Traveling back to 1952, starting a comeback from a relief station

Although he had a foundation of knowledge from later generations.

But if Wang Anping really wanted to cope with the college entrance examination of this era, he would have to start from scratch.

The first problem to solve is the issue of handwriting.

Right now, everyone is still using traditional Chinese characters.

Reading isn't a big problem, but writing is difficult. He can't quite remember the traditional Chinese characters for many words and has to practice slowly.

Wang Anping paused for a moment when he opened the first-grade Chinese textbook.

The textbook starts with recognizing characters, without even a single pinyin character. It seems that the Chinese pinyin system has really not been widely adopted.

In everyday life, you don't feel much difference between this era and later generations, but when you delve into these details, you can truly feel the difference.

He took out the 32mo horizontal-lined notebook he had brought with him.

They didn't mind the trouble and started practicing writing traditional Chinese characters stroke by stroke, beginning with the very first character in the first-grade textbook.

To his surprise...

I don't know if it's because the system modified my body.

Although there was no indication of what skills I had learned, my memory had clearly improved.

Once you've written a traditional Chinese character, it's like you've practiced it dozens of times; it's deeply imprinted in your mind, and it's hard to forget it.

"Hmm, that saves a lot of trouble."

Wang Anping was secretly delighted.

There aren't many new words in the elementary school textbooks. In about an hour, he copied all the commonly used words from elementary school.

He discovered something.

At this time, elementary school Chinese textbooks do not teach obscure characters at all; learning characters relies entirely on rote memorization.

The phonetic symbols all use the direct pronunciation method—for example, "ba" is marked with "yin ba". But if you don't even know the character "ba", then there's nothing you can do but rely on an adult to teach you.

There is no pinyin.

It's truly the biggest obstacle for people with little to no foundation to learn on their own!

Wang Anping stared at the Chinese textbook on the table, his fingers tapping lightly on the surface, his mind blank.

Just then, a clear, timid girl's voice suddenly came from beside them:

"Comrade, may I ask... did you write this?"

"Your handwriting is so beautiful!"

The voice pulled Wang Anping out of his reverie.

He turned his head and stared blankly for a moment before he came to his senses. He saw a girl of about sixteen or seventeen standing in front of him, staring at the new words he had just copied.

Wang Anping stretched and casually replied:

"Hmm, just practicing my handwriting randomly."

The girl pursed her lips, a hint of admiration in her eyes:

"Your handwriting is already so neat and beautiful, do you really need to practice?"

In his past life, Wang Anping had put in the effort to practice calligraphy.

However, I was forced to do it by my parents at the time.

Seeing the little girl's appearance.

Wang Anping was taken aback.

Could it be that in an era of limited information, having slightly better handwriting could make someone look at you differently?

Wang Anping smiled but didn't explain further.

The calligraphy practice he was referring to was mastering traditional Chinese characters and conforming to the writing standards of this era, which is completely different from the calligraphy practice that girls think of as "writing characters beautifully."

I thought that once those words were spoken, the matter would be over.

Unexpectedly, the girl didn't leave. Her gaze fell on the stack of textbooks on his desk, and she asked again:

"Are you planning to take the college entrance exam?"

Wang Anping was slightly taken aback.

I've been asked this question several times this morning.

Only then did he truly understand the meaning of the saying, "Every place has its own circles."

If you take the exam in your own yard.

The Naxi people would probably either be completely bewildered or think he had lost his mind.

In an era when the illiteracy rate was as high as 80%, those who came to the library were all literate and ambitious people.

Seeing his entourage, everyone would ask about the college entrance exam, but they wouldn't be surprised when they found out.

The girl was taken aback when she saw him nod.

Wang Anping then noticed that the girl was carrying a cloth schoolbag and looked like a student.

She wore a more fashionable wool coat than the average girl, had a thick braid, and had delicate features that exuded a scholarly air.

The girl noticed his gaze.

He gently shook his backpack and spoke confidently:

"Hello, my name is Ran Qiuye, and I am currently studying for a secondary teacher training program."

"There are no classes on Saturday afternoons. My mom works at the library, so I come to see her after school at noon and stay here to read in the afternoon."

"What's your name?"

"Wang Anping."

Wang Anping was secretly surprised—he hadn't expected to run into Ran Qiuye here.

In the TV series, this person is Bang Geng's homeroom teacher, and his parents seem to be overseas Chinese.

But now, her family is considered to be doing quite well.

After all, they are a family of highly educated intellectuals.

No wonder her clothes and style exude sophistication, with a touch of petit-bourgeois charm.

She is currently studying at a teacher's college.

If things go according to plan, won't I end up becoming Yan Bugui's colleague?

Nowadays, the library tables are large wooden tables with a row of benches on each side.

There happened to be an empty seat next to Wang Anping, so Ran Qiuye put her schoolbag on the table to claim the seat, took out her textbook, and sat down quietly to read.

As noon approached, the library gradually filled up with people.

In those days, the rules in libraries were not as strict as in later times. As long as you didn't disturb others, no one would care if you ate some dry food or even smoked a cigarette in the library.

Wang Anping's stomach was growling with hunger, so he took out an oil paper package from his cloth bag.

Upon opening it, I found two homemade "meat-filled steamed buns"—

The white steamed bun was cut in half and filled with a few slices of braised beef. The bun had also been pan-fried on the stove and wrapped in parchment paper to minimize moisture loss.

It's completely cold now.

Take a bite, and the aroma of the sauce mixed with the fragrance of the noodles makes it taste pretty good.

He had just taken a bite when he noticed Ran Qiuye staring at him in astonishment.

Wang Anping waved the remaining one in his hand and asked with a smile:

"Want one?"

Ran Qiuye quickly waved her hand, her cheeks slightly flushed:

"No, no, I'll have dinner with my mom later."

Hearing her say that, Wang Anping didn't force her. He finished his steamed bun in a few bites and then drank some of the cool boiled water he had brought with him.

After resting for a moment, he picked up his elementary school Chinese textbook and flipped through a couple of pages.

But his mind was preoccupied with teaching literacy.

A moment later, he turned to a new page in his notebook, picked up his pen, and began to write in one go:

"The Three-Character Formula for Highly Effective Literacy Learning—A Simple Method for Teaching Literacy in Primary Schools," Part One: The Phonetic Differentiation Formula—The Direct Phonetic Decomposition Method: This method breaks down the pronunciation of common Chinese characters into initials and finals...

At first, I just had a vague idea in my mind and wanted to write it down and sort it out.

But once I put pen to paper, I feel my mind becomes exceptionally clear, my thoughts become clearer and clearer, and the pen tip slides faster and faster across the paper.

This isn't any special skill.

It involves combining later generations' logical classification methods with current teaching practices to come up with some simple and easy-to-understand ideas and suggestions.

The current method of rote memorization is used to teach Chinese to primary school students.

Pinyin won't be available for several more years.

Wang Anping could understand—

There are too many illiterate people in the country right now, so literacy is a top priority.