Chapter 487: Modern Era (If-Things) (15)
Luo Jin printed out different math problems for elementary, middle, and high school students, and sat down next to Tang Ting to watch her solve them.
The high school girl said she could even do high school math problems, so if that's the case, they can't put Anunu back in kindergarten.
They first gave Anunu a primary school math test paper to do. Under the encouraging gaze of her adoptive parents, Anunu picked up a pen and began to work on the test paper.
The elementary school test paper contained addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and some slightly more difficult questions. Without any pause or hesitation, Anunu wrote down the answers directly. There were only two slightly more difficult questions. She wrote a few symbols on the draft paper and then gave the answers.
After she finished writing, Tang Ting picked it up and saw that all the answers were correct, but Anunu had only given the results, without showing the process.
Next up was the junior high school exam. Anunu still didn't think much about it. Even when she was drafting, the process was very smooth. It didn't feel like she was writing an exam; it felt more like she was copying one.
Lokin compared the correct answers with Anunu's test paper one by one, and it was still all correct. However, when Anunu was writing the junior high school test questions, there were words she didn't understand, and she asked them before continuing.
When it came to the high school exams, Anunu asked even more questions. Before that, she had only learned some mathematical symbols from Ota and the others, and she didn't know much about the Dongwu script. She could understand the mathematical symbols quickly, but she was a little slower with the script.
Tang Ting and Luo Jin were speechless when they saw that she couldn't even recognize all the characters, yet she could write high school exam papers.
One can only marvel at the fact that human talent is like this, possessing an astonishing understanding of a particular thing.
Tang Ting hugged her and explained the problem to her in detail, and also told her the solution process. She understood it immediately and could figure out how to do it right away.
I finished the high school exam and got all the answers right.
When Lokin noticed that Anunu was working on her high school exam, she was writing something else on a draft. At first, she and Tang Ting thought she was just making a draft, but when they picked it up, they didn't recognize the characters and it looked very messy.
"Baby, what are you writing?" asked Lokin.
After thinking for a moment, Anunu came up with a suitable word to describe it: "calculation".
Tang Ting's heart skipped a beat. She took the draft from Luo Jin's hand and placed it in front of Anunu. "Is this how the baby calculates?"
Anunu nodded.
She actually has a process in mind when she does these math problems, but this process is different from what other people think. She thinks it's enough to just write down the result.
Tang Ting took a piece of paper and placed it beside him, pointing to the symbols on it one by one and asking Anunu about them, then writing the corresponding words on the paper.
After asking about most of the questions, Tang Ting asked again, "Baby, do you know how to write your name using this character?"
“I know.” Anunu wrote his own words on the paper using this script.
Not only his own names, but also the names of his parents and brothers, were written down.
The couple observed that her writing in this style was significantly more fluent than what she was currently learning, almost like...
“It sounds like her native language,” Logan said, exchanging a glance with him.
So, to verify their hypothesis, they turned on their phone to record the conversation and asked Anunu what the text meant.
Anunu read them aloud one by one.
Tang Ting then pointed to some furniture and other items in the house and asked her to translate them. After she finished speaking, he asked her several more times. When they listened to the recording, they could match the words together.
The two tried using the translation system created by their Special Administration Bureau to translate, but none of the hundreds of languages matched.
Lokin herself is a language major and has a certain talent in this area. She said thoughtfully, "Some half-humans do have their own languages, but they are basically animal communication derived from the genetics of their own animal species. You can tell just by listening. The language that Anunu speaks has its own script and is not a local dialect."
But no matter how smart Anunu is, a child needs to be taught and learn language from birth to adulthood. Even if no one specifically teaches them, they still need a suitable language environment.
Anunu is only five years old, but she clearly has a good grasp of the language, as can be seen from her fluent writing.
Children her age can speak their native language fluently without any problem, but they are still in the literacy stage, and it's already quite good if they can recognize a few hundred characters.
Lokin tested it out; she read a passage aloud, and Anunu could write it down using that script.
When Hicks brought Anunu back, it was basically proven that she grew up in the Yugoslavian desert region. At first, she could only speak the dialect of the place where she grew up, and could barely understand the official language of Yugoslavia.
However, she is very proficient in the current writing system.
Lokin stroked Anunu's head and asked softly, "Baby, who taught you this?"
Anunu shook her head. "No."
After listening, Luo Jin continued to ask, "How did the baby learn these characters? Did people use this language to communicate when the baby was in the desert town?"
Anunu shook her head again, "I just know how, there's no one else, it's just me saying it."
After speaking, Anunu felt a surge of indescribable emotions. At that moment, she longed for someone to speak this language with her, but now she was the only one available.
She didn't have a definite impression of these words and languages; she just felt that she knew them naturally, including the math problems she had just solved.
She felt that new things would pop into her mind every day. She didn't need to specifically learn them; it was as if there was a huge knowledge base deep in her mind. As long as she studied related things, the knowledge base in her mind would open up, allowing her to quickly understand and learn them.
She's just too young to know how to describe this feeling to her adoptive parents.
She looked up at the two of them and asked, "Mom and Dad, am I different from everyone else? Am I a weirdo?"
Hearing her say that, Locke picked her up and put her on his lap. “How could a baby be a weirdo? Our baby is the smartest baby in the world.”
Tang Ting keenly sensed something was off about her words and immediately asked, "Did someone say that to the baby?"
"Yeah, two boys in my class said I'm different from them, that I'm weird, and that they don't want to play with me."
Anunu took the big red apple from Winnie and started eating it while talking.
She always spoke slowly and in a childish voice, which made the two of them feel uneasy. Neither of them wanted their child to be bullied or wronged outside.
Lokin said seriously to Anunu, "Baby, they're wrong. You're not weird. Everyone is different."
"It's okay, I don't want to play with them either."
Anunu took a big bite of apple and said, "Mom and Dad, I don't want to go to kindergarten. I can do all of those things. I don't like them pulling my hair. They cry if I push them."
This was the first time the two had heard Anunu talk about these things. Usually, when they asked her about her experience at kindergarten, she would only talk about what she ate for lunch and what snacks the teachers gave her, and she wouldn't say much else.
Only after Anunu said that did they realize the seriousness of the situation.
The next day, instead of letting Anunu continue going to kindergarten, they contacted the kindergarten, reviewed some recent surveillance footage, and found some of the things Anunu had said.
Anunu is pretty and cute, and is very popular in the whole kindergarten. However, she doesn't like to talk and doesn't play with the other children much.
According to the surveillance footage, Anunu spent most of her time sitting in the classroom. She didn't participate much in outdoor activities, preferring to sit on the swings outside or feed the rabbits kept at the kindergarten.
She didn't fit in with the other children; it was as if she lived in a different world.
Although she was not sociable, many children still went to talk to her. They saw that some little boys liked to pull her hair or tug at her hat.
Anunu, being very good-natured, ignored them. Even when her hat was taken away, she snatched it back and put it on.
One time, Anunu's hat was snatched away again. Anunu got a little annoyed and pushed the little boy away. With just a light push, the little boy fell to the ground and sprawled on his back.
When the teacher arrived, she understood the situation and didn't misunderstand Anunu. Instead, she gave the boy a lecture and told them to make up, but Anunu clearly ignored them.
Anunu interacts with her teacher a lot, answering questions in short bursts, with more responses only during mealtimes.
The teachers thought it was because of the language barrier, coupled with her quiet personality, that she didn't like to talk.
After learning about Anunu's actual learning situation at the kindergarten, Lokin and his team decided to stop sending her there.
First, Anunu doesn't like it; second, given her learning ability, it wouldn't be suitable for her to stay in kindergarten, let alone primary school.
She's still so young, they can't really let her go straight to high school.
They originally wanted her to live, study, and grow up like a normal child, but now it seems that she is not suited to live and study like other children.
"Let's hire a tutor for Anunu."
After discussing it carefully, Luo Jin and Tang Ting decided to let her study at home first.
The day after they made their decision, Anunu went with them to take Baroque to school and got off the bus as well, wanting to go into the school with Baroque.
They thought Anunu might just be having a whim. She needed to be woken up every morning and was always sleepy, so getting up early was impossible for her. Perhaps she wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.
So they deliberately didn't wake Anunu up, but to their surprise, Anunu woke up on her own. Although she still looked very sleepy, she still insisted on getting up every day.
Later, they simply stopped sending Baroque off and let him ride the school bus to school with Ota and Tao Tao Le. As a result, Anunu ended up riding the school bus with them.
They asked Anunu, "Anunu, do you like going to this school? We can also study at home, and we'll hire the best teachers for you, okay?"
Anunu looked down and played with the Rubik's Cube in her hands. "I don't like school. I like being with my older brother and sister."
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