Even Greener Pastures

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.