How to build a spelling bee champion

As a tutor, what makes the National Spelling Bee so fulfilling is that it represents the culmination of dozens of hours of study spent practicing these skills with my students

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an object of curiosity and bemusement. Many of the millions who will tune in to ESPN’s blanket coverage of this week’s competition outside Washington DC marvel at the pre-teen competitors’ sangfroid but may find themselves wondering: Isn’t spelling just a robotic exercise in learning by rote? Who would waste their time memorizing words nobody ever uses? And what’s the point in the age of spell-check?

This skepticism about spelling’s relevance is widespread. When I decided to compete in the Bee in 2007, my father asked why I didn’t spend my time on something more practical, like science fairs or the National Geography Bee. It’s true that some spellers simply drill long lists of random words, and others set themselves the arduous task of working through the dictionary page by page. If that were all that spelling was, then critics of the Bee – including advocates of orthographical reform who picket it annually – would have a point. As a tutor for about 20 competitors in this year’s bee, the refrains are familiar.

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from US news | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2JHJW5m