Superior spellers go head to head
Waging war on words even their parents can’t pronounce, high schoolers from around the country converge on the capital today.
Eighteen students – from Kerikeri to Dunedin – will compete for the coveted title of New Zealand’s best speller and one returning competitor has some sage advice.
‘‘Drink lots of water, and go to the bathroom immediately beforehand,’’ said Newlands College student Kerwin Maass, 14.
Students enjoyed a banquet dinner and a night’s accommodation at a Wellington hotel yesterday, a T-shirt, and a water bottle, which Maass said was ‘‘invaluable’’ when your mouth dried up from nerves.
The finalists had qualified out of hundreds of year 9 and 10 students from more than 100 secondary schools.
The spellers passed a written classroom test and one of six regional semifinals against the top 200 spellers.
Maass’ classmate and first-time competitor Joshua Taefu, 14, was eager for the competition to begin.
‘‘I think the scariest part is actually the anticipation of going up. ‘‘Once you’re there it’s not too bad.’’ The competition is in its 15th year, supported by the Wright Family Foundation.
Tens of thousands of students have participated since it began in 2005.
The winner will receive a trophy and $5000 towards their education.
Maass said English was often hard to spell, with Germanic, French, Italian and Spanish origins.
‘‘It’s like 50 languages in a trench coat,’’ he said.
The list of words would also include some Ma¯ ori words, alongside tricky European ones.
Maass said even his father had trouble with pronunciation.
‘‘They try to help. The thing is they can’t pronounce half the words.’’
Taefu had solved this problem with another of his hobbies.
‘‘I’m a bit of a programmer. I made a [computer] program that pronounces the words for me,’’ Taefu said.
The program would read the word aloud, and Taefu would type in the word for practice.
The boys’ English teacher, Jenny Hayton, said it was a bonding opportunity for students.
Even Wellington-based competitors were put up in the hotel, given a tour of Parliament, and were involved with the banquet.