I'm Back!/Enrollment for the Bee/International Bee

I was very busy the last few months, therefore, I have not been able to post anything! I had to do so much school work, such as an online class so I would not have to take it next year, plus I have been busy writing and arranging music for my choir, coaching my friends for the Bee, and I had several vacations especially to Washington, D.C. for the second time in my life! I found several interesting words I will post once I go through my photos. That is why I had to hide my blog for a while, so nobody would wonder if I had lost an interest in the Bee (I haven't, just to let you know).

I will try my best to post during the school year, even with a crazy schedule. I'm entering my second year of high school (10th grade).

The enrollment period for the Bee have commenced! Tell your teachers, principals, etc. to sign your school up! Many students are not back in school yet, so when you get back to school, tell them!

I am really excited for the International Spelling Bee! There seem to be many countries who have expressed an interest, and I wonder if high schoolers will be able to do it. If so, I'd better get back to studying. I absolutely love international events, and that includes the Olympics!

What are some of your favorite sports-related/Olympic terms?

Have a great rest of the summer, school year, and good luck to all the spellers starting from the classroom all the way to the champion!

Words from Previous National Spelling Bees (2009)

Continuation from Other List http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6747294767928577816#editor/target=post;postID=540582122627744997


2009
mores
affluent
quomodo
vacillatory
isthmus
calque
asylum
civitas
scalene
Micawber
arrogance
verbiage
onychorrhexis
parabulia
acroamatic
tourelle
clary
cerecloth
fodient
toile
noisette
vaward
radiomimetic
nuncio
barbotte
gastaldo
hyalithe
voussoir
Sheol
perciatelli
strepitoso
deloul
poivrade
Santeria
clogwyn
epicrisis
senryu
caliche
imprimis
foudroyant
austausch
unakite
talipot
nisus
dauerlauf
Alastor
avalement
pogonip
ophelimity
geusioleptic
conchyliated
avoirdupois
blancmange
apodyterium
simnel
passacaglia
axolotl
hypallage
baignore
byssinosis
arrhostia
iliopsoas
oeillade
xebec
huisache
Neufchatel
cretonne
amaravole
becquerel 
Caerphilly
palatschinken
fackeltanz
jacqueminot
wisent
diacoele
reredos
antonomasia
bouquiniste
oriflamme
guayabera
isagoge
sophrosyne 
menhir
phoresy
Maecenas

I'll post more when I have more time. Sorry that I haven't posted forever, because I've been extremely busy, and I haven't been home a lot!

Root Word Study - Verein

I have not posted for a few weeks, but once I get back on my regular computer, I will post the rest of the words used in past National Spelling Bees.

For now I am going to do a root word study on verein. This word caught my attention when I saw a word in one of the German songs I sang (Serenade (Ständchen) Op. 135: Zögernd Leise by Schubert). vereinter (This is not a word in Webster's Third, but verein is). When you translate it into English, it means combined. According to Webster, verein means a usual social or political organization or association. 

There was a word at the National Spelling Bee that had this certain root: turnverein: an athletic club. In this case verein means club, but club has a similar meaning to organization and association.

Good luck, spellers, and I hope you are studying very diligently!

Words from Previous National Spelling Bees (2005-2008)

Words from Past Years

I will be posting several words starting from 2005, because that was the first year they stopped updating the Scripps Consolidated Word List.

2005
ornithorhynchous
pompier
Roscian
trouvaille
priscilla
xenocentric
coiffure
dissilient
daguerreotypes 
sphygmomanometer
filiciform
heterocoelous
cancrizans




2006
echinulate
probouleutic
cabotinage
kalema
panchreston
tychopotamic
campanile
saxifragous
oligophagous
criollo
involucre
cholinesterase
oxyblepsia
lansquenet
gisarme
tagliatelle
onager
arrondissement (This word was just used last night)
paronychia
rapprochement
tasajillo
incalescent
seicento
seicento
aeoline
rasceta
malentendu
sapajou
rya
apotropaic
feretory
mettwurst
durbar
olibanum
khedive
eremacausis
theremin
joual
Pierian
nullipara
sprachgeful
Weltschmerz
icteritious
totipalmate


2007
flebile
girolle
beccafico
zacate
aniseikonia
exsiccate
biwa
apozem
fauchard
cannetille
helzel
erinaceous
furfuraceous
epaulement
illeist
hilum
lambdacisms
mneme
hirudiniasis
lomilomi
oberek
meralgia
schuhplattler 
myoclonous
peirastic
onychomycosis
pschent
polyphydont
reseau
quipu
punaise (I remember this one specifically. The speller said that he would like to spell bedbug, because that is the meaning of the word)
Bewusstseinslage 
saimin 
yosenabe


2008
aporetic
piacular
emollience
amole
scission
podotheca
morceau
stollen
xylary
luftmensch
trochophore
duende
pullus
topepo
puissant
bricolage
solfatara
chevee
amylolysis
mcleod
tombolo
eremophyte
benzophenome
ansu
xerarch
Krummholz
sporangiophore
advocaat
ptarmic
oleocellosis
secernent
pourboire
duroc
tiqueur
miliary
hyssop
galbulus
ophthalmoplegia
redoppe
pyrrhotism
canicular
torii
trophallactic
bulbul
allotriophagy
picry
anticum
galeate
oceanodromous
bowdlerize
shamateurism
tralatitious
aurelian
cryptarithim
hemeralopia
empyrean
tautological
Huguenot
digerati
caduceus
propylaeum
escabeche
fumagillin
ziarat
bogatyr
lemel
parfleche
huapango (I'll admit that this is part of my password that I use for log ins plus a lot of numbers. I just do not use it for this blog or my emails)
ecrase 
posaune
thymele
oxylophytic
prosopopoeia
aptyalism
opificer
hyphaeresis
Kulturkampf
taleggio
monogoneutic
brankursine
Rorschach
numnah
boulangere
ranunculaceous


I will post 2009-2012 in another post!

Media Tour/Banquet/Summer Activities/International Bee

Snigdha Nandipati is on her media tour today after such an amazing win last night! If you missed out, her winning word was guetapens (getuh-pahn - light on the n) It is an ambush, snare, or trap, and it is from French. Today is also the banquet to honor the championship finalists, delicious food, and have fun! Spellers need to have fun, too, you know!


After this Bee, there is one more Bee to go: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Ivins, Utah (nearby St. George). There is a lot of audience participation from what I have heard, including a spelling bee for several audience members. Some of the words they use in the musical are pretty similar to the ones at the National Spelling Bee, so you might want to bring a pencil and a notebook. I really am excited to watch this show, because it will mix some of my favorite activities: the spelling bee and musical theater.

I will continue writing my spelling bee book series, and I hope to be finished with Book 7 by the end of the summer.

With summer classes, I will be taking Computer Technology and Financial Literacy. I do not want to graduate too early, but I want to graduate from high school with my associate's degree. During my junior year, I will be transferring to an early college high school.

The week after school gets out (June 8), I will be headed to Colorado for a church youth group camp, and I hope to have so much fun there!

My Bible Bee studies will commence once I get my materials. This will be my third year doing it, and I hope to have more time this summer, so I can hopefully make it to nationals! I also have been studying ahead with techniques and memorizing certain passages that may be in the Bee this year. The work is harder than the spelling bee, because in the Bible Bee, you either know it or you do not. In the spelling bee, if you get a word that you do not know, you could figure it out by using what you know.

Filmography is one of my favorite hobbies ever! This year I hope to get many pictures and videos at camp, so I can make actual videos. I am also planning to film some of the short plays my friends and I wrote.

The most exciting activity I am doing this summer is going back to Washington, D.C. I have been there once already, but I cannot wait to see all the sites again and others I have not seen. Perhaps we may visit the Gaylord National Hotel!

I do not know what else I will be doing this summer, but I will be able to do more spelling bee club planning.


Scripps is planning to start an international spelling bee, and it may be able to start in 2013. Right now, many of you know that spellers from different countries come from all over the world to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. If the international program is formally announced, the spellers will no longer compete at the national bee, but they will send the top three spellers from each country for the international competition.

There have been many international competitions, including the Olympics, World Choir Games, International Science and Engineering Fair, International Sustainable World (Engineering, Energy, and Environment) Project Olympiad, and many more. Now it is time for an actual international spelling bee. If they include high school students in it, I should start studying for the Bee again.

Great job to everyone, and good luck to those competing next year.

Congratulations, Snigdha Nandipati!/Recap

Snigdha from California is the champion! Her winning word was guetapens. She was so happy and joyful! My guess list was not messed up!

The only five-peat who has ever won the National Spelling Bee still remains at Kerry Close (2006). Nicholas Rushlow could have claimed the championship, but he misspelled vetiver (vetover). It is a type of grass in Asia. The origin is Tamil to French. Great job your final year, Nicholas! I swear I have seen that word somewhere in a perfume store (It is not all the time I am at a perfume store), but I did pay attention to some of the perfumes, even if I forgot all the names of them. I wish I had brought a notebook with me that day. When I heard the word, I had a feeling that there was a tricky spot (the schwa). When I heard French, i popped in my head. French derives from Latin, therefore the schwa in Latin is usually an i (In Greek, it's an o). That was also when I realized that I had seen that word before!


Arvind misspelled schwannoma, which comes from a German name. It was spelled schvonoma, but he will most likely be back next year! He misspelled Jugendstil last year, which is another German word, and it is now his favorite word!

Stuti Mishra misspelled schwarmerei. Now I know when this word was used: 2004 when Akshay Buddiga placed second. He misspelled the word, also. It is best to study results from prior years, because those words will appear again one year or another.

Here are the spellers who may have a shot at the national title: Arvind Mahankali, Vismaya Kharkar, Grace Remmer, Vanya Shivashankar, Lori Madison, Pranav Sivakumar, Rachael Cundey, and Emily Keaton. Rachael Cundey and Emily Keaton will be five-peats next year! Good luck to all the spellers, and congratulations! See you next year.

I will continue my posting throughout the summer (I end school next Friday). It is time to prepare for next year. I will be coaching a few of my friends and perhaps more!

Championship Finals

What a great introduction by 2011 Champion, Sukanya Roy! Feel the pressure! Who will win?

Misspelled Words so Far
canities (Round 7) conities
ridotto (Round 7) redatto
porwigle (Round 8) porwiggle

Nicholas almost startled me when he got rouille. If you remember him during the past years, he has received French words. In 2010, he misspelled devant. From 2009 to 2011, he has received French words during the first semifinal round.

Gifton still continues to amaze me with his amazing manners: "Please", "Thank You", and more! His coach coached the 1998 champion. He misspelled ericeticolous, but a great standing ovation!

Arvind just received the word quattrocento: I hope he doubles the consonant. He asked for alternate pronunciation, and there were laughs, and he gets the word right.

Nicholas is back up: vetiver. He just misspelled it as vetover. Those crazy schwas! He has been eliminated, but there are still a few other spellers left.

Lena just misspelled geistlich, and she received a standing ovation.

Three spellers remain: Snigdha Nandipati, Stuti Mishra, and Arvind Mahankali.

Commentary: They said that Nicholas may be back on the Olympics (he's a swimmer)

Snigdha: saccharolytic

Stuti: prolegomenon

Arvind: schwannoma was misspelled. (schvonoma). At least he has next year! Good luck!

Snigdha or Stuti - one of these two will be the champion. I'll be honest, but these two were unexpected, but at least they are on my guess list for the champion.

admittatur
chionoblepsia 
arrondissement (Thank you, French class)!
schwarmerei (I am 100% sure this has been used at the National Spelling Bee before!). And she misspells it? Could Snigdha be the champion?

Here it comes: guetapens, and Snigdha wins! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing! She seemed so happy, and it was well deserved! Congratulations!

Vismaya Kharkar - Salt Lake Valley Champion (2011 and 2012)

Speller #254 - Vismaya Kharkar has participated in the Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee since 2009 and has done amazing all those years, including 2011 and 2012. I do not remember what word she misspelled in 2009, but in 2010 I do not remember what happened with sarsaparilla, but there was some confusion with the word.

During the 2010 Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee I remember when she received the word Qatari, she turned to the pronouncer and asked something like, "If the word has a capital letter, do you have to say that it is capital?" She knew it, and I remember another of her words was cheka.

After that Bee my mom said that Vismaya would make it to nationals one day, do outstanding, and possibly win.  She has made it to nationals, done outstanding, and all she needs to do now is win. Now that she is out of the Bee for this year, she can start studying for next year. Utah has never had a champion, but it is possible that she may be first. Her fellow Utah spellers: #252 - Jared Ward and and #253 - Sophie Choate may be back next year.

Salt Lake Valley Champions and Winning Words:
2009: Henry Korous (precocious)
2010: Miranda Hulsey (plutonium)
2011: Vismaya Kharkar (infarction)
2012: Vismaya Kharkar (aberrant)

2011 National Spelling Bee

• Round 2: maillot
• Round 3: affianced

2012 National Spelling Bee

• Round 1: kielbasa
• Round 2: Requiem
• Round 4: dysthymia
• Round 5: allothogenic
• Round 6: pissaladiere (pisaladierre)

No speller from Utah has done this well. Last year, Anna-Marie Sprenger made it to Round 5 before misspelling privatim as privatum, but there is an actual word in Latin spelled privatum, which has a similar meaning ("not openly or in public")

Good luck to the Nine Championship Finalists tonight!

Update on June 1, 2012: http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile2/54218048-218/kharkar-national-bee-spelling.html.csp

Semifinals Updates/Championship Finalists

I am at school right now in a class where we seem to be doing nothing, so I have been following the results of the Bee, because I do not have access to ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3 here.

cephalalgia - "headache" or "pain in the head" (It has the Greek to Latin combining form cephal- meaning head. I remember this word, because it was used in the 2002 Documentary Spellbound.
hinoki
phalarope (phallorope)
stochastically
projicient
berserker
oxyacetylene
drosophilia
cicatrize
proselytizer
intravitam
coulisse
endergonic
nefast
cassideous
nephropathy
freddo (fredo)
cancrivorous
ditokous
polyptych
mumpsimus
carpophore
attermine
ergastulum
sylloge (syllogy)
pidan
tendenz (tendentz)
sciophyte (sciaphyte)
toxophilite
frore
caryatid
exergue
douceur
mephitis
stannum
pratincolous (pretincolous)
bacitracin
monocotyledon (This word was used in my Biology class)
victorine
cataphract
enthymeme 
survigrous (servigrous)
catallatics
phlogistic
tondino
cochineal
pleurodynia (pleuradynia)
podilegous (podilogous)
dysthymia (Go, Vismaya!)
habendum


I will stop at those words for now, because I have to go to my next class.

Update: Vismaya is headed to Round 6. This is Utah's best!
Her words:
Round 4: dysthymia
Round 5: allothogenic


Unfortunately, Vismaya misspelled pissaladiere as pisaladierre. Congratulations, Vismaya! I hope you make it back to nationals next year! This is the best Utah has done at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, ever! Rahul Malayappan, Vanya Shivashankar, Grace Remmer, and Nabeel Rahman were also eliminated in earlier rounds, and they were also high contenders to win.


Apparently Rounds 5 and 6 were the killer rounds this year.

Here are the Championship Finalists (9) - that is the least there has been, but these spellers are really strong!:

Speller #19 - Snigdha Nandipati (San Diego, California) - She always seems to be confident under pressure.
Speller #30 - Frank Cahill (Parker, Colorado) - This may be his first year, but he has been impressive.
Speller #44 - Stuti Mishra (West Melbourne, Florida) - She is a semifinalist from last year, and she may win or have a very high ranking.
Speller #89 - Gifton Wright (Spanish Town, Jamaica) - His manners are impressive, and he seems to be very confident. If he wins, he will be the second Jamaican and the second speller from a different country to win the National Spelling Bee (1998 - Jody-Anne Maxwell from Jamaica)
Speller #136 - Jordan Hoffman (Lee's Summit, Missouri)
Speller #162 - Arvind Mahankali (Bayside Hills, New York) - Keep in Mind: Only 2011 Championship Finalists Remaining!!!!
Speller #193 - Nicholas Rushlow (Pickerington, Ohio) - He finally made it to Championship Finals after all this time! He is the only five-peat remaining in the Bee.
Speller #213 - Lena Greenberg - The constant motion seems to calm her down.

Good luck and congratulations, everyone! I will be posting tonight!

Round 1 Words Out/Semifinals

Spellers had to get at least 23 points to advance to semifinals, and fifty spellers will be heading to semifinals.    http://cdn.spellingbee.com/bee/round_one.pdf. I read in a news article that Vanya Shivashankar was the only speller to get a perfect score.

Semifinals will commence at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time, and it will be nerve-wracking. Although I am not competing, I feel as if I am going to faint. As I was working on advanced assignments, I was sweating, and I got very dizzy. 

There may be many favorites this year, but I have no idea who will win. 

Possibilities of the Champion

Five-Peats and Four Peats: #31 - Rahul Malayappan and #193 - Nicholas Rushlow; #49 - Rachael Cundey, #79 - Gina Solomito, and #94 - Emily Keaton

2011 National Spelling Bee Finalists: #155 - Nabeel Rahman and #162 - Arvind Mahankali (highest returning finisher from last year)

Canadians: #25 - Jennifer Mong and #27 - Mignon Tsai

Spellers Who Were One Round Off of Making it to Championship Finals: #40 Grace Remmer, #42 Vaidya Govindarajan

Others - #19 - Snigdha Nandipati, #44 - Stuti Mishra, #66 - Pranav Sivakumar, #89 - Gifton Wright, #92 - Vanya Shivashankar, #185 - Sunny Levine, #237 - Chetan Reddy, #213 - Lena Greenberg #254 - Vismaya Kharkar, and #264 - Jae Canetti

I am almost sure that one of these spellers will win! Perhaps there may be co-champions! Good luck to the remaining fifty spellers!

Semifinalists Announced/Recap on Preliminaries

After two grueling rounds today, semifinalists have been determined!

There are fifty semifinalists, and that is a first in such as very long time!
http://internal.spellingbee.com/files/spellingbee.com/semifinalists.pdf

This is Utah's second year advancing to semifinals, and the first time a speller from the Salt Lake Valley has gone this far! Go Vismaya Kharkar! She has competed in the Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee since it first began in 2009. I think she placed ninth her first year, sixth the second year, and she finally made it in 2011 and 2012). Last year she did not advance to semifinals, but one of her fellow Utah spellers did.

Both five-peats, Nicholas Rushlow and Rahul Malayappan advanced to semifinals.

Two of three Canadians: Jennifer Mong and Mignon Tsai will be on stage tomorrow.

Two of three 2011 Championship Finalists: Nabeel Rahman and Arvind Mahankali will be vying for that trophy.

Vanya Shivashankar will be heading to semifinals! She is the sister of 2009 Champion, Kavya Shivashankar!

There is one speller who is at the national bee for his first time: Jae Canetti. He did very well in 2010 (fourth) and 2011 (second) at his local bee, and he finally came to nationals this year! He started competing as a second grader, and he was also in the same local bee as Tim Ruiter back in 2010. Tim tied for second at the 2009 National Spelling Bee which made him a favorite to win in 2010, even if he did not.

I also have to congratulate Speller #238, as well, because she commented on my blog on one of my posts. Congratulations, Abigail Spitzer, and good luck tomorrow!

Preliminaries Recap

I was only able to watch the first half of Round 2 before heading to school. During my first period today, we did not do anything, so I followed the results on the Bee website. There were many known words, but there were some I had never heard of before. A lot of the words came from Spell It! apparently, then the rest came from the Sponsor Bee Guide. I am about to watch the replays of the Bee, but I will post on what I had while I was watching.

Before one of the spellers received her word, there was a long pause. That must have been very nerve-wracking for her, but she got through her word flawlessly, and she will be going to semifinals!

The sentences were pretty hilarious this year. One of them was with the word irrepressible. "...irrepressible urge to shout "Hi, Mom and Dad!"

I have been impressed with the Jamaicans at the National Spelling Bee. Every single speller from there has had amazing manners, such as "Please" and "Thank You, Sir". Great job on keeping that up, Gifton Wright, and good luck tomorrow!

Great job, Vanya on using your knowledge of roots on debellation!

Since I'm from Utah, I should post the words the the spellers from my state spelled in Rounds 2 and 3.

Round 2:
Jared Ward: etesian
Sophie Choate: mellifluous
Vismaya Kharkar: kielbasa


Round 3:
Jared Ward: rayonnant
Sophie Choate: amniocentesis 
Vismaya Kharkar: Requiem 


I was just watching speller #126 in Round 3 when he received the word idiosyncratically. When he realized that he misspelled the word, he just started to mix in a bunch of random letters and numbers. That is the best mess-up I have ever seen so far in all the years of the Bee! This was what he spelled: i-o- (he knew he messed up) q-r-s-z-3-4 (he said cuatro) - f-l-v-r-q. I think this is funnier than sardoodledom!
Good luck to the fifty spellers heading to semifinals tomorrow!

Round 1 Test/Rounds 2 and 3

Many of you, spellers, have completed the Round 1 Test, but some of you have not even taken the test yet. It is very nerve-wracking to wait, but remain calm and relax. Remember that once you are finished with the test, you must not tell other spellers the words, because you may be eliminated. The same goes for school: Do not tell other students who have not taken the test what is going to be on it, or else it will result in a zero (at least at my school). One 25 of the 50 words will be chosen as score words.

Rounds 2 and 3
You will be facing the lights, cameras, and audience tomorrow, but do not worry. All you need to do is block out all the distractions around you, and focus on the word. Make sure you look presentable and clean, because you will be in front of the cameras. Do not bite your nails, run your fingers through your hair, etc.

When you get your word, make sure you ask the questions you can ask. These words will come from the Sponsor Bee Guide List you were given and Spell It! If you misspell a word, the bell will not ring, but Dr. Bailly will provide the correct spelling for you. Each word spelled correctly in these rounds are three points.

After Rounds 2 and 3, semifinalists will be announced. Rounds 1, 2, and 3 can total up to 31 points. No more than fifty spellers will be named semifinalists. Last year only forty-one spellers advanced to semifinals.

I do not want to put a lot of pressure on any of you, but remember to be confident while you are spelling. Good luck!

Round 1 Test, Tomorrow!

I know today is the barbecue, but tomorrow is the notorious Round 1 Test! From what I've heard, it is computerized this year.

1. Make sure you read a lot tonight, because those words may appear on the test.
2. There are fifty words on the test, but only twenty-five will go to your full score (combined with Rounds 2 and 3). This score will determine if you advance to semifinals or not.
3. Relax and listen to the word. Pay attention to the pronunciation, and read all the information.
4. If you do not know how to spell a word, make your best guess using your knowledge of patterns.
5.You can go back to a word and change it.
6. After the test, do not talk about the words to the other spellers, because this may cause elimination.

Here is the test from last year to help you practice: http://spellingbee.com/sample-test

Good luck!

Five-Peats, and Possibly Six-Peats and Seven-Peats!/Do Not Underestimate What a Young Child Can Do

What does it take to be a five-peat? A lot of diligence, dedication, and time and effort. Not very many spellers become five-peats. This year, Nicholas Rushlow and Rahul Malayappan are the first five-peats since 2008, and both of them said that it is a lot of hard work! For example, Nicholas said that he spent hours studying, and ever since his first year in 2008, he never took a break from studying.

In a few years, we will probably see six-peats and seven-peats. Lori Madison (Age 6) is the youngest speller in the history of the Bee. This proves that you should not underestimate what a young child can do.

It is not just Lori, but others, as well. Sriram Hathwar was the other record holder before Lori, and he did very well his first year, even if he did not advance to semifinals. His second year, he was able to advance to semifinals, then he missed 2010, but he improved his ranking in 2011 tying for sixth. Unfortunately, he will not be heading to nationals this year, but we hope to see him in the upcoming years.

Other than the spellers, you may have seen Andrew Johnston on Britain's Got Talent and Jackie Evancho on America's Got Talent. They are amazing and beautiful singers, and they both placed very high. Someone younger than you can do better than you, but age does not matter.

Good luck!

Bee Week Has Arrived/Memorial Day/Fun Facts

It is time for Bee Week to begin, but let us begin with important business. Tomorrow is Memorial Day - a day to honor those who died for our country.

Here are some words in honor of this important day:

• patriotic
• honor
• flowers
• barbecue
• monument
• marines
• soldier
• memories
• unknown
• tomb
• battle
• legion
• cemetery
• remembrance 
• casualties
• ceremonies
• commemorate
• valor

Fun Facts About the Scripps National Spelling Bee: 

• It is the nation's longest educational program!
• The first National Spelling Bee (1925) only had nine spellers. This year, there are 278 spellers going participating, but the record was in 2009 (293 spellers). 
• The first winning word was "gladiolus", and last year's winning word was "cymotrichous". The Bee has come a long way since then.
• Bee Week has more than just spelling; it takes place in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, so I think you can assume what many spellers love to do: sight-seeing! Spellers also go to a barbecue on Memorial Day, they hang out with friends, they cheer for and congratulate each other, there is a banquet on Friday, and so much more!
• The official pronouncer of the the Bee, Dr. Jacques Bailly, was the 1980 Champion (winning word: elucubrate); The director of the Bee, Paige Pipkin Kimble, was the 1981 Champion (winning word: sarcophagus); One of the judges, Blake Giddens, was the 1983 Champion (winning word: Purim); another judge, George Thampy, was the 2000 Champion (winning word: demarche).

I will post more facts as the week goes along! For now, good luck spellers and "may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Most Spellers Will Arrive in D.C. Tomorrow!/Spelling Bee Trailer

Good luck, spellers! Most of you will be headed to the Bee tomorrow, and I cannot wait to watch the Bee!

Here is a Spelling Bee Trailer I Made in Honor of the Bee

8 More Days Until Spellers Arrive in D.C.

It has been a while since my last post! I have had a lot of testing, activities, choir performances, and student council elections.

Here are some study tips:

• Study word origins - roots, patterns, exceptions, and words from unknown and imitative origins
• Parts of Speech - patterns and exceptions
• Rules to Words
• Memorize rules, such as i before e, except after c, but there are exceptions to this rule, as well.
• Practice as if you were actually in a spelling bee (ask questions and think deeply)
• If this helps, do something while studying, such as video games, jump rope, Legos, basketball, and more!

Some Rules 

-Ent/-Ence and -Ant/-Ance

-ant and -ent: used to create nouns and adjectives, and -ance and -ence are used to create nouns. There are not many rules that will help with most of these words, so memorizing is the best way to go. 

• After a soft c (with an s sound) or g (with a j sound), use -ent/-ence (rubescent/acquiescence)
• After a hard c or g, use -ant/-ance. (mitigant/elegance)

-Ise, -Ize, and -Yze Ending

All of them have the eyes sound. 

-ise  is usually from French (abscise)

-ize (cause to form) is usually from Latin (systemize)

-yze is usually from Latin, which is found in the root -lyze meaning to produce or go under disintegration (acetolyze) and comes from the Latin root -lysis (decomposition; breaking down) 

If if an l is heard before the eyes sound, check to see if it is a variant of one of the verbs (-lyze), and if it is not, spell it -lize.

Good luck, and I will try to post more!

Consolidated Word List/Bee Schedule/Spelling Bee in the Summer

Thanks to the speller who gave me the link to the Consolidated Word List!

Consolidated Word List Please Read the Preface

Television Schedule (You can watch all on ESPN 3)
Preliminaries - ESPN3 - Wednesday, May 30 - 8:00 A.M. Eastern (I guess I have to be up before 6:00 Rocky Mountain Time; I will be watching and posting only before I go to school, so I will be able to watch for two hours. I will watch the replay when I get home)
Semifinals - ESPN2 - Thursday, May 31 - 10:00 A.M. Eastern (I will watch the replay before Championship Finals when I return from school)
Championship Finals - ESPN Thursday, May 31 - 8:00 P.M. Eastern

Speller Schedule
Most Spellers Arrive in D.C./Registration (Gaylord National Hotel) - Sunday, May 27
Memorial Day Barbecue - Monday, May 28 (I'm pretty sure it's on this day as they usually have it.)
Round 1 Test - May 29 - Various Times Throughout the Morning (I don't know if it's written or computerized this year, but they have returned to the fifty words, but only having twenty-five go to the full score)
Preliminaries, Semifinals, Championship Finals - See Television Schedule

Replays of the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee
http://espn.go.com/espn3/spellingbee

The spelling bee continues throughout the summer, and it's not just spellers studying. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will be playing at Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Ivins, Utah (near St. George, Utah). For several years, I have been going to the Tuacahn Amphitheatre, and every show I've seen has impressed me, and I hope this show will impress me, too! I imagine the show is different every performance (It was nominated for six Tony Awards, and it won two, including Best Book). I guess it is going to be a great way to put my love for spelling and musical theater together!
Here is my post on the show, and keep in mind that it is not a review: http://annespellingbee.blogspot.com/2012/03/spelling-bee-musical.html

Good luck to all the spellers!

27 More Days Until Spellers Arrive!

Bee Week is almost here, and 278 spellers will compete for the championship. 

Here are some of the statistics according to the Scripps National Spelling Bee website.

• 136 boys and 142 girls
• One six-year-old (the youngest ever in Bee history), two eight-year-olds, one nine-year-old, thirteen 10-year-olds, 26 eleven-year-olds, 69 twelve-year-olds, 96 thirteen-year-olds, 67 fourteen-year-olds, and three fifteen-year-olds. The thirteen-year-olds always seem to have the highest number.
• One second grader, two third graders, three fourth graders, 24 fifth graders, 43 sixth graders, 94 seventh graders, 111 eighth graders. The eighth graders have the highest number.
• Most spellers go to public schools (193 spellers), next are private schools (39 spellers), then home (28 spellers), after are parochial schools (16 spellers), and charter schools (2 spellers). If my friend made it to the National Spelling Bee, there would have been three spellers from charter schools. 

Words that May Help at Nationals

It is important to review Spell It! and the Sponsor Bee Guides, because these will be helpful in Rounds 2 and 3.

In Rounds 4 and above, words will come from Webster's Third New International Dictionary Unabridged (2002). For the last few years, it seems as if words in these rounds come back four years or more after using them, but usually in a lower round. 

These words may be used this year:

huapango

opificer

oxylophytic

secernent

fauchard

reblochon 

thymele

ornithorhynchous

It is also very helpful to study the Consolidated Word List. This list hasn't been published since 2004. Please look up the list and study it! 

More Words:

randori

ichthyoid

chastushka

tzigane

szomolnokite

veszelyite

Tacitean

caixinha

katzenjammer

trichotillomania

marmennill

ethnarch

nicoise

Talavera

Meissen

Percheron

sunglo

soubise

It is also important to read. Right now, I am reading Pride and Prejudice, and the word panegyric is in the novel. Panegyric was used in Round 4 at the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Reading pays off! I also suggest reading Les Miserables, even if most of the words are French, but words such as oriflamme, devant, nisus, reredos, and many other words are in this in-depth but amazing novel.

32 More Days Until Spellers Arrive in D.C.!

One of my teachers once said, "Due dates are closer than they appear!", and since the National Spelling Bee ended last year, I knew it would come quickly. Now it is only almost a month away! If there is anything you want me to post about, please comment or email me at spellingchamp135@gmail.com. 

Some Tips:

• Before going on stage, do not absorb lists of words into your head that you will most likely not receive, especially during the Round 1 Test, Semifinals, and Championship Finals.
• Do not think about the bell when you are spelling a word, because if you think about it, you will be worried and most likely misspell your word.
• Think of all the possible spellings for the word you receive.
• If you do not know a word, use your knowledge of etymology patterns to figure out the spelling (this includes roots and combining forms).
• Block out the entire audience when you are spelling your word.
• Ask proper questions and think the entire time - you only have two minutes and thirty seconds to spell your word.

After my spelling bee career was over, there was a lot that I had moved onto other things such as high school, the Science Fair, returning to theater (professional and amateur), babysitting, leadership skills, music and audio recordings, filmography, return to dance, and so much more! During my Bee years I had choir, flute, other musical instruments, sports, and so much more, but after all that time, more activities were added, and I have had to keep a 4.0 GPA, or else the consequences would be severe. Think about what you will do after your Bee years, because life is not all about the Spelling Bee.

I thought everything would change after my spelling bee career, but very little changed. I have been more dedicated to my school studies more than ever, and I have been studying words still, even if it is no longer for the National Spelling Bee. There are many esoteric words I have to learn in my Biology, Math, English, Geography/Ancient Civilizations, and other classes. 

My sister, friends, and one of my cousins have been studying for the Bee, and one of these years I hope at least one of them will make it to the National Spelling Bee and possibly take the championship. 

I wish all spellers the best of luck and may you all do well!

34 More Days Until Spellers Arrive in D.C.!

The 85th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is almost here! 278 spellers will be competing for the championship. The competition is not against the other spellers, but it is against the dictionary. Keep that in mind, because the spelling bee is not just about spelling. There is so much to do, such as go on tours, make and hang out with friends, and so much more

This year, there are two 5-peats, four 4-peats, fourteen 3-peats, and fifty-two 2-peats.

More Statistics of the Bee:
http://spellingbee.com/statistics

Vanya Shivashankar, the sister of the 2009 National Spelling Bee Champion, Kavya Shivashankar, will be returning to nationals! http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/92

The youngest speller this year and in the history of the Bee is Lori Anne Madison (http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/269). When I watched an interview of her, I was amazed at the way she spoke and her ability to spell these words at a very young age. If she does not win before eighth grade, she may possibly be a 7-peat.

Three spellers this year were also championship finalists last year:
Nabeel Rahman (http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/155),
Arvind Mahankali (http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/162),
and Samuel Estep (http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/268).
Arvind is the highest returning finisher this year (he tied for third last year).

There have not been any five-peats since Matthew Evans and Tia Thomas in 2008.
Rahul Malayappan (http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/31)
and Nicholas Rushlow (http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/193)
are the two five-peats. Last year, Nicholas tied for 14th, and he is a contender for the championship this year.

Utah has two spellers returning the the National Spelling Bee for the second time. This has not happened since 2006-2007.
Jared Ward (http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/252)
Vismaya Kharkar (http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/254)
The other speller from Utah joining them this year is
Sophie Choate (http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2012/253)
Spellers from Sophie's area of Utah seem to have backgrounds of languages, visiting other countries, etc. According to her profile, she has been on research trips to several countries, and she studies Italian. Last year, Anna Marie-Sprenger had backgrounds of several languages, and she advanced to semifinals. Let's see if it happens again this year.

Good luck to all of the spellers, and I hope you all do your best!

Spell with Your Dream!
Spell with Your Heart!
Spell with Your Love!

Good Luck at the National Spelling Bee, Vismaya!

About a month ago, Vismaya Kharkar won the Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee for the second year in a row. Last year at nationals she tied for forty-second unfortunately not advancing to semifinals. This year, she has another chance to do better than last year. There is a possibility that she may win this year or next year, and if she does, she will be Utah's first champion to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Vismaya did amazing her first two years, placing ninth in 2009 and sixth in 2010. In 2011, she prevailed and finally won the Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee (her winning word was infarction). This year, her winning word was aberrant (straying from the right, or normal way).

I wish her and her fellow Utahns (Jared Ward and Sophie Choate) the best of luck! Jared Ward is also returning to nationals for the second time!

http://www.midvalejournal.com/pages/full_story/10462/Second-time-regional-spelling-bee-winner-returns-to-D.C./

53 More Days! - It is Almost Time!/Memories

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is almost here! There are 53 more days until most spellers arrive in Washington, D.C. (May 27). There are so many spellers returning this year, including several five-peats and four-peats.

This year also includes six-year-old Lori Madison, the youngest speller to ever make it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. There is a possibility that she may be the first seven-peat at the Bee if she does not win before that. 

The spellers from Utah this year:

Speller          Sponsor
Jared Ward  (Southeast Education Service Center, Price, Utah)   Two-peat
Sophie Choate (Daily Herald, Provo, Utah)
Vismaya Kharkar (The Valley Journals, Salt Lake City)   Two-peat

Jared Ward
http://www.etv10news.com/component/k2/item/1921-7th-grader-repeats-as-regional-spelling-bee-champion

Sophie Choate
http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/spelling-bee-winner-takes-prize-with-mordacious/article_e680f670-5bda-5bc2-9467-aa9e321a6037.html

There is no article for Vismaya Kharkar yet, but I learned it from a friend.

Vismaya is from my area, and she did amazing at nationals last year, even if she did not advance to the semifinals. The Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee winning word from last year was: infarction. Her Rounds 2 and 3 words were maillot and affianced. She first competed as a fourth grader in 2009 placing ninth, next was 2010 when she placed sixth, but she pushed hard in 2011 to make it to nationals for her first time. She's now returning to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Is there a possibility that she may win in this year or next year? Utah has never had a champion at the National Spelling Bee. Go Vismaya!

I'm pretty sure at least one speller from Utah, if not all three, will make it to semifinals. Utah has not had a two-peat at nationals since 2006-2007 (Kunal Sah), but there are 2 two-peats this year! Go Utah!

Last year, only one of the four spellers from Utah made it to Semifinals: Anna-Marie Sprenger. When I read the article about her win, I was impressed that she had hardly studied, but she had a background knowledge of many languages. She misspelled privatim as privatum. Privatum is an actual word in Latin, but it is not in Webster's Third. It just has a similar meaning and pronunciation as privatim. You may have heard the term ius privatum, which means "private law". Anna-Marie seemed so confident with her spelling, but Utah is still proud of her.

My sister first competed as a fourth grader in a homeschool bee with the K12 program, and she placed fourth her first year. The speller who won her Bee really impressed me, even if he was out in the first round last year. His mother told me that he knew every word on that list, but struggled with the word he misspelled (I believe it was semantics). In 2012, I don't remember what she placed, because there were hundreds of students in her school bee. At least she has three years left.

My Spelling Bee Career is a very long story that it is hard to put everything into detail, especially my final year. To read about important parts of my career in the bee, please go under Pages and click on Spelling Bee Career. My spelling bee goal now is to help other spellers reach their goals through this blog and a spelling bee club I have been working on. Right now, I only have spellers that I see and talk to often, but in the future, other spellers from the Salt Lake Valley and around are welcome to attend. If you are not from the area, I will be posting videos on this blog of the sessions, or I will make a website and post them there.

Good luck to all the spellers, and I will be watching!

Looking Back to My Bee Years/Some Advice to Spellers

My love words and spelling began when I was two while watching Sesame Street. At that age, I had no idea what a spelling bee was. When I got to first grade, there was a spelling bee contest, and I won it. That was when I learned about Spellbound and the Scripps National Spelling Bee. While watching Spellbound back in 2004, I knew that I wanted to be at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

I began to study a lot, and in 2005, I watched the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the first time ever. The words amazed me and so did the spellers. Anurag Kashyap, Aliya Deri, and Samir Patel were the last three spellers standing. All three amazed me, including Samir Patel. I looked up to him in the 2006-2007 Bees, and I was disappointed when he lost. 

During my final year of the Bee, I remember being encouraged by friends, family, and many others, but after a mispronunciation and ambiguous answers to the word tentacled (it was pronounced tin-tuh-cuhled), I was disappointed. I had studied so hard for years without missing one day of studying. A few months later, I realized that some of the best spellers don't win the National Spelling Bee, and this includes many spellers that I looked up to over the years (Tia Thomas, Samir Patel, Matthew Evans, Tim Ruiter, Neetu Chandak, Laura Newcombe, and so much more).

I began planning a spelling bee club, and right now, I have a few spellers.

During one of my advanced math classes over the summer, I realized that my spelling bee studies really helped with my studying out of spelling. When I began high school, I felt very dedicated to it, and I still do. The spelling bee changed the course of my life.

• Study a lot
• Be dedicated
• If you don't win the National Spelling Bee, be happy with your placement.
• Remain calm on stage.
• Before competing, do something other than spelling (reading, playing video games, talk with friends, etc.)
• Always do your best!

Good luck spellers!

2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee Schedule

The 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee

This year, 277 spellers will compete for the title of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.

Schedule

Preliminaries
May 30, 8am - 5:30pm
Live on ESPN3.com

Semifinals
May 31, 10am - 1pm
Live on ESPN2

Championship Finals
May 31, 8pm - 10pm
Live on ESPN

Two Official Five-Peats!!!!

I was researching for spelling bee articles, when one of them popped out at me. When I saw the words For the fifth straight year..., I opened the article. http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Danbury-boy-spells-it-like-it-is-3432399.php Rahul Malayappan will be heading back to the Scripps National Spelling Bee for his fifth time! His winning word was dihedral. 

The other five-peat is Nicholas Rushlow who tied for 14th last year. Both Rahul and Nicholas are no longer eligible to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee after this year.

There have not been five-peats at the Bee since Matthew Evans and Tia Thomas in 2008, but there has not been a five-peat champion since Kerry Close in 2006. If either five-peat wins, that speller will be the second five-peat to ever win the Scripps National Spelling Bee!

Good luck!

Utah Valley Spelling Bee Champion/Official Five-Peat/Dedication

Congratulations to Sophie Choate for winning the Utah Valley Spelling Bee yesterday! Her winning word was mordacious (biting or given to biting; ). She's always wanted to go the Scripps National Spelling Bee since an early age, and here she comes!

You may realize that the Latin root mordac means "biting". Good luck, Sophie, and represent Utah well!

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/spelling-bee-winner-takes-prize-with-mordacious/article_e680f670-5bda-5bc2-9467-aa9e321a6037.html

I Googled "spelling bee", and I found out that there will be a five-peat heading to nationals: Nicholas Rushlow. It seems as if he will continue studying even after the National Spelling Bee. It is a true passion to him and many other spellers at the Bee, but I hardly know many spellers who continue studying after their spelling bee years.

http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20120318/NEWS01/203180301/Rushlow-heads-D-C-again-spelling-bee?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage

Quote from the Article: "It's pretty cool going five years in a row because not many people have done that," Rushlow said. "One of my friends, Matthew Evans, did that a couple years back. I quiz with him occasionally, so I'm trying to follow what he did." 

It's true that there haven't been five-peats since 2008: Tia Thomas and Matthew Evans. 

Tia told me that even if the spelling bee is over, she used all that time and dedication to other things. She has done very well in the Science and Engineering Fair, even if she never advanced to the international level, and she has been the National Bible Bee three times.

I'll admit that I still study spelling when I find time. I still love to highlight and look up words when I read, I have enjoyed studying languages and actually researching many cultures. In Biology, I enjoy memorizing and studying roots that are found in many science terms. In French, I always read my French dictionary and write down several interesting words and/or words that I had seen in the spelling bee (my French teacher seems to use the term devoirs - homework. Devoir was the actual word used). In English, we have Word of the Day, and we have a wall of words. In the front is the word, and in the back, it has the information. We play games and study roots to help us remember them.

Good luck to all the spellers!

More Local Spelling Bees - 72 More Days Until Nationals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There will be more final local spelling bees soon, and many spellers have already qualified for nationals. I wish everyone the best of luck!

The Canspell National Spelling Bee will take place on March 28. The top three spellers from Canada will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Good luck to the 21 spellers!

http://www.canada.com/canspell/COUNTDOWN+CANSPELL+Announcing+Finalists+2012+Postmedia+Canspell+Final+Toronto/6309408/story.html

The Utah Valley Spelling Bee will be on March 17 at the Scera Theatre in Orem. (I got the date wrong on an earlier post, so please ignore that other post). Whoever wins that Bee will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Bee Week is 72 days away!

Youngest Speller EVER to Advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee

Never underestimate anyone younger than you. Sriram Hathwar used to hold the record of being the youngest speller at the Scripps National Spelling Bee when he was eight (second grade), but someone younger has made it to nationals this year: Lori Anne Madison (only six-years-old and in the second grade). She also competed last year (I assume it was when she was five). That was even before I began studying for the National Spelling Bee!

http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2012/mar/09/8/lori-anne-madison-6-wins-prince-william-spelling-b-ar-1754744/

And the Salt Lake Valley Champion is.../Utah and the Bee

This is a first time a speller from Utah has made it to the National Spelling Bee twice since 2006-2007. The champion is Vismaya Kharkar! My friend told me that she was the champion! She began competing in 2009, and she advanced to nationals in 2011. Unfortunately, she did not advance to semifinals last year, but I have a strong feeling that she will this year!

It's not only Vismaya this year, but Jared Ward of Southeastern Utah made it back to nationals this year, too! There are two 2-peats from Utah this year (this has never happened)! Good luck, and I will be rooting for both of you!

I think the 2011-2012 Bees have had strong spellers from Utah! Last year, Anna-Marie Sprenger of Provo, Utah (Daily Herald), advanced to the semifinals, being the first speller from Utah to advance to that level ever since the beginning of the notorious written test in 2002. Unfortunately, she will not be able to return this year, because she is too old to compete. From 2009 and 2010, I remember that there were spellers who represented the same sponsor as Anna-Marie, who would still have a few more years to compete. I do not remember their names, but this year one is a seventh grader and the other is an eighth grader. If one of those two return to nationals, there will be three 2-peats.

The Bee will be very exciting this year!

2012 Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee/Tips/Sorry I Haven't Been Writing Lately/Updates

Spellers from the Salt Lake Valley, be prepared on March 10 (Saturday), because it is time to determine the speller who will be competing at the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee! There will be 75 schools competing (that's about five less than last year).

Date: March 10, 2012

Location: Juan Diego Catholic High School - 300 East 11800 South, Draper, Utah 84020

Time: 8:30 A.M. (make sure you are there earlier if you are a participant)

I do not know if I will be there, but I wish you all the best of luck to you and other spellers from around the world!

Past Champions:

2009 - Henry Korous

2010 - Miranda Hulsey

2011 - Vismaya Kharkar

Tips

After the pronouncer says the word to you:

• Say the word back to him/her.
• Ask questions: definition, origin, part of speech, sentence, and alternate pronunciations.
• Make sure you think hard.
• If you are in the middle of a word and need to start over, say, "May I please start over", and make sure you retrace the letters you first said, because once you say a letter, it cannot be taken back.
• Say the word, spell it, then say the word again (saying the word before and after spelling is not required, but it is best so the judges know when you start and finish)
• Take all the time you need (for several bees), but at the national competition the time limit is 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

As you spell the word do not be nervous or think about anything else. Completely block out the audience and focus on the word.

Good luck and have fun!

By the way, I have not been writing as much lately, because I have been busy with studies, choir, school, activities, helping spellers study, and a lot more. 

• This was my first year doing the science fair, and I advanced to the district level (some of my friends took many years to even reach this level). Unfortunately, I was a few points away from advancing to the regional science fair, which is the final level before the international level. I have already started my project for next year. 
• I advanced to the state level (also the final level) of Art Inspirations in two categories: Literature and Music Composition.
• I sang at several 10th Anniversary 2002 Winter Olympics Events.
• I had to do registration for classes next year (don't expect me to post a lot next year with a lot college credit (AP) and honors classes).

Spelling Bee Musical

I do not know how accurate the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is compared to many local competitions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but I heard it is a great musical. About a year ago, I learned that one of my favorite songs (Spelling Bee Rules) is in that musical. Spelling Bee Rules has been used at several of the national spelling bees.


Lyrics
Now for the official spelling bee rules (ding!)
A speller (repeat)
May ask questions (repeat)
About the words pronunciation and definition (definition)
Its use in a sentence (in a sentence)
And its language of origin (language of origin)
Once you start to spell a word you may start over,
but the sequence of the letters already spoken may not be changed.


There is also a lot of audience participation, and a lot of times characters drop the "fourth wall" (an imaginary wall keeping performers from directly addressing or recognizing their audience). The audience members are treated as audience members in a fictitious spelling bee. There are many examples, such as one of the characters refering to an age-appropriate woman near the stage as his mother.

This summer I may have a chance to see it in Southern Utah. I assume it's also to celebrate the 85th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Speller Makes it Back After Missing 2011/Five-Peats

As I was searching for spelling bee articles of recent local bees, I came across one that might interest others. The sister Kavya Shivashankar (2009 National Spelling Bee Champion), Vanya, will be heading back to Washington, D.C. for the second time. She missed the 2011 Bee, but she is back this year. She is a contender for that trophy, and I wish her good luck!

http://www.kmbc.com/r/30420304/detail.html

There may be two five-peats this year: Nicholas Rushlow and Rahul Malayappan. Unfortunately this is their last year, so they are contenders as well. There have not been any five-peats since 2008, and there has been only one five-peat champion (2006 - Kerry Close).

Good luck to all of you, and if one of my friends make it, I'll see you at nationals!

Congratulations to the First National Qualifier!

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120202/lead/lead1.html

The Bee is getting closer all the time! A speller from Jamaica has qualified to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. From past years spellers from Jamaica have done exceptionally well at the National Spelling Bee, but in 1998 Jody-Ann Maxwell won the Scripps National Spelling Bee!

Good luck to the rest of the spellers competing!

Final Spelling Bees Commence!

Today is the start of many final spelling bees before the Scripps National Spelling Bee! This is very exciting, but some final Bees do not come until March or April!

For the spellers from the Salt Lake Valley:

Date: March 10, 2012
Location: Juan Diego Catholic High School Auditorium (300 East 11800 South  Draper, Utah 84020)
Time: It's somewhere between 8:30 to 9:00 (I think)

I do not know how many spellers there will be this year, because it seems to double every year! In 2009 there were about twenty spellers, in 2010 there were about 40 spellers, and in 2011 there were about 80 spellers.

For the spellers from Utah Valley/Wasatch Mountain Range/and the other locations around that area:

Date: March 24, 2010
Location: Scera Theater (745 South State Street  Orem, Utah 84058)
Time: I have to find this out, so watch for more details!

Last year, a speller from the Utah Valley advanced to the semifinals. Unfortunately she was eliminated in Round 5 with the word privatim (privatum), but she was outstanding the entire Bee. She has been the only speller from Utah to make it past preliminaries ever since the notorious Round 1 test began in 2002.

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/article_c99ce2ca-62b3-5eef-8969-7e993f8a0b75.html

For the other spellers from around the world, good luck to you all!

I only have two friends remaining in the spelling bee. They are studying very hard, and they want to make it to nationals so badly! If one of them win, I may be at nationals this year!

Etymology in School for the Last Few Days/Science Fair

With this week being the last week of Quarter 2 and the First Semester I was very busy studying for final exams, but on several exams there were some interesting terms.

For the Biology test we had there were some questions I did not know the answer to, but a lot of the questions provided words that I could figure out based on what I knew from Greek and Latin roots.

Here were some of the words on it and their meanings:

binary - something made of or based on two things or parts (bi means two)

metaphase - a stage of mitosis in which two chromosomes, which carry genetic information align in the middle of the cell (meta means middle)

On my French exam there were a lot of terms I recognized:

feuille
devant
avant
devoir
chantant
cahier
and much more!
It's interesting how in English cahier means "a report or memorial concerning policy", but it French it actually means "notebook".


My English final was a week ago, and there were so many words, but it was easy to figure them out with my knowledge roots! The word tchotchke was one of the "Word of the Day" words for the Honors English Class, and I remembered that it was on the Spell It! I knew the meaning of it right away (a trinket, jewelry, a knickknack, etc.)

It's great to see these words still, even though I am no longer eligible for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Good luck spellers!


I will also be having Science Fair updates, because it is one of the competitions I turned to after the Spelling Bee!

• I advanced to the District Level for the International Science and Engineering Fair.
• Only eighteen (sixteen projects) of 185 9th graders advanced to the District Level (10th-12th grades did not do the Science Fair)
• After the District Level, it will be the Regional Level, and finally the International Level.
• Many students had very interesting words in their projects.
• Two students from who never did the Science Fair before advanced to the next level, while some students have had five years of experience and never advanced.
• We'll have to go through a lot of paper work.

Spelling Bee Club Photos

I realized that I have not taken any photos from the spelling bee club that I started several months ago, nor have I hardly mentioned them in recent posts. Here are the photos I took:

The Three Spellers I am Coaching (The two whose faces are facing the camera will be competing at their school bee on January 24; the one holding the binder will begin competing in one year - she's in third grade)               

They are Studying (My sister and her friend are checking the time on the phone)

Both of them seem to be in deep thought (My sister is still checking the time)

This is the third grader who is pronouncing the words.

She just told my sister to spell chromosome.

My sister is thinking of how to spell her word.

She is adding a word she spelled to a list on her phone.

Both spellers are reading - a great way to learn new words!

I will try to take more photos soon! I am so excited for the two spellers (my sister and her friend), and I hope they will be co-champions at their school level!

Good luck to you all!

Spelling Bee Update for My Sister

Today was my sister's class spelling bee and she won! I was unable to watch, because I was in school during that time. I was thinking about how well she would do in the school bee, and she advanced to the next level!

My sister studied the Classroom List, but it was not limited to that.She also studied some of the Hexco products: New Nat's Notes, the Annual List, and After a Spell. She brought How to Spell Like a Champ to school with her, and I do not know if she read some tips before the Classroom Bee.

Here is the story:

I arrived at school checking through the lists we studied, and I wondered if there would be any she would misspell that day. There were a few I marked, especially on the Hexco products, but I was confident that she would do well.

During P.E. we had to run a mile-and-a-half, and we were allowed to listen to music on our Ipods, MP3 players, etc. I decided to listen to the CD that came with How to Spell Like a Champ, and I remembered the night before my sister only missed one word: bombycine (of or relating to silk worms). I hoped that she would not receive that word if it was on the off-list words for the Classroom Bee.

When I got to piano lessons she could not be disturbed, so I waited, and she soon told me that she won! I was excited, and she was, too!

Good luck spellers!

Spelling Bee to Science Fair

After my competition years were over for the Spelling Bee I moved on to the Science Fair. Surprisingly I have never done the Science Fair before. My first and second school did not offer it, but at the third school only the seventh, ninth, and tenth graders had to do it. It was not an option or requirement for the eighth grade, unfortunately. Now that I am finally a ninth grader I am so glad that I was able to do it.

Two days ago was the judging, and I was judged five times (the minimum was three). I did not know how well I would do that day, but I was surprised that I did not get nervous while the judges asked me questions. One of the judges is a scientist and was impressed with my project.

I do not really know the levels and judging systems well, unlike the Spelling Bee, but I hope to go pretty far this year and probably make it to the international level.

Next year in tenth grade it is an option for extra credit, so I am still planning to do it next year.

Class and School Spelling Bees/Science Fair

After a lot of studying my sister has her class spelling bee tomorrow. The top ten students from the fifth grade will advance to the school spelling bee. She is very excited, and she is hardly nervous. Last year at her homeschool spelling bee she placed fourth, but since she is at a new school now she may possibly have a strong chance of winning!

Her goal this year is to advance to the Championship Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and I think that is a great ambition! Her friend has already advanced to the school level, but they both want to be co-champions and make it all the way to the National Spelling Bee together!

Another of my friends that I coached won his school spelling bee (I am so glad I coached him!), and he is already advancing to the final level before nationals! Besides spelling he also has to juggle a school play, piano, school, and basketball! Perhaps the 2011 Salt Lake Valley Champion returns, because she is very exciting to watch, and she did great at the Bee last year.

Good luck to everyone competing! The time is here!

145 Days Until the National Spelling Bee!!!!!!!!!!!/Root Word Study

Guess what? There are only 145 days until the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee (May 27-June 2, 2012) at the Gaylord National Hotel! Many classroom, school, and local level bees have already been conducted, and every speller who wins their final local bee (has to win on or after February 1) will be able to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

My sister has not had her classroom bee yet, but my friend, who also goes to her school, has. She has been studying, and she is very excited to compete this year! I have been coaching both of them and several other young aspiring spellers, and all of them are outstanding at spelling.

In my Honors English Class we just finished reading The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare. There were many words from the play that I recognized, but there were also some I did not know. 

pribbles

prabbles

sirrah

fico

avaunt

usquebaugh

lascivious

vouchsafe (1973 National Spelling Bee Winning Word)

frampold

larum

polecats

declensions

varlet

daubery

wantonness

Just yesterday in English, we started learning Greek and Latin roots. When we played a game we could figure out the meanings of the words by breaking them down into roots. In my Honors Biology class we were studying roots of words so we can figure out the meanings of the obscure science terms. Since we were studying sugars and enzymes, we learned that if a word has glyc- or gluc- it has to do with sugar (such as glycolysis, glucose) , and if a word ends with -ase (such as lactase) it usually has to do with enzymes (thanks to root word study for the spelling bee that I know these). Diligent root word study will help you immensely 

On the weekends (if I have time) I will be posting more tips for the Bees. 

Good luck and continue spelling!