The National (i.e. American) Spelling Bee
Jun. 3rd, 2006 02:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capri0mni(I was going to post this yesterday, but I couldn't get to the web pages about it; I guess a whole passel of people had the same idea.)
On Thursday night, I gave in, and watched the last half hour of the Spelling Bee on T.V.. Now I've got a lot more respect for it; I used to think it was nothing more than rote memorization. But after watching the kids work through to the answers, I realized it's more about understanding the structure of English, and how different languages contribute to it -- how a word with a German root will be spelled differently than one with a Greek or French root, for example. I was also impressed with the variety of words on the list -- with Arabic, Sanskrit and Hawaiian derivations. 'Twas a lot more global than the classroom spelling bees we had in my elementary school. ;-)
Here's a news article about the winner.
I really liked the girl who came in second -- Finola Hackett (from Canada) -- she was beaming all through the final rounds, and grinning wildly every time her competitor got her word right, happy with the other girl's success.
I also liked the word that Finola got wrong: weltschmerz. Weltschmertz: habitual depression that comes from comparing the real world to the ideal, and being disappointed in its shortcomings, or "sentimental pessimism." Now, I finally have a word to describe how I've been feeling ever since George Bush got reelected. X-P
On a cheerier note, the orange day lilies at the bottom of my driveway are in full bloom, and, when they're all spent, the crepe myrtle tree outside my front door will start blooming, and be covered with great big, fuchsia, puffy flower clusters until September (crepe myrtles look like Dr. Seuss trees -- they have spirally branches, too).
On Thursday night, I gave in, and watched the last half hour of the Spelling Bee on T.V.. Now I've got a lot more respect for it; I used to think it was nothing more than rote memorization. But after watching the kids work through to the answers, I realized it's more about understanding the structure of English, and how different languages contribute to it -- how a word with a German root will be spelled differently than one with a Greek or French root, for example. I was also impressed with the variety of words on the list -- with Arabic, Sanskrit and Hawaiian derivations. 'Twas a lot more global than the classroom spelling bees we had in my elementary school. ;-)
Here's a news article about the winner.
I really liked the girl who came in second -- Finola Hackett (from Canada) -- she was beaming all through the final rounds, and grinning wildly every time her competitor got her word right, happy with the other girl's success.
I also liked the word that Finola got wrong: weltschmerz. Weltschmertz: habitual depression that comes from comparing the real world to the ideal, and being disappointed in its shortcomings, or "sentimental pessimism." Now, I finally have a word to describe how I've been feeling ever since George Bush got reelected. X-P
On a cheerier note, the orange day lilies at the bottom of my driveway are in full bloom, and, when they're all spent, the crepe myrtle tree outside my front door will start blooming, and be covered with great big, fuchsia, puffy flower clusters until September (crepe myrtles look like Dr. Seuss trees -- they have spirally branches, too).
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Date: 2006-06-04 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-04 04:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-04 03:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-04 07:21 pm (UTC)I've also thought the violet and maroon ones are pretty, too.
It's amazing; I never even knew crepe myrtles existed before I moved down here from New York, and saw them all along the highway (so I knew they must be low maintainance). They really are a regional tree -- but they're not famous, like palm trees.