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Baroque Bloke |
It’s apparent that Indian-Americans have a special talent for spelling. Or a special motivation? “The National Spelling Bee has named eight youngsters as champions after the competition ran out of words in an epic three hour long final. In the most extraordinary ending in the 94-year history of the competition, the bee ended in an eight-way tie on Thursday night. The eight co-champions spelled the final 47 words correctly, going through five consecutive perfect rounds. …… The last 14 champions and 19 of the past 23 have been Indian-American…” https://mol.im/a/7087595 Serious about crackers | ||
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quarter MOA visionary |
I thought Injins (did I spell that right?) were always American - the original Americans ?  | |||
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| Staring back from the abyss  |
So, after 94 years of being able to manage finding one champion each year, this year we have eight champions? They ran out of words? Really? B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T. ________________________________________________________ "Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton. | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower  |
You actually want us to believe that you're that dense? | |||
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| Blinded by the Sun  |
I watched it and yes the kids were amazing they clearly were prepared for any word thrown at them. This year more contestants went further into later rounds than ever before. ------------------------------ Smart is not something you are but something you get. Chi Chi, get the yayo | |||
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Bad dog! |
Indian-Americans are particularly good at spelling, but the larger perspective is that they are in general very high achievers. I have lived in India, love the culture, history, and the people. When we talk about "immigrants making America great," those from India are excellent examples. ______________________________________________________ "You get much farther with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone." | |||
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Member |
Why couldn’t the panel start pulling words from the next highest level? Or am I thinking outside the box?? "If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24 | |||
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thin skin can't win |
I guess now someone has gotten to the end of the internet AND the dictionary?? You only have integrity once. - imprezaguy02 | |||
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| quarter MOA visionary |
Hyperbole, Para. | |||
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| Baroque Bloke |
Reminds me of the following story. Conceivably, a person who doesn’t speak English could win the National Spelling Bee. Pronunciation would be a problem for him though. Memorised an entire French Scrabble dictionary … Jesus! “21 Jul 2015 A New Zealander who speaks no French won the French-language Scrabble world championship by memorising a dictionary, competition organisers said on Tuesday. Nigel Richards, a Scrabble legend and a former English-language world champion, defeated a rival from French-speaking Gabon, in west Africa, at the final in Louvain, Belgium, on Monday. Mr Richards, 48, reportedly memorised an entire French Scrabble dictionary in nine weeks before the tournament…” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne...nt-speak-French.html Serious about crackers | |||
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| Why don’t you fix your little problem and light this candle  |
Rules. Very very strict rules. There is a list and it must be adhered to. Each word has a very specific pronunciation, spelling and usage. This is all prepared in advance. I was a speaker for a few 'bees for UIL in Texas. It is very formal and intense. Also the list is finite and shared with the contestants prior. If it was just the whole dictionary it introduces a series of problems. Make the list to large and they cant prepare, to small and you cant find a winner. I believe technology and good strategy for preparation is what has changed. This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it. -Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Joshua Painter Played by Senator Fred Thompson | |||
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| Unapologetic Old School Curmudgeon  |
The list is shared prior? Really? Oh man this poops on the whole mystique of the bee! These kids can't spell they memorize! Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day | |||
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Member |
Where's the real challenge in that? As Vaalic says, it's a simple memory exercise, NOT a thinking game. I'll never look at spelling bees in the same light again. _________________________________________________________________________ “A man’s treatment of a dog is no indication of the man’s nature, but his treatment of a cat is. It is the crucial test. None but the humane treat a cat well.” -- Mark Twain, 1902 | |||
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| Savor the limelight |
It can't possibly be true that contestants are given the lists prior to the contest, can it? | |||
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Funny Man |
I am shocked that you all are so surprised that the contestants are given the material to study. A spelling bee is basically an oral exam. There are over 1000 words, most uncommon, used in the contest. You thought these kids were just up there "sounding it out".....lol. ______________________________ “I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.” ― John Wayne | |||
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Tinker Sailor Soldier Pie |
Yes actually. I thought that was the whole idea, that one would use the word's origin, meaning, sound, etc to figure out the most likely spelling. Simply memorizing it? Then who cares if the word is from Latin or whatever? Why would they need the definition? Yeah, I'm not so impressed anymore. ~Alan Acta Non Verba NRA Life Member (Patron) God, Family, Guns, Country Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan | |||
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| Funny Man |
No 6th grader is memorizing the exact spelling of 1000 complex and rare words. They are given the list, group the words by the categories and origins, along with all of the information such as meaning, sounds etc. They learn to recognize the unique letter combinations that produce certain sounds from different origins, ( words with latin roots have common structure, so yeah that info helps) etc. They parse these grouping into words that fit the patterns and words that don't fit the patterns. They memorize the ones that don't fit the pattern and master the nuances of each grouping in order to spell on the fly those words that follow the patterns. These are high archiving young people who compete in an intellectual competition that requires them to study and strategize then perform on demand in front of hundereds of people and cameras. Somehow the fact that they spend countless hours to study and prepare makes their performance and accomplishment less impressive? ______________________________ “I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.” ― John Wayne | |||
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| Bad dog! |
When you say, "can't spell," it's not like English has systematic, rational rules for spelling. George Bernard Shaw made the point by giving an example: according to spellings that exist, "ghoti" is an acceptable way to spell "fish." "gh" is "f" as in "enough" "o" is "i" as in "women" "ti" is "sh" as in "nation" Thus, "fish" is "ghoti."  It's *all* memorization. We can come up with examples of arbitrariness all day long. Sound these out for starters: dough tough through ______________________________________________________ "You get much farther with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone." | |||
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Unhyphenated American |
laughter slaughter __________________________________________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Always remember that others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself. Richard M Nixon It's nice to be important, it's more important to be nice. Billy Joe Shaver NRA Life Member | |||
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| Blinded by the Sun |
This is correct, it is not a test of memory. ------------------------------ Smart is not something you are but something you get. Chi Chi, get the yayo | |||
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