Of course, we know the National Spelling Bee happens every year, but how often do you see Co-Champions at this event? Not very often, and it has been 52 years since the last Co-Champions (and Akeelah and the Bee does not count, since that was fictional). The other three times there have been Co-Champions were in 1950 - Diana Reynard and Colquitt Dean (meticulosity), 1957 - Sandra Owen and Dana Bennett (schappe), and 1962 - Nettie Crawford and Michael Day (esquamulose).
Congratulations to Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe! These two, after a grueling 22 rounds of the National Spelling Bee and 16 rounds of the Championship Finals, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Their winning words were stichomythia and feuilleton, respectively (the Scripps Spelling Bee DS game actually has feuilleton).
In Round 16, Sriram and Ansun both misspelled their words (corpsbruder and antigropelos, respectively). Sriram misspelled his word as korbruiter and Ansun misspelled his word as antigropolos. My friend and I called this an Akeelah and the Bee moment (except that Sriram and Ansun receive different words - unlike Akeelah and the Bee when the spellers receive the same word, after one misspells it; and we're pretty sure that the Sriram and Ansun weren't misspelling on purpose, unlike in the movie when the two spellers misspelled on purpose because they want the other person to win).
Corpsbruder is French + German. The French was corps (can be defined as a group of people, especially in the military), and the German was bruder (which literally means brother). The definition used was: a close comrade. If you think deeply, comrade can mostly associate with the words friend, ally, etc. and you know it's French, so most likely you could assume corps then the second half is the German word bruder. Most people who have brothers like to keep them close, or you have a really good friend who's like a brother, so if you know the German word, bruder would probably come to mind.
The other word was antigropelos. Ansun got most of the word right, except that he spelled the part of the word as polos (those pesky schwas!). It means waterproof leggings; The Greek root -pelos means mud, but I do not know if he could have gotten that out of waterproof leggings, but it seems like spellers have to think out of the box.
I will do an analysis this weekend (hopefully) on the other words from the Bee. There were a lot of words that I knew and a lot that left me thinking (including the ones I didn't know).
Another Akeelah and the Bee moment: If you've seen the movie, you may remember that after the spellers misspell that they continue going on until the end and are declared Co-Champions; this is what happened at this Bee; Ansun and Sriram are 7th and 8th graders, just like the two champions in the movie (Akeelah and Dylan), except that Ansun went to nationals twice and Sriram made it five times (missing only 2010 and 2012); in the movie Akeelah won on her first try, and Dylan - on his third.
Ansun went from not advancing to semifinals in 2013 to winning the Bee in 2014, which is also extremely rare, but it can happen. He's also the first 7th grader since 2000 to win the National Spelling Bee (when it was won by George Thampy); Sriram is the five-peat since 2006 to win the Bee (when it was won by Kerry Close).
Congratulations spellers! This is one of the greatest and rarest Bees that have occurred in history. I'm pretty sure Ansun and Sriram are elated, yet knackered!
Good luck with future Bees and endeavors!
Friday, May 30, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Championship Finals Tonight!
Here are your championship finalists!!
Speller 38 Jacob Williamson from Cape Coral, Florida
Speller 263 Tejas Muthusamy from Glen Allen, Virginia (he's the youngest finalist at the age of 11)
Speller 87 Tajaun Gibbison from Mandeville, Jamaica
Speller 188 Ashwin Veeramani from North Royalton, Ohio (he had the same placard number as his sister, Anamika Veeramani, who won in 2010; maybe it's a lucky number)
Speller 43 Mary Horton from West Melbourne, Florida
Speller 58 Alia Abiad from Western Springs, Illinois
Speller 232 Kate Miller from Abilene, Texas
Speller 139 Gokul Venkatachalam from Chesterfield, Missouri
Speller 237 Ansun Sujoe from Fort Worth, Texas
Speller 255 Samuel Pereles from Charlottesville, Virginia
Speller 20 from Neha Konahalla from Cupertino, California
Speller 154 Sriram Hathwar from Painted Post, New York (he first went to nationals in 2008 and placed 3rd last year)
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/finishers/html
Sriram Hathwar was the only speller from last year's championship finalists to make it to make it this far this year. Syamantak Payra was eliminated in semifinals, and Vanya Shivashankar, after the finalists were announced; she has one year left.
Good luck to the finalists!
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Preliminaries are Over/Semifinals are Tomorrow
Preliminaries are over, and there were forty-six spellers who advanced to semifinals.
Here are the Round Results
Spelling
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/round_results/summary/2
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/round_results/summary/3
Vocabulary
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/round_results_vocab/summary/2
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/round_results_vocab/summary/3
Round 1 Test (Spelling and Vocabulary)
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/graded_words?reportFormat=1&round=1
And here are your semifinalists:
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/finishers/html?type=semi
Among these semifinalists are last year's championship finalists: Vanya Shivashankar, Sriram Hathwar, and Syamantak Payra.
Unfortunately, no one from Utah advanced to Semifinals this year. Great job, Michael Jones, Mikayla Hall, and Grange Simpson - Utah is proud!
Here are the words they spelled in Rounds 2 and 3:
#251 Mikayla Hall - hafiz; ranunculus (misspelled as rununculus)
#252 Grange Simpson - durwan; cornichon
#279 Michael Jones - tanha; Cypriot
According to the vocabulary results for Rounds 2 and 3, Mikayla and Grange missed one of their vocabulary words, and Michael got both of his right. Great job!
Tomorrow Semifinals will begin at 10 AM Eastern Time (8 AM where I am).
Good luck to all!
P.S. Sorry for the lack of updates this year. School ends next week, and I have a lot of projects to finish. I will write after Semifinals and after Championship Finals. If there's anything you want to know just comment, and I'll make a blog post response.
Here are the Round Results
Spelling
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/round_results/summary/2
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/round_results/summary/3
Vocabulary
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/round_results_vocab/summary/2
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/round_results_vocab/summary/3
Round 1 Test (Spelling and Vocabulary)
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/graded_words?reportFormat=1&round=1
And here are your semifinalists:
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/2014/finishers/html?type=semi
Among these semifinalists are last year's championship finalists: Vanya Shivashankar, Sriram Hathwar, and Syamantak Payra.
Unfortunately, no one from Utah advanced to Semifinals this year. Great job, Michael Jones, Mikayla Hall, and Grange Simpson - Utah is proud!
Here are the words they spelled in Rounds 2 and 3:
#251 Mikayla Hall - hafiz; ranunculus (misspelled as rununculus)
#252 Grange Simpson - durwan; cornichon
#279 Michael Jones - tanha; Cypriot
According to the vocabulary results for Rounds 2 and 3, Mikayla and Grange missed one of their vocabulary words, and Michael got both of his right. Great job!
Tomorrow Semifinals will begin at 10 AM Eastern Time (8 AM where I am).
Good luck to all!
P.S. Sorry for the lack of updates this year. School ends next week, and I have a lot of projects to finish. I will write after Semifinals and after Championship Finals. If there's anything you want to know just comment, and I'll make a blog post response.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Spelling Bee Update/Tips
I just finished my math final, and it was great! Now back to Bee business. Yesterday, the spellers had a barbecue and had the Round 1 Test today. Tomorrow, the 281 spellers will take the stage in front of cameras, an audience, etc. The pressure's on!
I'm pretty sure these spellers are prepared, but here's some advice:
I'm pretty sure these spellers are prepared, but here's some advice:
- Say the word back to the pronouncer. He'll make sure you're saying it correctly.
- 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)
- Watch the time
- As you spell the word do not be nervous or think about anything else. Completely block out the audience and focus on the word.
Remember:
"There are no immediate eliminations for misspelling or providing an incorrect answer in the Preliminaries Test. Upon incorrectly spelling a word in Round Two or Three, the speller is eliminated from the competition. Spellers eliminated during Round Two are tied for the same place. Spellers eliminated during Round Three are tied for the same place. Immediately after Round Three a “maximum of 50” standard is applied to remaining spellers’ scores accrued during the Preliminaries. Spellers’ scores are plotted on a chart. Beginning at 36 on the chart, spellers at each consecutive scoring level are added until a sum of no more than 50 spellers has been attained. All remaining spellers are eliminated. All spellers eliminated after Round Three and before the start of the Semifinals are tied for the same place."
http://spellingbee.com/contest-rules
Good luck to all!
Spell with Your Dream
Spell with Your Heart
Spell with Your Love
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Bee Week 2014
It's finally Bee Week, and spellers have been arriving in D.C.! I won't post much until after my Math final on Tuesday. For now, you can follow Scripps on their Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Twitter, and Youtube!
See you then, and I hope to post several tips!
Good luck, spellers!
Spell with Your Dream
Spell with Your Heart
Spell with Your Love
See you then, and I hope to post several tips!
Good luck, spellers!
Spell with Your Dream
Spell with Your Heart
Spell with Your Love
Monday, May 19, 2014
Salt Lake Valley Champion
I am very late on this, but I have been busy.
This article is from March, after Salt Lake Valley Champion, Michael Jones, won. His winning word was hedgehopper. My sister placed seventh, but she still has next year!
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57717000-78/spelling-bee-lake-salt.html.csp
And Vismaya Kharkar is right (Salt Lake Valley Champion from 2011-2013; 5th Place at Nationals in 2013); the Bee truly is a "once in-a-lifetime" event.
"These are not just champion spellers," Jonathan Johnson, executive vice chairman of Overstock.com, told the crowd before the event started. "They are becoming champion thinkers. We worked hard to make this happen and our thanks to the contestants who worked hard to get here."
That statement is very true to the spellers.
This year, most of the words seemed to have come from English and Latin, but I remember during my Bee years, spellers received words from Latin, Spanish, German, Dutch, French, Russian, etc.
Thanks Overstock.com for sponsoring the Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee. This year's Bee would have not been possible without you!
Good luck to Michael and the rest of the spellers!
This article is from March, after Salt Lake Valley Champion, Michael Jones, won. His winning word was hedgehopper. My sister placed seventh, but she still has next year!
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57717000-78/spelling-bee-lake-salt.html.csp
And Vismaya Kharkar is right (Salt Lake Valley Champion from 2011-2013; 5th Place at Nationals in 2013); the Bee truly is a "once in-a-lifetime" event.
"These are not just champion spellers," Jonathan Johnson, executive vice chairman of Overstock.com, told the crowd before the event started. "They are becoming champion thinkers. We worked hard to make this happen and our thanks to the contestants who worked hard to get here."
That statement is very true to the spellers.
This year, most of the words seemed to have come from English and Latin, but I remember during my Bee years, spellers received words from Latin, Spanish, German, Dutch, French, Russian, etc.
Thanks Overstock.com for sponsoring the Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee. This year's Bee would have not been possible without you!
Good luck to Michael and the rest of the spellers!
National Spelling Bee is Near!
Sorry again for not writing for a while; I was extremely busy with many activities and AP testing. Unfortunately, I still have finals to deal with, then I have to study for the ACT. The Bee starts next week, already! After that, I'll have to wait for the scores then begin applying to colleges, since I'll be studying in Vienna, Austria (most likely - I already got in the school; it's just dealing with all the other details, which have to be settled by August) from September to December. For now, let's get down to "Bee" business (I feel like I'm making a reference to Disney's Mulan).
This year, there are 281 spellers from the US and around the world.
Sriram Hathwar (3rd Place 2013), who first went to the Bee in 2008, will be returning to the National Spelling Bee for his fifth time. Vanya Shivashankar (5th Place in 2013) - whose sister, Kavya Shivashankar, won the 2009 Bee - will be returning for her fourth time. Ashwin Veeramani - whose sister won the 2010 Bee - will be returning for his second time.
Hussain Godhrawala is the youngest speller this year.
This year, there are three spellers from Utah.
Mikayla Hall
Grange Simpson
And the speller who won the Salt Lake Valley Bee: Michael Jones
http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2014/279
I wish all the spellers the best of luck! This year's Bee will be a great one!
I wish all the spellers the best of luck! This year's Bee will be a great one!
Five-Year Repeater (1)
Four-Year Repeaters (5)
Three-Year Repeaters (13)
Two-Year Repeaters (59)
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