The National Spelling Bee - 17 More Days

There are only seventeen more days until the National Spelling Bee. 275 spellers will take the stage this year. Who will win this year? This year, there are three four-year repeaters, seventeen three-year repeaters, and fifty-one two-year repeaters.

As of my state, Utah, there are four spellers. I met speller #251, Vismaya Kharkar, at the Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee in 2010 and this year. She placed sixth last year, but she managed to win this year. Sadly, at my school spelling bee this year, my word was mispronounced every time I asked for the pronunciation, and I was given ambiguous answers. Last year, I placed fourth at the Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee, because I misspelled "escrow" - a bond or deed. Since it was a French derived word, I spelled it, "escrot", because "w" is a rare letter in that origin. I admit that I am still studying. I had studied 10-100 every week 2006-2011, but started watching in 2005. I watch Spellbound in 2004, but I never knew that the spelling bee would be a huge part of my life.

I hope to watch nationals live this year, because I never saw my dream come true: Winning for all the spellers who wanted to win, but never did. Whoever wins this year, know that every minute of studying was worth it all.

Here are some spelling bee resources:

http://spellingbee.com/

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/bee/

http://www.hexco.com/categories/National-Spelling-Bee/

http://freerice.com/ (You might want to go to one of the higher levels. Make sure the words are in Webster's Third, before adding the word to your list)

http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/noauth/mwlogin.php?return=/ (If you don't have a subscription, you may want one)
http://merriam-webster.com

http://spellingbee.com/consolidated-word-list

I promise to post some words, and my spelling bee career! Good luck to all the spellers this year!

Word of the Day

rapprochement \ˌra-ˌprōsh-ˈmäⁿ, -ˌprȯsh-; ra-ˈprōsh-ˌ\ [French] establishment or a state of cordial relations.