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Winning the Spelling Bee Can Pay Off
| pontificating thriller toaster property | 06/05/10 |
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Date: June 5th, 2010 5:24 PM Author: pontificating thriller toaster property Subject: 'Spelling their way to success' (BBC News) 5 June 2010 7:56 UK
By Katie Connolly BBC News, Washington
One can't help but feel a creeping sense of inadequacy as speller after speller steps up to the mike, as confident as a 14-year-old can be in his or her lengthening, gangly limbs.
After expertly quizzing the pronouncer about the etymology of a given word, they flawlessly tackle even the most cryptic ones.
The spelling of thalassian, inconcinnity, muniments may stump Microsoft Word, but not the Scripps semi-finalists, who also happen to know that bilophodont (meaning having two transverse ridges or crests) has roots in the Greek word "dont" meaning tooth.
That's not to say spelling is a breeze for these dedicated youngsters.
Their stress is palpable as they scrunch up their faces and trace out the words with their fingers.
They train with the rigour of college athletes, dedicating hours each day to the study of language origins and usage, being quizzed by coaches and computer programmes, and, of course, poring over the dictionary.
But is all the hard work worth it?
George Thampy of St Louis, Missouri, the 2000 Champion, thinks it is.
After correctly spelling the winning word - demarche - Mr Thampy, now 22, went on to attend Harvard, majoring in chemistry.
He has now been accepted to MBA, or master's degree in business, programmes at Harvard and Stanford but has decided to defer for a few years while he works at a prestigious investment bank in Chicago.
Most of his fellow elite spellers are similarly accomplished. Mr Thampy went to Harvard with many of them.
Spelling, he says, was pivotal to his success, teaching him "a love of learning and an attention to detail and incredible appreciation of the languages and systems that underpin our society".
Scripps Spelling Bee spokesman Tim King says there is a correlation between children who have the academic discipline to succeed at spelling and success in future academic endeavours.
"If you go into the spelling forensics that these champions understand, you have an academic discipline that is going to serve you well in many, many other pursuits," Mr King says.
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