6 Scientific benefits of abacus you need to know
Ability to concentrate (Concentration)
During the abacus classes, the children have to provide a certain number of correct answers within the ten minutes time allowed.
You've got to move your fingers more than a hundred times to operate the abacus.
For example, while the student tries to solve the five-digit by a two-digit number. During which the student has to recite the multiplication table 10 times mentally. Then he arrives at an answer that is 7 digits. There is not a single error allowed in this process. Otherwise, the resulting answer will be incorrect. When a question like this is repeated 20 times, the children Fingers move more than 2,000 times only for the multiplication test. This, therefore, develops concentration through the training of finger movements.
Ability to visualize (Creativity)
Ms Kimiko Kawano, a researcher at the Nippon Medical School Center for Informatics and Sciences, has shown in her research that children who are trained in abacus use their right brain while calculating mental math.
This part of the brain is responsible for controlling the left side of the body. It is the most artistic, problem-solving, invention and creative side of the brain.
It enhances problem-solving skills with the shortest path to the thinking process.
Professor Toshio Hayashi at Osaka Prefecture University also points out that finger movement training stimulates synapses to be entwined and builds neurons network in children.
Ability to memorize (Memorization)
Researchers classified mental calculation into two groups.
Abacus method which uses the right side of the brain.
The mathematical method which uses the left side brain.
In the abacus method, the right brain memorizes the patterns of answers processed. Thus answers are stored in long-term memory as intuitive images of abacus beads.
In the mathematical method, only the left side of the brain (short-term memory) is commonly used during the examination.
It's no wonder that one of the worlds top-ranked University of Tokyo and Kyoto University have more than 80 per cent of students learned to use the abacus.
Thus People who start this training while at a young age will get these skills more likely.
Ability to observe attentively (Insight)
The ability to observe attentively is greatly improved during the abacus training.
The children learn how to observe numbers carefully during abacus training. In this process, no mistakes are excused. You are considered successful when you can discover the method to manipulate the numbers in the abacus.
Such continuous practice leads to improve the ability to analyze various aspects with the use of numbers.
Ability to process information
In this 21st century, there is a tremendous amount of information that is needed to be processed rapidly to be able to understand.
Practice for information processing with numbers is achieved through the abacus method. With this practice, Numbers are read fast without any mistake in the right brain to arrive at an answer.
Ability to listen and read quickly (Speed reading and listening)
This is one part of the Abacus training sessions called the Aural Practice, where the numbers are read out loud to the students.
This approach is also known as yomiageanzan in Japanese. In this training, the question is read out aloud while the student instantly grasps and mentally processes it. Although it's an old way of learning, it trains the brain to listen carefully.
