Spelling Bee contest gets bigger

One month there is a scrabble competition, another month there is a spelling bee championship. Dubai, it would seem, in the last three years has invested a lot in the education system, specifically in building vocabulary and word skills of its youth.

Students at the Danube Spelling Bee Championship at Centrepoint Theatre DUCTAC at the Mall of the Emirates. — KT photo by Juidin Bernarrd

Semi finals of the third annual Danube Spelling Bee Championship were held over the weekend at the Centrepoint Theatre, DUCTAC (Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre), at the Mall of the Emirates. Students started trickling in at 9.30am and the spellings went on till post 7 in the evening on Saturday.

In the third year of the spelling contest, the number of contestants has doubled, and the calibre has risen. Last year there were around 350 semi-finalists. This year there are 715 of ages 11 to 15. The difficulty level has been upped and the calibre of students has jumped. While last year the format was simpler, it was a bit brutal since that’s what elimination rounds unavoidably are — children went home disheartened after stumbling on the spelling of say, petrophilous. These same children are this year safe since they have to write down ‘petrophilous’ and not simply spell it out, and this in many cases is helpful. The visualisation of a word, seeing it formed as letters on paper ensures avoidable errors.

This weekend saw 2,200 participants. The auditorium was packed with under 15-year olds, some accompanied by parents, some not, and most in school uniform.

The finals will be held on February 8. One thing is for certain, by just watching the contestants stride up confidently and attempt spellings grown-ups stumble on, there’s more to learn than how just to improve your vocabulary. -nivriti@khaleejtimes.com