Today, 14 students from the Belize District participated in the District Finals for the 2013 Coca-Cola National Spelling Bee. It's a competition in which these primary school students go up against each other to spell their way through a complex set of words full of odd pronunciations and strange spellings. 7News stopped by as the competition was at its height, and we got a chance to speak with the winners.
Niki Sanchez – 1st Place, Holy Redeemer Primary
"I am very excited and happy right now, it took a lot of hard work but it paid off."
Daniel Ortiz
"Tell us what it takes to become an excellent speller? What sort of hours do you have to put in to study these words? I know they gave you around two to three hundred words to study."
Niki Sanchez – 1st Place
"It takes a lot of dedication, we take two hours a day and it takes a lot of practice and paying attention to origins and try your best."
Daniel Ortiz
"I know from time to time the interpretors and the spellers - they get some words that they have never heard before for that special round. How do you listen to the phonics of the word to spell it properly?"
Niki Sanchez – 1st Place
"Well I just link it to other words and pay attention to origins."
Danielle Mohammed-Ali - 2nd Place, Burrell Boom Methodist
"My sister had been in Spelling Bee before and since they had a few coaching experience they started to give me experience in what will happen in all of this."
Daniel Ortiz
"Tell us about the competition, how was it for you? Were there any difficult words that you've never heard before?"
Danielle Mohammed-Ali - 2nd Place
"Some of them were difficult for me but after I heard the origin of the words, I got the point of what they wanted me to spell. All you have to do is listen to the pronounciation of the word and if it is not 'f' then try 'ph'. There are words like 'ois' or 'oir' and some of those words like 'ptosis' you have a silent 'p' which you do not hear but you have to mix and match letter to get your final answer."
2nd place winner, Danielle Mohammed-Ali, is in Standard 4, and she is only 10 year-old. She and Niki Sanchez will move on to participate in Nationals for the Spelling Bee on June 7, to be held at the UB Gymnasium in Belmopan.
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