back to prehistoric savage

"Master Priest, although I am no longer young, the first time I played Beast Fighting, I got second place in the competition. I feel that my brain is quite good, and I am better than those young people!"

Jiang He sat opposite the Sky Priest with a smile on his face.

Zhang Tian glanced at him and thought that he was indeed a trader. He had been dealing with different people all year round, and his mind was more flexible than others. While his contemporaries were still outspoken, he already knew how to watch what was happening.

"Whatever you want to say, just say it."

Jiang He expressed his intention: "I heard that the school is about to start. You may be able to tell that I am actually a very studious person. Originally, I was worried that the new knowledge would be too difficult and I would not be able to learn it, but since I won the chess competition Second, I think I’m good again. Look, can you give me a chance to audit?”

Zhang Tianzheng said: "The rules are the rules. It is agreed that each tribe will have two places, so there are two places. If you really want to attend the class, you can replace one of the people from your tribe."

"This……"

Jiang He was troubled. It was precisely because he didn't want to replace his own people that he came to have a private chat with the sky priest, hoping that the other party could be accommodating.

But the Sky Priest is clearly a very principled man.

Zhang Tian continued: "There are three courses arranged for you this winter, namely language class, mathematics class and symbol class. The most important of them is language class. Only by mastering Taoyuan dialect can you understand other teachers' words and Take their classes and learn their knowledge.”

"However, on the other hand, the least important thing is the language class. This course does not need to be studied in the classroom. You are already in Taoyuan. As long as you communicate with my people more, you will learn Taoyuan language sooner or later. Deal with other people. , this is what you do best, isn’t it?”

"As for math and symbol classes, you can ask your tribe to teach you after they finish their classes. If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask me."

Jiang He suddenly understood, smiled broadly, and thanked the Sky Priest for his generosity and kindness.

Winter semester classes are about to begin.

This year's teaching tasks are much heavier than last year.

Due to the arrival of international students, a new class has been added to the large and small classes last year: night class.

The class time for the large and small classes remains unchanged, and the night class class time is arranged at night, with Zhang Tian as the teacher. Who makes him the only Taoyuan native who understands plain language?Only he can do this job.

He encouraged all international students to communicate more with Taoyuan people. Of course, finding a local as your boyfriend or girlfriend is the fastest way to improve your language skills. This group of international students did the same. For primitive people, oral communication during the day is in-depth at night. Communication is perfectly normal.

There are also people who are interested in Plain language and form language partners with international students to practice speaking with each other.

In addition, the mathematics and symbol classes in the night shift are basic courses.

The subjects to be studied in both large and small classes have not changed, but the content of the courses has changed.

Mathematics class has added an advanced course to last year's basic course. Those who passed last year's final assessment will take the advanced course, while those who failed will continue to take the basic course.

The same goes for symbol classes.

Zhang Tian handed over the basic mathematics courses to Xiao. Even so, he still had to attend four classes every day. After class, he had to answer questions for the students and take time to take care of his baby duck... He must be tired, but Zhang Tian is more willing to express it this way: Every day is very fulfilling.

Advanced courses in mathematics mainly teach the written form of numbers and simple addition and subtraction arithmetic.

Zhang Tian did not copy Arabic numerals in the writing form of numbers. Although the writing of Arabic numerals is simple, the disadvantage is that it is too abstract and not as easy to understand and remember as pictographic symbols.

He and Lin Yu discussed for a long time and decided to combine the most primitive notch counting and finger counting to evolve a fixed number symbol.

Specifically: one horizontal line represents the number one, two horizontal lines represent the number two, three horizontal lines represent three, four horizontal lines represent four...

The first four numbers are no different from notch counting because the numbers are small and there are few gestures, so they can be read at a glance. When the numbers are large, this method is not intuitive enough.

So when it came to five, Zhang Tian introduced the symbol of the hand.

In last year's symbol class, the children have mastered common pictographic symbols. The hand symbol is an inverted "U" shape, like a palm with five fingers together.

Zhang Tian told the children: "This symbol has another meaning, which represents the number five. Why? The reason is very simple. Do you still remember how to count in the past? Does stretching out one finger represent one?"

At this point, the smart child had already reacted, raised his hand and said, "Because there are five fingers on one hand, it is five!"

The children suddenly realized that this is easy to understand. They don’t need to memorize it by rote. They can understand it at a glance.

The following numbers follow the same rule.

Six is ​​to add a horizontal line under the inverted "U" shape symbol, seven is to add two horizontal lines, eight is to add three horizontal lines, nine is to add four horizontal lines, ten is to form an "m" shaped symbol with two hands, and eleven is to have ten at the bottom. Add one horizontal line, twenty is ten, add two horizontal lines on the left...

This forms numbers within one hundred, among which fifteen and fifty are relatively easy to confuse. Zhang Tian stipulated that fifteen can be written in continuous strokes, with three palms forming a wavy line, but fifty must be written separately, consisting of an inverted "U" It is formed by adding an "m"-shaped symbol to the symbol.

This way of forming characters is closer to ancient Roman numerals, but easier to understand than ancient Roman numerals.

Of course, after counting to one hundred, a new symbol must be introduced, and using two "m" to express it is really not concise.

But that’s for next year. This winter, it will be great if children can master number symbols within one hundred and can skillfully use these symbols to perform addition and subtraction operations.

There are only twelve students in this year's advanced course. I wonder how many of them can pass the final assessment and enter the next stage of study?
The next stage is going to be more difficult. Not only do you have to learn the writing form after one hundred and the addition and subtraction of large numbers, you also have to learn the nightmare of all primary school students: the multiplication table.

At present, only Xiao is at this stage. He has been studying for a year. As for the progress of his study, I can use a southwestern dialect to describe it: It’s a slap in the head!Xiao finally experienced what it was like to read the Book of Heaven.

In fact, Xiao is already very smart. Even in modern times, in countries with the most developed education, there are still many people who cannot proficiently calculate multiplication within ten and addition and subtraction within one hundred. For primitive people, this knowledge is indeed too much. Perverted.Zhang Tian originally planned to tinker with the abacus and teach them arithmetic after the children mastered addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Now it seems that there is a long way to go. He will not force things, let alone encourage others. He will teach as much as he can.

In the final assessment of the symbol class last semester, the passing rate was much higher than that of the mathematics class. There were a total of 27 students in the advanced course this semester.

But compared to last year’s course, this year’s difficulty has increased by at least several orders of magnitude!
Last year, most of the symbols taught were already in use or even commonly used symbols. This year, almost all of them are new symbols, and there are no physical objects to assist memory, so I can only rely on rote memorization.

It took Lin Yu a lot of thought to invent these symbols. Written language and spoken language are an inseparable whole. The structure of vocabulary and sentences needs to conform to the expression methods and habits of spoken language. To a certain extent, language represents a mode of thinking, separated from Words that reflect this mindset are meaningless.

Fortunately, the language of the primitive ancestors, like later Chinese, is a tonal language, that is, the pitch of a word can completely change the meaning of the word.It was also because of this that Lin Yu learned so quickly back then. If it were another foreigner, no one would have been able to learn it in just one or two years.

Not to mention foreigners, even Lin Yu made a lot of jokes in the early days of learning a language. A slight change in the tones of many words could turn normal sentences into ugly words.

The most profound memory she had was when she was still living in a cave in the northeast. She was teaching women how to use spices to prepare food. Suddenly, she felt anxious. She got up and said politely: "Sorry, I'm going to take a shit first." Due to the wrong pitch, the women with stunned faces heard: "Sorry, I'm going to eat shit first."

Today's international students are making Lin Yu's mistakes every day.

But this is not a bad thing. In the days when I am idle at home, small scandals like sesame seeds and mung beans will be discussed over and over again. No novelty will be let go. As long as it can break the daily routine, it will be regarded as a big part of the monotonous life. adjust.

The tribesmen like to interact with foreign students because they have entertainment value. No one knows what they will do or what kind of jokes they will make. They are an inexhaustible source of topics.

In addition to tonality, the language of primitive ancestors has other similarities with Chinese. For example, monosyllabic roots account for the vast majority. In terms of expression, word order and function words are the main means of expressing grammatical meaning.

Of course, compared to Chinese, the current language is still very primitive.

First of all, the language structure is incomplete. They lack the concept of tense, no fixed grammar, and a large number of function words and particles are missing. In many cases, conversations are composed of verbs and nouns, resulting in ambiguous meanings.

When Lin Yu was a beginner, he had to translate what he heard into modern language logic in his mind, which would help him understand the exact meaning.Now that I have practiced it, I can understand and comprehend it quickly by observing expressions and body movements.

She started by teaching simple personal pronouns and verbs, such as you, me, him, walking, running and jumping.

Then, combined with the nouns learned last semester, teach the children to connect words into sentences according to their oral habits.

The children in the advanced class were originally very confident in themselves. Having successfully passed the final assessment of the previous semester made them smug and self-satisfied. They walked with a wind in their eyes. In front of those children who failed the assessment, they acted superior to others, as if they were academic gods.

However, after the first day of class, their mood suddenly fell from the clouds to the earthly world, and they were deeply shocked.

too difficult!
The content taught in class is difficult enough, but there are equally difficult assignments to complete after class.

Homework is usually assigned and completed verbally. Before get out of class, Zhang Tian and Lin Yu will ask a few questions for the children to write down, go back and think about, and ask them during class tomorrow.

Naturally, you will be praised if you answer well, and there will be no punishment if you fail to answer. The main purpose is to realize your self-consciousness.

Both of them were excellent students when they were students. Although Zhang Tian is not as strong as Lin Yu, he still has a C9 undergraduate degree. He knows very well that learning mainly relies on inner driving force. .

Both Zhang and Lin uphold the concepts of interest-based education and independent learning. To put it bluntly: If you love learning, you will fail if you don’t.

Every time I see students in basic classes letting themselves go, some children with a poor mentality can't help but have the idea of ​​giving up. They feel that failing the final assessment last semester is not a bad thing.

But most children, especially those aged eight or nine, still face the difficulties and study hard because they know that this is their rite of passage and the only way for them to get ahead.

Because only the school had lighting facilities, they often waited until the night shift classes were over, then returned to the school to occupy their seats and study in the evening, reviewing their homework during the day, and writing and erasing on the desk with chalk chalk.

Zhang Tian does not stop or encourage this behavior. The school is only open at night for "one candle" time, that is, the time when one candle burns out, in order to save resources and avoid meaningless involution.

However, involution cannot be completely avoided, nor is it necessary. Appropriate involution has both advantages and disadvantages.

Seeing how hard-working the children in Taoyuan were, the adult international students were all amazed. They thought that they were already lagging behind others because they did not understand the language, and that they had come from a long way away and were burdened with the hopes of the entire tribe. They felt even more ashamed, so they rushed to join.

The eighty seats in the school are full every night, even more popular than the breeding hut, half of which are international students and members of the Niutou tribe.

Even the elderly Jiang He was also rolled up. His learning ability was really good, especially in terms of language. In just one winter, he improved from knowing nothing to being able to chat and laugh with people in Taoyuan without any hindrance.

Back in the Star Tribe, it only took him about the same amount of time to master the local language.However, the language of the Star Tribe is similar to that of Hedong and Hexi, which does not reflect his ability. The language of the Taoyuan people is very different from the Pingyuan language. The fact that he can learn it in such a short period of time is not only a hard work, but also a proof of his talent.

The tribesmen who came with him were far less advanced than him.

Some people make rapid progress, while others stand still.

As long as animals live in groups, competition and comparison are inevitable.

Fighting for territory and courtship are competitions between animals. The gap between people used to be mainly reflected in physical fitness. Now, as the difficulty of learning increases, the gap in intelligence is also revealed without reservation.

Some people are proud of themselves, while others are hit hard. This is inevitable.

All Zhang Tian can do is to guide them to pay more attention to themselves and say some chicken soup that "there are shortcomings and strengths."

When they grow up, they will realize that reality is cruel. Some people are born as hexagonal warriors and are better than others no matter what they do.

Accepting your ordinary self is also a necessary process for growth. (End of chapter)