhood. Zou Qiqi started reading at the age of 3, wrote stories at the age of 4, published 320,000 stories at the age of 8, 10 became a "little speaker", 13 published a book satirizing George W. Bush's political career, and 15 gave a speech to Harvard teachers and students. How did this wonderful flower of American literature do it?
Bickering discovers language talent
Zou Qiqi, born in 1997, is a mixed-race China-Czech. His mother Zou Can is from Sichuan, China, and his father John Schwedt is Czech. Their family lives in Washington, USA.
Like many multinational families, John and Zou have different views on children's education.
As a westerner, John advocates letting children grow up freely and giving them enough space. However, Zou Can disagreed. She believes that children need to be disciplined from an early age, otherwise many concepts and ideas will deviate.
Therefore, when Kiki was very young, Zou Can began to cultivate her "obedient", but she found that Xiaoqi's personality inherited her "hot temper" from Sichuan spicy girl. As long as something goes wrong, she's only 1 in her teens, and she'll show her a lot of things that others don't understand.
When Zou Qiqi was two years old, one day she was eating a cake and the cake crumbs fell all over the floor. Her mother was very angry and went up to teach her a lesson. At this moment, Zou Qiqi stood not high enough to reach the table and retorted loudly, "Why did you scold me so loudly? Qiqi is hungry and wants to eat! "
Zou Can paused, then deliberately said loudly, "Then why did you get the floor dirty? Mom just wiped the floor, and now she has to wipe it again. "
Unexpectedly, Qiqi still does not show weakness. She said in a louder voice: "Because I am only a child, I am still so young! You didn't take me well! "
At that time, Zou Can was shocked. My daughter's clear thinking ability and accurate expression ability make her feel ashamed. At the same time, she was surprised and thought her daughter had excellent language talent.
Zou Can started his own plan. Her method is unique, that is, she often lets her daughter "bicker" with herself. For example, deliberately ask some difficult questions and make excessive demands to stimulate Xiaoqi and stimulate her "fighting spirit".
Forgetting to wash your hands before meals, eating an extra piece of candy, and putting toys in the wrong place … these are the reasons why mother and daughter bicker every day. Zou Can spoke very fast and said a lot, but Qiqi was not afraid. On the contrary, his arrogance is always high. Although he often doesn't express himself, he always sticks to the end and wants to win.
On her third birthday, Zou Qiqi said that she wanted a whole set of real Barbie dolls. After being rejected, she began to argue.
Zou Qiqi stood in front of her mother and said confidently, "Lisa next door has Barbie dolls, but I don't!" " "Zou Can said," but you have a whole set of fairy tales, and Lisa doesn't. "
At this time, most children will say, "I don't want fairy tales, I want Barbie dolls now." However, Qiqi said to her mother, "Lisa doesn't have a story book because she didn't get it from her mother." I want story books, I want Barbie dolls! " Facing the clever daughter, Zou Can had no choice but to buy her a Barbie doll.
In addition to fighting for her own interests, Qiqi will also compete with her mother on her views on things. For example, my mother just said that rain is God's tears, and she said that snowflakes are God's dandruff. Zou Can blamed her for calling such a beautiful thing ugly, but Qiqi insisted on her own idea and personally wrote to the Washington Meteorological Bureau to ask the director, who praised her idea.
In addition to bickering to train language organization skills, Zou Can's reading and writing skills have not left her daughter behind. Usually shopping with Kiki, Zou Can seized every opportunity to teach her to read. Billboards, bus signs and menu signs in fast food restaurants are all ready-made teaching tools. Zou Qiqi reads fast and hardly forgets anything. At the age of 3, he was able to keep a simple diary.
Stories cultivate writing ability
With more and more words, Zou Can began to train her to write stories, and often consciously guided her to make up stories, which broadened her creative thinking.
Zou Can often said to himself in front of his daughter: "The little white rabbit got lost when walking. Did it find a home later? "
At this time, Zou Qiqi will say loudly: "I didn't find it! Later, it spent the night at the police uncle's house! " Or: "It was sent home on 9 1 1!" However, no matter what the result is, Zou can will give encouragement and praise. Sometimes I will continue to guide: "The little white rabbit spent the night at the police station for the first time. Will you be afraid at night? " What did it see in a strange place? "Under the guidance of his mother, Zou Qiqi's creative thinking is more and more extensive.
Once, Zou Qiqi was reading an animated book about the contest between an elephant and a mouse. The mouse got into the elephant's nose and bit it. As a result, the mouse won. Zou Can took the opportunity to educate his daughter and said, "Because the elephant bullied the mouse and was arrogant, it lost." Qiqi disagreed with this statement and retorted, "Rats can't beat elephants anyway, and the story is false." She even analyzed: "An elephant is not stupid enough to let a mouse get into its nose. It can turn its nose up, but the mouse can't jump. "
Zou Can argued for a long time and said, "Since you say that rats can't beat elephants, write your story." So Zou Qiqi picked up a pen and began to write a story. She insisted that the mouse was defeated by the elephant.
Zou Can asked her, "The mouse is weak, the elephant bullied it, but it won.". Aren't you afraid that the child who read your story will be sad? " I don't want Zou Qiqi to say loudly, "I just want the children to know not to be with opponents who are stronger than themselves and stay away from the bad guys who bully themselves!" Zou Can was overjoyed after hearing this, and felt that her daughter was really something. Zou Qiqi also gave his story an interesting name, called "You can choose to escape".
This is the beginning of Zou Qiqi's story. She was only four years old that year.
Zou Can also often reads novels to Qiqi. Fortress Besieged, Thorn Birds, and even Romance of the Three Kingdoms ... In the process of reading, Zou Can often hides the book in the middle of reading, and then says to his daughter, "I can't find the book, guess the ending!"
As it turns out, Zou Qiqi likes playing this game very much, and often takes pride in trying to get a better ending than the original.
When Zou Can asked her to guess, "Did Cao Cao finally kill Yang Xiu?" At a young age, she actually said, "Considering the reader's feelings, it should definitely be killed, otherwise it is not in line with Cao Cao's character." Zou Can was stunned by her daughter's words. She knew it was time for her daughter to write stories independently.
In 2003, when Zou Qiqi was 6 years old, Zou Can bought her a second-hand laptop, and she began to write stories on it. At first, Zou Can asked her daughter to write two stories a week, but Qiqi finished the task easily. Later, when she wrote, the car couldn't stop. She writes a story every day when she has a high yield.
In two years, Zou Qiqi wrote more than 470 stories, totaling 320,000 words. Most of her stories are set in the Middle Ages, from ancient Egypt to the Renaissance. Whether it is a Pharaoh, a heroine, a romantic love story, or even an exciting adventure, the plot is very lively and interesting. She also recorded her learning process and the comments of her mother Zou Can. From the perspective of an enlightener and guide, this paper explains how to follow the child's talent and let the child develop.
After the book was finished, Zou Qiqi wanted to publish it and got strong support from her mother. Zou worked hard to find a children's publishing house for her daughter, and named this 320,000-word story collection "Flying Fingers" with the subtitle "How to Enjoy Reading and Master Learning Tools", which was finally successfully published in the market.
Three months after listing, Feizhi broke the sales record of American children's books and sold out of stock in the United States. Zou Qiqi has become a small star in American literary world, and many publishers have found her, hoping to sign a book with her.
Since then, Zou Qiqi has been out of control and started to contribute to major children's magazines in the United States, specializing in children's literature and children's stories. The children's magazine American Little Master even opened a column for her, asking her to write an essay every week to talk and complain with adults from the perspective of children.
Speech Achievement "Little Giant of Literature"
In July 2005, ABC's "Good Morning America" program found Zou Qiqi and wanted to invite her to be interviewed on the program.
After receiving the notice from the TV station, Zou Qiqi, who always claimed to be invincible, was frightened for the first time. She said to her mother, "Good morning, America is live. What if I'm wrong? The host also said that he would test the creation of my story on the spot. What if you can't figure it out in a hurry? Forget it, I don't want to participate in this program. "
Seeing that her daughter, who has always been stubborn and competitive, showed rare timidity, Zou Can said to her daughter, "Remember the first story you wrote? The elephant bullied the mouse, but the mouse didn't beat the elephant in the end. You tell readers to stay away from opponents ... however, there are opponents everywhere in life. If you always choose to escape, isn't that a coward? Just like now, you refuse to be on TV because you are afraid. Isn't it a pity that you lost an interesting and exciting opportunity? "
Qiqi pondered for a while, then nodded and said, "It seems that I will reconsider the practicality of the story in the future."
Zou Can was amused and asked her, "Tell me, what is practicality? What do you think of practicality? " Hearing this, Zou Qiqi clearly said: "After reading my story, any child should at least learn something useful, which is called practicality. Stories that can't give readers practical information are all idiot stories. " Zou Can quickly said, "didn't you speak very well just now? Just take what you just said to the TV station! "
At the age of eight, Qiqi quickly arranged her conversation with her mother into words according to her mother's instructions, and took it to the live recording of ABC's Good Morning America.
In the program, she talked about her work and hit the nail on the head: "My work is only suitable for young children to read at present. At this time, they need to protect themselves for physical reasons, so most of my stories are to teach them how to avoid danger. But then I'm going to write a story for the older children. At this time, it is not the right way to escape, but to face the challenge bravely ... "Zou Qiqi's eloquence and thinking ability left a deep impression on the host diane sawyer and spoke highly of her as" the little giant in American literature ".
With the success of "Good Morning America", Zou Qiqi's life suddenly changed dramatically, and all major schools and organizations invited her to give a speech. However, Zou Qiqi has no experience in public speaking, so Zou Can asked her to attend various lectures after studying, and let her learn the skills of public speaking and scene control.
Zou Qiqi's first official speech was in her primary school. In front of thousands of students, she talked about Kan Kan and expressed her thoughts and opinions in an orderly way. When the headmaster took the lead to stand up and gave warm applause to that wonderful speech, Zou Qiqi felt unprecedented satisfaction and excitement. She said to her mother, "I love talking. When I talk, my thoughts are clear. I think talking can make me know myself better. "
However, dad John felt that the speech would not bring anything to his daughter, but would affect her study. Zou Can insists that doing a good job in every speech can make her daughter exercise her psychological quality and make her logical thinking closer. So she was very supportive of Qiqi's speech, which created many opportunities for her to exercise.
Facts have proved that this speech has changed Zou Qiqi, both in story creation and in her daily way of thinking.
In 2007, Zou Qiqi published her second book, Dancing Fingers, which is a collection of poems written by her according to the books she read in recent years and her own feelings. Of course, there are also many poems praising the speech.
Zou Qiqi said worriedly, "Mom, I think this speech is very boring. I'm afraid some listeners are not paying attention to me. " Zou Can said: "Then you should try to make your speech interesting, make people laugh and make people remember what you said, and you will succeed."
On one occasion, Zou Qiqi called a children's publishing house. As soon as the other party heard that he was a child, he said bluntly, "We don't publish works written by children unless you are Zou Qiqi." Zou Qiqi didn't identify himself. She thought the publisher didn't respect the children, so she hung up angrily.
Soon after, on the podium of the Seattle Green Festival, Zou Qiqi delivered a speech entitled "What can adults learn from children". She recalled humorously: "Once I called a children's publishing house, and the other party actually said that they never dealt with children. I really don't understand that children's publishing houses don't deal with children. Do they have to deal with hamsters or stupid bears? " More than 2000 adults present gave a hearty laugh and applauded the clever child.
Today, Zou Qiqi's speech style is not only humorous, but also elevated to the political level. She often makes people laugh and think deeply. Those seemingly easy topics are actually carefully prepared by her mother, and her achievements are inseparable from the hard work of Chinese mothers.
From 20 10 to 10, Zou Qiqi finished a political satire novel about George H.W. Bush, named Sheep in Camouflage, and became a hot writer in one fell swoop. Her speech expenses even soared, approaching the average American movie star. She will also be invited by Harvard to give a speech.
When people put laurels such as "the smartest child in the world", "literary giant" and "prodigy" on her head, she said: "A prodigy has many different explanations. My explanation is' gifted children who can help other children'. I hope I can be such a prodigy, but I don't think I can. "