Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight, I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I’m Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 2
Nacarat N-A-C-A-R-A-T
Hyphaeresis H-Y-P-H-A-E-R-E-S-I-S
Numnah N-U-M-N-A-H
Voice 1
These words are all from the 2008 US National Spelling Bee word list. Spelling Bees are popular events in the United States, and around the world. In a spelling bee, people are asked to spell difficult words. They give the letters of a word in order. Usually, people have not heard these words before.
Voice 2
Today’s Spotight is on Spelling Bees!
Voice 1
Spelling bees have nothing to do with the insect, bee. In fact, no one knows where this use of the word ‘bee’ started. But it has been a common English word for hundreds of years. The word bee describes a social event where many people gather together to do one common activity. So, in a spelling bee, people gather together to spell words.
Voice 2
Here is how a spelling bee works. Most spelling bees are for young people who are still in school. Each person in the bee is asked to spell a word. The young person may ask a number of questions about the word before they have to spell it. They can ask judges to define the word. They can ask for the word’s origins. They can even ask if there are different ways to say the word out loud. Then, the young people spell the word, out loud, letter by letter. If they spell the word correctly, they sit down. Then they have to wait for all of the other young people to spell their words. If they spell a word wrong, they are out of the bee. Young people will continue to spell words until only one person is left at the end. That person is the winner!
Voice 1
Some spelling bees are small. They often take place at schools or other community organizations. But there is one spelling bee in the United States that is huge! It is called ‘The Scripps National Spelling Bee.’ Young people from many countries enter it, although most of the competitors are from the United States. These young people must be under the age of fifteen. And some of them are even as young as eight or nine years old!
Voice 2
These children compete first in local spelling bees. Their schools have joined the Scripps National Spelling Bee program. The schools receive materials and instructions - information on how to hold a spelling bee, and how to train students to compete in a spelling bee. Local spelling bees are organized by a local sponsor - usually newspapers. The winner of a local spelling bee will compete with other local winners in a larger area - a regional competition. Finally, the winners of the regional competitions go to the National Spelling Bee.
Voice 1
In the National Spelling Bee, judges choose words from a list. There are 45,000 words on this list. That is a lot of words. And many of these young people have studied all of them!
Voice 2
The National Spelling Bee has been held in the United States since 1925. That year, only nine students competed in the Bee. In 2008, there were almost 300 students in the Bee. And more than11,000,000 children around the world compete locally! It is one of the largest educational programs in the United States today.
Voice 1
So, why do young people enter this spelling bee? What are the good things about competing in this kind of program? Well, young people who enter spelling bees increase their vocabulary. They learn many new words. They also learn a lot about different ideas when they study the meanings of the words. And they learn the correct ways to use the English language.
Voice 2
In 2008, 13-year-old Sameer Mishra won the National Spelling Bee. He studied for months to win the top prize, which is worth more than 40,000 dollars. Sameer and his family live in the United States now, but they are from India. In fact, Sameer is not the only young person in the spelling bee who is from South Asia.
Voice 1
In 2008, the top ten spellers in the Bee were all from South Asian families. And this is nothing new. Children from South Asian families have been the best spellers in the country for years. Some social scientists are wondering why.
Voice 2
Doctor Balu Natarajan won the National Spelling Bee in 1985. He has an idea. He says that all of the winners have something in common. They all have families who support them. He does not think that only South Asian families give this support. But, he believes that it is tradition in South Asian cultures to value education and working hard. Doctor Natarajan says,
Voice 3
“This is not a competition that children can win by preparing alone. I think many South Asian families are willing and able to provide much support.”
Voice 2
He says that his parents helped him a lot when he won the spelling bee. They found word lists. They helped define words and found out how to say them. They helped him study by asking him questions. They even took days off from work to help him prepare.
Voice 1
Dr. Natarajan says that the spelling bee helped him believe in himself. He believed that he could do anything he wanted to do, if he worked hard. He also learned that sometimes he will fail before he wins. In fact, he competed in the National Spelling Bee for three years before he finally won in 1985.
Voice 2
Sameer Mishra won the 2008 National Spelling Bee after a year of hard work. And, Sameer is not the first person in his family to win an education competition. His sister, Shruti was also in the spelling bee. And she won a math competition and received money to go to college. Sameer’s father thought that Sameer could also earn money for college by entering the spelling bee.
Voice 1
Mr. Mishra says that the Spelling Bee has been a good educational experience for his children. It has also been a great way for them to learn English.
Voice 2
Mrs. Mishra also likes that young people who win the spelling bee are treated like famous people. She loves that the whole family got to walk together on the red carpet just like a famous actor or actress.
Voice 1
Sameer says that he has learned a lot from his family’s support. In fact, he says his sister, Shruti was his coach and his inspiration. She believed that he could win and she helped him to do it.
Voice 2
Sameer won the competition by spelling the word “guerdon”, G-U-E-R-D-O-N, which means “something that one has earned or gained”. Sameer has something to say to future spellers,
Voice 4
“Keep working hard. Even if you do not win, you will always learn something new.”
Voice 1
The writer of today’s program was Sara DeKoster. The producer was Joshua Leo. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes have been adapted for this program, and voiced by Spotlight.
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