Spelling Bee

SpellingBeeIf you have spent any time trying to learn English, you will probably have noticed the complicated relationship between how a word is written and how it is pronounced. This makes spelling a word correctly a particular challenge in English.

Such a challenge, in fact, that is has become the basis of a common competition for school children in America, and increasingly around the English-speaking world. In these contests – known as Spelling Bees – contestants are asked to spell a selection of words, usually with an increasing degree of difficulty. And it can be quite a big deal. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is shown on ESPN – one of the world’s largest sports broadcasters.  See an example from the 2014 final below. In 2002 The National Spelling Bee was also the subject of an Academy Award nominated documentary – Spellbound