Spell bound

How do you get to be a champion speller?

Reading, music and having a parent who is an English teacher are apparently quite a help if two top Canterbury spellers are anything to go by.

Tom Winter and Gabriella Donaldson will be Canterbury's representatives at the national spelling bee in Wellington on March 20, having reached first and second place respectively at the regional finals in Christchurch last week.

When asked how they got to be such good spellers, the Year 9 students of Burnside High School and St Margaret's College both admit to having an English teacher parent. They also are both big readers, with wide reading tastes, including fiction and non-fiction.

Neither has a favourite book - at least, none they'll admit to.

And when it comes to the nerve-racking experience of being on stage in a spelling bee, both say that having performed as musicians, they are pretty much in control of stage fright.

Even so, the regional finals were no walk in the park. They were nervous, of course. But not so nervous they couldn't think.

Both use a similar technique: When asked a word, they take their time. They know they're only going to get one shot, so they don't want to rush it. Before they say anything, they write the word in their mind. Spell it out, look at it, check it - then open their mouths and commit.

Tom says his one mistake at the regionals was to be overconfident with a word.

He knew he knew how to spell it so he didn't bother too much before he spelled it out loud. He got it wrong.

At the finals he'll be more careful. He's looking forward to the difficult ones: Words he doesn't know, and that sound like they'll be spelt a certain way, but invariably will contain a trick. He likes that challenge; to look at a word in his mind, think of the most obvious spelling, then reject it, looking for possible alternatives.

Gabriella too, is eager to get to finals night, but there's a lot to learn in the meantime.

"If you feel the pressure you're going to make mistakes, so you just have to stay calm," she says.

"If you don't know the word, a lot of things go through your head and you do feel there's a bit of pressure to start spelling the word."

Missing the "c" in sciatica meant Gabriella was second to Tom. Her response? "I'm glad that I got it wrong because now I know it. I wasn't disappointed because second, that's far better than I expected to go."

Regarding advice for the control of nerves, she says: "Breathe deeply and remember that you have to take control of the situation, and no matter what happens you've always got the experience. I was really glad I did the spelling bee. So glad I got that experience, because the nerves were nothing compared to what I got from it. And I'm so glad I'm going to the nationals. It's going to be great there."

So will March 20 be a night of high drama? Talking to them, both Gabriella and Tom seem focused, confident and eager to push themselves; both seem like they'll be cool under fire; imperturbable and never vituperative - now, could you spell those please.

NATIONAL FINAL

Tom and Gabriella will be joined by 10 other regional spelling champions from around New Zealand for the March 20 final in Wellington. As well as the title of New Zealand National Spelling Bee Champion, the winner will also represent the country at the 83rd Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC in late May. Hamilton Boys' High School student Christopher Jury was last year's national champion, while Linwood College's Kate Weir was the Canterbury region's only national winner so far in 2007. She went on to reach the semifinals of the prestigious Scripps competition.

- © Fairfax NZ News