It's tempting to say that this movie deserves to be shown in all schools, as
it has educational value for students and teachers. The film is more of a
documentary than anything else, and shows the progress of eight teenagers as
they prepare for, and participate in, the USA's 1999 National Spelling Bee -
to which there can be only one winner (though no one really loses who
tries). One mistake and you're out! The initial pool of final contestants
is 249 (?)
The eight students are (in the order they first appear in the movie):
Angela, Nupur, Ted, Emily, Ashley, Neil, April, Harry. (five girls, three
boys) One of these becomes the champion.
Each must first become top in their own State before going to Washington,
DC, for the finals. Each has doting parents (and teacher) helping them with
advice and encouragement.
As a contestant is asked to spell a word; some assistance is available.
They can ask for -
1) Pronunciation be repeated, by the questioner;
2) Their own pronunciation, be confirmed by a panel.
3) Definition, Etymology, of the word, be supplied.
4) Its Country of Origin, Language
5) Context. The word be placed in context of a sentence.
They can also take their time to answer; speculating as they go.
My own observations about to how to win, are: that the English language
has spelling rules, and if you know these you are less likely to go wrong.
But, it is the exceptions and homophones which are likely to trip you up.
Most words, where they are not single syllable, consist of root/stem plus
affixes (prefix or suffix), so a mental analysis into components helps.
However, even a single syllable word, if you've never encountered it before,
can cause disaster. Certainly, the word which eliminated each contestant
would stick in their mind forever.
Where foreign words are involved, the same rules apply. A rather 'pure'
phonetic language such as Spanish or Italian is easier than German or
French. I didn't detect any language question involving say, Greek or
Russian, ie using a different alphabet (Cyrillic) to our own; much less
Arabic.
Where English is concerned, it is easier to sound out a written word, than
to spell a word from sound alone. English is phonetic, but only to a
degree.
Before entering the cinema, I was told, when buying a ticket, that a
purchase from the bar would entitle me to a spelling question, which, if
answered correctly, resulted in a prize. I now own a 1-4-1 free pass
(No.120934). ============================

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