Even Greener Pastures
Language Learning => Questions about the Use of Language => Topic started by: Sofia on May 22, 2019, 07:41:54 am
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They tried to get me interested in representing the school at the local contest but I told them no way. Why learn a bunch of words, usually borrowed from other languages (french), that I will never use again in my life? The whole thing seemed pointless and I couldn't figure put why the adults just didnt get together and fix the spelling stupidity.
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Sofia do they have "Spelling Bees" in Italy? In the U.S. they are huge contests that start in local schools and end up with regional and national champions. Spelling lessons take up an enormous amount of time in US grammar schools, time that could be better spent in science or math. All to support a language that prides itself that educated people don't spell words by the way they sound. It makes me angry to think of it.
Looking at the difficult words in the article, it's no wonder you get angry, Neal. Most of them would only be useful to experts in biology, wouldn't they?
Still, I'm very happy to have learnt about Bondieuserie (even though I did have to look it up). I'll certainly teach it to a friend of mine who collects that kind of Kitsch (can't quite remember, but I think that's a German loan word, isn't it?).
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In Poland we have the spelling contest called 'Dyktando'. It's organised every 2 years and it's for adults. Many politicians and celebrities take part too.
Polish language is rather easy to read when you know the rules but there are a few sounds which can be written different way, e.g. h-ch u-ó ż-rz. These can make a lot of trouble, because their using in writing is based mainly on tradition. Probably they were pronounced differently in the past but they sound equally now. Of course there are rules about them, which are taught at school to young children, but these rules are often unclear and have limited functionality (some of them are useless in fact). For example:
'We write "ó" instead of "u" when in other forms of this word or in similar words in other Slavic languages, exists "o" in this place"
Now imagine a non-Slavic learner of Polish who has to decide...
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Sofia do they have "Spelling Bees" in Italy?
Italian (and Spanish) are a lot easier to write than English or French. I can’t even remeber that at school they would make us dictations, like they do in French schools.
But in 2018 the first “campionato di Spelling “ took place in Italy.
To make it more trendy they use the English word. No comment about that.
https://www.ilfoglio.it/bandiera-bianca/2018/02/23/news/la-prima-gara-di-spelling-in-italia-certifica-che-siamo-una-nazione-di-ignoranti-180541/
In France, spelling championships have a big success. They are organized by the journalist Bernard Pivot since more than 35 years. These championships are for adults, usually very educated adults.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Pivot
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Answer deleted. Not interested in taking part in this thread.
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or stumbles on very easy ones like “Lasi”
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/21/us/hardest-words-spelling-bee-trnd/index.html
This may be an easy word for you but it's not used in American English. Sure, it's in our dictionaries, but in use in American English? No, not at all. So what seems easy and common to one person in one country is unheard of in another.
Just because it's in a dictionary doesn't mean that it's an easy or common word. They pick out difficult words for these bees when they get to the higher levels of competition. And why wouldn't they? After all, anyone can spell words like: capitalism, superior, socialism, sucks, USA, best. Well you get the idea. Glad I could help.
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Well, I know some among you wouldn’t believe a single word written or pronounced by CNN but still...
Well, I suppose you're talking about me, Sofia. And I have to strenuously object. They once did a very-well researched article on to how to make ice at home. I found it to be 100% accurate.
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Sofia do they have "Spelling Bees" in Italy? In the U.S. they are huge contests that start in local schools and end up with regional and national champions. Spelling lessons take up an enormous amount of time in US grammar schools, time that could be better spent in science or math. All to support a language that prides itself that educated people don't spell words by the way they sound. It makes me angry to think of it.
Italian is so much easier to spell, it has to be an advantage for young students. I was watching a US tv show dubbed in Italian and the characters were watching the national spelling bee finals, which is usually won by an 11 or 12 year old. It struck me at the time that Italians would probably wonder what the hell a spelling bee was and why would it be a big deal in the US.
As for English I try to stay away from words with three vowels in a row - a sure sign of French derivation, which means nothing but trouble in spelling and pronunciation in English.
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Well, I know some among you wouldn’t believe a single word written or pronounced by CNN but still... I found this article interesting.
And found out that English uses really difficult foreign words like the French “bondieuserie “ or stumbles on very easy ones like “Lasi” (Mango Lassi is one of my favorite drinks).
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/21/us/hardest-words-spelling-bee-trnd/index.html