‘Fantastic’ speller surprised by top award
IF there is one thing Aman wants spelt out to his school mates, it is that he is not a walking, talking dictionary.
Just because the 10yearold likes to read the dictionary and recently received the top mark in New Zealand for the year 5 University of Canterbury Kiwi Spelling Bee, it does not make him the goto person for requests to spell tricky words.
The George Street Normal School pupil, who only has one name, said it was a novelty at first, but now it was getting tiresome.
‘‘I absolutely do not like it when other people ask me how to spell words.
‘‘I feel like they should learn how to do it themselves. Most of the words are easy to spell — they just have to learn them.’’
His teachers said he was a fantastic speller, and the other pupils knew it too.
But Aman was humble and said he was about average.
In fact, he was surprised when he received a letter telling him he had gained a distinction award in the spelling competition.
‘‘I thought that was the worst award. My parents tried to tell me that it meant I was the best in New Zealand, but I thought they’d made a mistake. I didn’t really believe them.
‘‘It turns out, they were right.’’ The Spelling Bee ran from September 7 to September 25 and attracted competitors from more than 100 schools across the country. The online competition involved spelling words, giving definitions for words, and identifying incorrectly spelt words.
When Aman discovered the prize for his achievement was a $50 voucher, his thoughts immediately turned to how he would spend it.
‘‘I want to figure out a way to use that $50 to get something that’s worth more than $50.’’
It appears he is also quite sharp with numbers and investments.