all asians good at math?

http://www.8asians.com/2009/04/01/no-seriously-asians-are-good-at-math/

The stereotype that Asians are good at math has probably haunted every Asian reading 8Asians at one time or another. It’s certainly not a new topic, and 8Asians covered this topic in 2008 and twice in2007. This week the Taiwanese enforced the “Asians are better at math” stereotype when Taiwanese schoolchildren excelled in a U.S. sponsored world math speed contest. In addition Taiwanese excellence in math was a topic this week in this years’ annual ASCD conference, where a paper was presented on “Academic Excellence: Learning from Taiwanese Excellence”.

These two headlines caught my attention since I was born in Taiwan and moved to the U.S. when I was two. Throughout my academic career, I was always known as the math geek. I suppose there was good reason for this, as I did excel in math. I don’t say this to brag, but I did get an 800 on my math PSAT and Math Achievement I (now known as theSAT Subject Tests). I was even on Math Team as co-captain. So I was a perfect fit for the stereotype, and probably the type of math student you hated, as I perpetuated the stereotype you were subject to in school.

But lest you start hating me too soon, I should explain why I was the math geek. My mom, who immigrated to the U.S. and never finished college, made sure math was my life. Before I was the age of five, my mom had drilled the multiplication tables into my head, so that I could recite every permutation up to 12 times 12. If I messed up, I got a slap on the back of the hand with a ruler, so I had plenty of incentive to get it right.