Abacus calculation proves beneficial to youth development

At the event, young participants not only demonstrated traditional fundamental skills of abacus-based calculation, such as visual abacus calculation and visual-mental calculation, but also completed a series of difficult events, including auditory mental calculation, flash mental calculation, and rapid digit memorization, showcasing their solid, professional competence.

Feng Chunqiu, a senior expert in mental abacus calculation, says that learning abacus calculation can effectively cultivate students' concentration and willpower. He says, "While students engage in abacus training alongside their regular academic studies, the positive transfer effect is remarkably significant. In other words, the cognitive benefits gained from abacus learning carry over effectively into mathematics, general coursework and even language arts — proving highly beneficial across all these areas".

Through systematic training in auditory mental calculation, flash mental calculation, and other techniques, young learners can also transform their external finger movements on the abacus into a "virtual abacus" in their minds. While enhancing computational ability, this process also develops deep concentration, memory and logical thinking skills. This training model of "internal-external computational synergy" serves as an important foundation for the younger generation to adapt to the development of artificial intelligence and to build algorithmic thinking, and will ultimately strengthen the cognitive foundation for young people's comprehensive growth, experts say.