The text below is part of the Japanese tale “My Lord Bag of Rice”:

“Long, long ago there lived in Japan a brave warrior known to all as Tawara Toda or “My Lord Bag of Rice”. His true name was Fujiwara Hidesato and there is a very interesting story of how he came to change his name. One day he went out in search of adventures because he had the nature of a warrior and could not bear to be idle. So he picked up his two swords, took his huge bow, which was much taller than himself, in his hand, strapped his quiver on his back and started out.

He had not gone far when he came to the bridge of Seta-no-Karashi crossing one end of the beautiful Lake Biwa. As soon as he stepped on the bridge, he saw lying right across his path a huge serpent-dragon. Its body was so big that it looked like the trunk of a large pine tree and it took up the whole width of the bridge. One of its huge claws rested on the parapet of one side of the bridge while its tail lay right against the other. The monster seemed to be asleep, and as it breathed, fire and smoke came out of its nostrils.

At first, Hidesato could not help feeling alarmed at the sight of this horrible reptile lying in his path, for he must either turn back or walk right over its body.” 

The text below is part of the Japanese tale “My Lord Bag of Rice”:

“Long, long ago there lived in Japan a brave warrior known to all as Tawara Toda or “My Lord Bag of Rice”. His true name was Fujiwara Hidesato and there is a very interesting story of how he came to change his name. One day he went out in search of adventures because he had the nature of a warrior and could not bear to be idle. So he picked up his two swords, took his huge bow, which was much taller than himself, in his hand, strapped his quiver on his back and started out.

He had not gone far when he came to the bridge of Seta-no-Karashi crossing one end of the beautiful Lake Biwa. As soon as he stepped on the bridge, he saw lying right across his path a huge serpent-dragon. Its body was so big that it looked like the trunk of a large pine tree and it took up the whole width of the bridge. One of its huge claws rested on the parapet of one side of the bridge while its tail lay right against the other. The monster seemed to be asleep, and as it breathed, fire and smoke came out of its nostrils.

At first, Hidesato could not help feeling alarmed at the sight of this horrible reptile lying in his path, for he must either turn back or walk right over its body.” 

The text below is part of the Japanese tale “My Lord Bag of Rice”:

“Long, long ago there lived in Japan a brave warrior known to all as Tawara Toda or “My Lord Bag of Rice”. His true name was Fujiwara Hidesato and there is a very interesting story of how he came to change his name. One day he went out in search of adventures because he had the nature of a warrior and could not bear to be idle. So he picked up his two swords, took his huge bow, which was much taller than himself, in his hand, strapped his quiver on his back and started out.

He had not gone far when he came to the bridge of Seta-no-Karashi crossing one end of the beautiful Lake Biwa. As soon as he stepped on the bridge, he saw lying right across his path a huge serpent-dragon. Its body was so big that it looked like the trunk of a large pine tree and it took up the whole width of the bridge. One of its huge claws rested on the parapet of one side of the bridge while its tail lay right against the other. The monster seemed to be asleep, and as it breathed, fire and smoke came out of its nostrils.

At first, Hidesato could not help feeling alarmed at the sight of this horrible reptile lying in his path, for he must either turn back or walk right over its body.” 

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REFERS TO QUESTION

The Literary Influences of Superstar Musician David Bowie

BY JOHN O'CONNELL ON 10/31/19 AT 5:00 AM EDT

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REFERS TO QUESTION

The Literary Influences of Superstar Musician David Bowie

BY JOHN O'CONNELL ON 10/31/19 AT 5:00 AM EDT

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REFERS TO QUESTION

Lessons for Americans, From a Chines Classroom

Observing how Chinese 2- and 3-year-olds navigated a second language, I wondered whether I could have done this for my children.

SHANGHAI — We sat in toddler-size wooden chairs around an orderly circle of Chinese 2-year-olds, busy with circle time. As a parent of three children who collectively spent 15 years in American day care, I am very familiar with circle time.

But I was in this Shanghai classroom as a professor, with college students from many different countries in a class I’m teaching here on children and childhood.

We were observing in a private kindergarten, designed to provide young children — starting at age 2 — with a carefully structured, fully bilingual curriculum, especially important because English language skills are vital for educational success in China.

Visits to Chinese educational institutions allow the college students in my course to get a look at real children and the ways that they learn, while also thinking about Chinese society today. They get windows onto certain slices of this complex country: a high-end private bilingual program that starts with toddlers; a city high school for academically gifted students; a middle school created for the children of the rural migrants who have come by the millions from China’s poorer provinces to work in Shanghai, but whose rights to social benefits are severely limited in the city.

These visits offer the college students insights into many of the social issues facing China, and we spend time in class discussing questions like the huge role that the annual gaokao college entrance exam plays in determining a child’s educational destiny (English is one of the required subjects), the pressures on families that create a culture of cram schools, and the controversies over reserving spots in colleges for kids from rural areas.

But all of those questions have powerful resonances when you think about the issues of childhood education and child development, which have to be addressed in every country. As my college students discuss the different facets of childhood around the world, visiting the Chinese schools also helps them in remembering and thinking about what children look like at different ages, and how they play and interact and learn.

Available in : https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/20/, accessed on February 26th, 2020. Adapted

TEXT

REFERS TO QUESTION

Lessons for Americans, From a Chines Classroom

Observing how Chinese 2- and 3-year-olds navigated a second language, I wondered whether I could have done this for my children.

SHANGHAI — We sat in toddler-size wooden chairs around an orderly circle of Chinese 2-year-olds, busy with circle time. As a parent of three children who collectively spent 15 years in American day care, I am very familiar with circle time.

But I was in this Shanghai classroom as a professor, with college students from many different countries in a class I’m teaching here on children and childhood.

We were observing in a private kindergarten, designed to provide young children — starting at age 2 — with a carefully structured, fully bilingual curriculum, especially important because English language skills are vital for educational success in China.

Visits to Chinese educational institutions allow the college students in my course to get a look at real children and the ways that they learn, while also thinking about Chinese society today. They get windows onto certain slices of this complex country: a high-end private bilingual program that starts with toddlers; a city high school for academically gifted students; a middle school created for the children of the rural migrants who have come by the millions from China’s poorer provinces to work in Shanghai, but whose rights to social benefits are severely limited in the city.

These visits offer the college students insights into many of the social issues facing China, and we spend time in class discussing questions like the huge role that the annual gaokao college entrance exam plays in determining a child’s educational destiny (English is one of the required subjects), the pressures on families that create a culture of cram schools, and the controversies over reserving spots in colleges for kids from rural areas.

But all of those questions have powerful resonances when you think about the issues of childhood education and child development, which have to be addressed in every country. As my college students discuss the different facets of childhood around the world, visiting the Chinese schools also helps them in remembering and thinking about what children look like at different ages, and how they play and interact and learn.

Available in : https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/20/, accessed on February 26th, 2020. Adapted