If you are good at spelling words, then you have had it. Because then your school sends you to compete in the Spelling Bee.

If you have a good ear and are good at pronouncing words, then you have also had it because then Dawn will bring you in as a pronouncer at the Dawn in Education Spelling Bee. Then it is between the pronouncer and the speller, when all kinds of things can happen and have been happening over the years.

During the recent Dawn in Education Spelling Bee 2016, amid the stammering and missed heartbeats, there were also some students who kept their wits about them and challenged the pronouncers. The English language can also be a bit confusing at times. So when a student was told that she had spelt ‘judgement’ wrong she pointed out that it was also spelt ‘judgment’ and yes, the pronouncer realised her mistake and stood corrected. So if the contestants are nervous, the people on the other side can also be feeling some pressure.

It is not all about winning

Later, a teacher also challenged the judges about the word ‘sheath’, which the participant had spelled ‘sheathe’. To be fair to all, they replayed the recording and this time the challenger was proven wrong because the pronouncer in the recording had specifically asked about the word as a noun while the student had given the spelling of the verb.

Some of the words sound simple enough to spell, and it seems so strange when the contestants keep requesting the pronouncers to repeat a word or give its meaning or part of speech besides using it in a sentence.

Surely, some of this may also get to the pronouncer. But Momin Zafar, a Dawn Spelling Bee pronouncer, says he isn’t bothered. “They are young and the ones on the spot, so whatever the contestants say or do isn’t a problem. Besides, some teachers ask them to ask the questions again and again to be sure,” he said.

“During my couple of years as a pronouncer, I have also been to Sukkur and Hyderabad, where the kids have different levels of ability. But here in Karachi we also have the Karachi Grammar School kids who are always good spellers. Still, they can also panic,” he said sharing an incident where KGS students got a tricky word to spell and they were doing okay but decided to stop midway and retrace or spell it again from the start. “That was when they got it wrong, which was a pity,” he added.

About his own pronunciation, he said that it involves phonetics. “Pronunciation takes effort. You have to practice for it,” he said.

As for the judges and the challenges and what they may face during the Spelling Bee, Irfana Qadri, who has judged several competitions, says that they keep a cool head all along. “We must not forget that these are children after all, and that we are the adults here,” she said.

“Also, there is the American and British English spelling difference and here we have schools which lean more towards American English and spellings,” she added while referring to the confusion over the spellings of the ‘judgment’ and ‘judgement’. “It was heartening to see the student speak up and present her case that she had used the American spelling, actually,” she said.

Still, that student’s team lost in the end and the girl was quite disheartened. “But I told her to not lose heart as her taking part in the Spelling Bee itself was important. Whether they win or lose is another story,” she shared.

“The Spelling Bee is not just a competition, it has a lot to do with learning as well,” she concluded.

The regional champions:

Age group: 9 – 11

Regional champion: Mohammad Rayyan Khan, BVS Parsi High School; First Runner-up: Abdullah Saeed, Happy Home School O Levels; and Second Runner-up: Syed Imad Ali, BVS Parsi High School.

Age group 12 - 14:

Regional champion: Ayan Tauqeer, LINKS; First Runner-up: Anum Sara Siddiqui, Covent of Jesus & Mary – Senior; and Second Runner-up: Mekayail Aly Tariq, Foundation Public School - OLNC.

Age group 15 - 17:

Regional Champion: Unaiza Naeem, Generation’s School –South; First Runner-up: Fizza Rizvi, St. Peter’s High School; and Second Runner-up: Sania Irfan, Generation’s School —South.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 10th, 2016