A couple of months ago, I happened to see the 2008 SCRIPPS National Spelling Bee on TV at a hotel where my friend was staying. This was when Sameer Mishra was hailed the national champion with the word “guerdon”.
As we were watching, Noel and I, spelling contestants in our high school (although I was just an alternative), could not contain how possibly these kids learn to spell, know the definition, the alternative pronunciations and even the languages of origin at such a young age? I was totally amazed at how they were able to spell out words I did not even know existed. The SCRIPPS format was different from ours. There, each word is intended for each contestant. And in our case, each word is intended for all the participants. Theirs is a bit tougher because once you cannot spell the word right, you will automatically be eliminated. (That’s what I know so far) Unlike ours, the scores are summed up at the end of each round, and that’s when the judges determine who will proceed to the next round. Unfortunately, we did not win in the contest.
Let’s play some games here. Test ten people you know, maybe in school or at the office to spell out the following words and see if they can pull off.
…demitasse, quadrat, diener, hyssop, macedoine, basenji, numnah, chorion, nacarat, sinicize, hyphaeresis, taleggio and esclandre. (For the correct pronunciations though, please refer to www.dictionary.com)
I’d be hoity-toity if I say I spelled at least one word from that list because I really did not. They were way too out-of-this-world for me. Maybe Noel did one or two.
Now, I am becoming crazy over the winning words for the past years of SCRIPPS and I am forcing my friend Johanna to spell them out. I tried to be the best pronouncer and like me, she also failed.
Here is a peek of the 2009 SCRIPPS National Spelling which I missed. This girl is amazing!
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