VietNamNet Bridge – Able to read the newspaper loudly and clearly, but unable to spell the alphabet; and not eating, but remaining healthy and clever – they have been called the extraordinary child prodigies.

The master in calendar

Pham Tuan Minh.

The 4-year old child prodigy Pham Tuan Minh in the northern province of Bac Ninh reportedly has a special ability in calendar. He can convert solar month, year, day into lunar month, year, day very quickly and accurately, and vice versa. If showing him any day of the year, he would be able to point out what the day of the week is. It takes him just a few seconds.

Experts believe that there is only one another person in the world who has the same ability – Mrs Shakuntala Devi in India.

Since he was 2 years old, Minh has known by heart the images of national flags of the countries in the world and he has been able to remember long series of numbers. Now he can do the four basic operations proficiently and read letters.

According to Nguyen Phuc Giac Hai, Deputy Head of the Institute for Human Potential Research and Application, Tuan Minh is a special child. Hai himself is the author of many books and research works about calendar, but he cannot do as Minh can.

Hai said that the principles for calculating the solar and lunar calendars are very complicated; therefore, there must be only one person like Minh among millions of people.

When he was 3 years old, Tran Bao Huy, born in 2007, could only speak simple words. However, when he turned 4, he surprised all people when he could read newspapers.

Huy, in front of many witnesses, could read any articles given to him. He could also read the names of the classmates. However, surprisingly, he could not read the letters A, B, C separately.

The 2-year old girl who can read fluently

She is Pham Ngoc Bich in Thanh Tri district in Hanoi, who could read when she was 2 years old.

Bich’s grandmother once taught her some letters in the alphabet. And then Bich taught herself to read newspapers fluently.

Nguyen Thao