Zhang Shucheng, a nine-year-old third-grade student in Lanzhou City in northwest China's Gansu Province, has been impressing visitors to the provincial museum, and many more on social media, with his deep knowledge of the museum and his presentation skills as a guide.
On Saturday mornings, Zhang and his mother Jiang Nan usually come to the Gansu Provincial Museum, where Zhang has been serving as a volunteer guide for over a year along with a couple of his friends who share his interests.
With his fluent expression, advanced vocabulary, and his professional demeanor, his 25-minute introduction to the museum's paleontology exhibits has become a highlight for visitors.
"The continental nucleus, the earliest land, was formed 3.8 billion years ago. Life appeared 3.6 billion years ago. This was the late Archean Eon. In this era, some fungi and lower algae appeared," Zhang recently told a group of mainly adult museum visitors.
Zhang and his mother noticed in February last year that the museum was recruiting child guides. After passing through many rounds of selection tests, Zhang was offered the position at the museum.
"I feel that only by mastering this knowledge, remembering all this knowledge in my mind, can I explain it to everyone. Like me, I generally love to tell people things, no matter what it is, I love to speak to others. The more people, the better, the higher my recognition will be," he said.
"I record the data from the materials given by the museum. After recording the data, I can express the content in my own way. Then, after listening to the explanations from others, such as teachers in the museum, I will find my shortcomings and I will add more information. For example, our museum has a senior researcher who has been studying paleontology for nine years. After listening to his explanations, I have added a lot of information to my script," said Zhang.
Zhang excelled in elementary school, as he could read and answer questions clearly and fluently, and, to his classmates, the knowledge he learned through reading and volunteer guiding made him like a mini encyclopedia.
"This child was outgoing, and his expressions are fluent and neat. When he was in the second grade, I focused on cultivating his eloquence and then sent him to participate in speech contests outside our school," said Sun Xiaozhun, vice principal of Xiuchuan Primary School, where Zhang studies.
Zhang's mother says she began to cultivate his talent for speaking when he was two years old. She bought him picture books and read with him, focusing on honing his expressive ability after he entered elementary school.
"At the very beginning, I told him stories, and he would imitate me, especially when there is dialog. For example, characters with very reedy, very deep, gentle, or angry voices," said Jiang.
After entering elementary school, Jiang bought Zhang more storybooks about geography, history, literature, ancient poetry, and fairy tales, and continued to cultivate her child's talents.
"When he got entangled and wanted to give up, I felt the most tired. During this time, I try to adjust his mood, and sometimes I will even coax him. Sometimes I will reason with him, and then make gentle adjustments based on his mood at the time," said Jiang.
Nine-year-old museum guide wows visitors with knowledge, presentation skills
