weltschmerz undoes Alberta Teen......

[Cheese]

from North American spelling bee championship.
Good on her...those contests are tough as heck.

Canadian teen comes in 2nd

Undone by the word "weltschmerz," Alberta's Finola Hackett came oh so close, but finally bowed out of the North American spelling bee on Thursday night.

The 14-year-old from Tofield, Alta., made it to the final but ended up in second place after being stumped by a word the Oxford English Dictionary describes as "a weary or pessimistic feeling about life."

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

That's a tough word, too! I missed the Spelling Bee last night, but I've watched it in the past. These kids aren't just good spellers--they're smart as whips too. Very impressive to come in 2nd in that field. My guess is she has a bright future.



(edited for spelling....)

[Bobblehead]

Very few Flames games were in HD, but this was! Why?

I knew very few of the words they were spelling.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Very few Flames games were in HD, but this was! Why?

I knew very few of the words they were spelling.

Yeah--at the higher levels, they get some OBSCURE words. Then they ask for the language of origin, and often deduce the correct spelling even if they don't know the word. VERY impressive for 12-14 year olds, IMO.

Interestingly enough, when I first saw Cheese's thread title, I thought this was going to be a much more morbid topic..... but I suspect the pun was intentional. Nice one, Cheese.

[greyshep]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

That's a tough word, too! I missed the Spelling Bee last night, but I've watched it in the past. These kids aren't just good spellers--they're smart as whips too. Very impressive to come in 2nd in that field. My guess is she has a bright future.



(edited for spelling....)

I was thinking about this today. I wonder if they have done any follow up on the status of previous winners. Did they all go on to high end occupations, rocket scientists, etc. ... Or were they just good spellers and normal people other than that. .... Or did some flame out and become dirt bags or druggies. lol.

I would be kind of curious to know.

[Resolute 14]

I suppose that when you live in Tofield, there isnt much else to do but read the dictionary...

Anyway, that is a damned impressive finish for that competition.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by greyshep

I was thinking about this today. I wonder if they have done any follow up on the status of previous winners. Did they all go on to high end occupations, rocket scientists, etc. ... Or were they just good spellers and normal people other than that. .... Or did some flame out and become dirt bags or druggies. lol.

I would be kind of curious to know.

It would definitely be interesting. For what it's worth, I've heard that good spelling doesn't really translate well into other skills. But these kids are more than just good spellers. They use linguistics knowledge and logic to help themselves. There are over 6 million words in the English language, with all kinds of languages of origin: memorizing flash cards just isn't a good strategy--you have to use your noodle.

[evman150]

I watched for two hours last night and watched the Canadian championship as well.

When Finola was deliberating on weltshmerz, my heart was really pounding. After she asked for extra time I was yelling "W W W" at the tv.

I really got into it.

Very proud of her nevertheless. Quite an accomplishment for a young girl from Tofield, Alberta. Quite an accomplishment for a young person from anywhere.

Congratulations Finola!

[Kybosh]

For anyone that is interested in this stuff I would recommend the documentary "Spellbound". It follows something like eight kids competing in a previous (2003?) national competition. There seems to be a wide spectrum ranging from normal to absolutely insane competitors.

My favourite part of the documentary was when it was found out that one of the competitor's grandfather paid an entire village in India to pray for his grandson's victory.

[BaronInEdmonton]

Check out the list of words she got right. These kids are unbeilievable (ding)

http://www.spellingbee.com/06bee/ind...028results.htm

[Clarkey]

Those kids are all mouth-breather oddballs for the most part. Most of them look like they have never participated in any physical activity in their life. Kids need balance between sports/school. Spelling esoteric words that aren't even used as jargon in specific disciplines is not really that admirable in my opinion.

[Reggie Dunlop]

I think it's important that young people experience crushing failure early in life.

[Coolsurfer79]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

That's a tough word, too! I missed the Spelling Bee last night, but I've watched it in the past. These kids aren't just good spellers--they're smart as whips too. Very impressive to come in 2nd in that field. My guess is she has a bright future.



(edited for spelling....)

It's actually a pretty easy word if you have any knowledge of german. The W's are pronounced as V's and the V's are proncounced as F's. Thus VW is actually pronounced as FolksVagen. Obviously they spend more time on greek and latin as that is the base of most english words. They can't possibly learn every language's spelling rules.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

I think it's important that young people experience crushing failure early in life.

I know Reggie is exaggerating (or is he?), but I think this is fair to some degree. I get sick of these bleeding-heart NDP-types (and let's be honest it's mostly the left) who want to get rid of dodgeball because it hurts kids feelings. Or they give everyone in little league a trophy, because they might be psychologically scarred if they don't. These parents are half of the reason why kids are so god damn whiny these days. If you don't feel the shame of failing, what motivation do you have to better yourself?

/rant

I guess this might actually belong in the Pet Peeves thread.