This, as many things are, is best introduced with a story.
    For my sixth-grade area bee, where the top two spellers were sent to the regional bee, I learned every word on the School Spelling Bee Study List, as I knew that it contained the words that were going to be used for much of the bee. I knew every word on that list backward and forwards, and could drill through all 450 words with my dad in a matter of minutes. The bee did, in fact, use those words, but despite my mastery of the list, it was a word from that list that almost brought my demise. The word verdure was my word in a round where there were three spellers left, but instead of the correct \vərjər\ pronunciation, I was given the pronunciation  \ver-¦zher\--as if the word was bergere, except it began with the letter V. I didn’t connect this at all with verdure because the pronunciation was so different from the one listed in Merriam-Webster that I had learned. The closest word I could think of that was on the study list was bourgeois. Needless to say, I was wrong. I would have been eliminated if I had not appealed on the grounds of mispronunciation, and although I was reinstated, it would have saved me (and several others in the same bee who found themselves in similar situations) a lot of trouble and stress.     
    Almost five years later, I’ve pronounced for a dozen or so local bees, and since I have experience both as a speller and as a pronouncer, I wanted to offer some of my advice to those who are going to be pronouncing a school or local bee for the first time this season. A competent pronouncer is the most important part of any bee--the bee simply cannot be well-run without one.
    Let’s start with the pronouncer’s role, as outlined by the Scripps National Spelling Bee itself: The pronouncer strives to pronounce words according to the diacritical markings in Scripps National Spelling Bee word lists. This is your primary duty, and it is absolutely essential to the smooth running of the bee. However, it might be harder than it looks. It’s definitely not a good idea to go into the bee without having prepared yourself for pronouncing words correctly ahead of time. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Don’t assume that you know how to pronounce all of the words. While some of the words used in local bees are fairly common, not all of them are. Furthermore, even if it’s a word you’ve seen before, the way you would typically pronounce it might be different from the diacritics listed in the Scripps-provided word list (which should match the diacritics in Merriam-Webster). Even if you use a word every single day, don’t assume that your pronunciation is the correct pronunciation to give the speller--they might have learned a different pronunciation. Problems with this are avoided by simply following the diacritics given to you in the list, and not pronouncing it another way just because it seems “more correct” to you.
2. Learn how to read diacritics. The diacritics in the Scripps lists follow the same system used by Merriam-Webster. The symbols aren’t necessarily intuitive--it’s important to study and understand them ahead of time so that you can pronounce words correctly according to the diacritics you are given. There’s a useful pronunciation guide from Merriam-Webster that you can use to make learning diacritics a lot easier.
3. Practice ahead of time. Once you know how to read diacritics, practice. Make sure that you can access the pronouncer’s guide ahead of time, and once you have it, review every word in the packet. Say the words out loud according to their diacritics, and make sure you understand the pronunciations of all of the words. It will make you much more efficient the day of the bee--you won’t have to take the time while a student is waiting for their word to figure out what the diacritics are saying.

If you do all of these things, you should be sufficiently prepared to be an effective pronouncer the day of the bee. A second part of this post is coming soon, addressing how to handle being a pronouncer once you’re actually at the bee. Happy pronouncing!

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A few days ago, Ben Nuckols, the Associated Press reporter who covers the Scripps National Spelling Bee every year, wrote an article about the toll Bee Week takes on spellers. I thought it was definitely a new perspective to see in the media, and interesting enough that I wanted to weigh in on how I feel about Bee Week and its effects on the spellers throughout the week.


The basic premise of the article is that Bee Week disrupts the typical routines of spellers--their sleeping, eating, and other habits are all significantly altered. This is absolutely true. Between stress and the slight time change, I always struggled to fall asleep at a reasonable hour during Bee Week. It resulted in a certain level of exhaustion throughout the week, although I was usually able to overcome my lack of energy while I was onstage (although late into the night finals after 10 pm, I started feeling more tired, which may have contributed to me missing a word). It is not true, however, that everyone can remain mostly unaffected by lack of sleep, and tiredness can absolutely be a factor in lowering the level of a speller’s onstage performance.

Another issue presented by Bee Week, in my experience at least, is that spellers often eat very little or nothing at all on competition days. The day is already busy, and most spellers have intense nerves to the point where they start to feel sick or lose their appetite. Some spellers don't eat before they compete for a number of reasons. This is definitely not good for onstage performance, or for the speller's health in general. It could exacerbate feelings of tiredness, or lead to lightheadedness, neither of which are ideal.

The stress from Bee Week can disrupt spellers' habits and normal schedules and routines. It can be extremely tiring, and it often takes time to rest and recover after Bee Week ends. However, the positives generally outweigh the negatives, and it's still one of the best weeks of the year. It’s even better if you remember to get enough sleep and eat adequately, even if you’re nervous. Good luck to everyone competing this week

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          The last year has flown by, and the 91st annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is only two weeks away! If it's your first time competing, you might not entirely know what to expect, so here are my top five pieces of advice for Bee Week (in no particular order):

1. Study some while you're there. The key word here is some. You definitely want to be prepared for the Bee, which does require some last-second studying, but definitely don't isolate yourself the entire week. Study some, but do other things as well. That brings me to my next thing:
2. Talk to people. I know it might feel like you're just there to compete, but I can't emphasize enough how important it is to go to the events like the barbecue and the opening ceremony and socialize with other spellers. Get signatures in your Beekeeper, and try to make a few new friends. (Speller friends are the best kind of friends, and you'll probably stay in touch with some of them for a long time.) 
3. Eat a good breakfast, especially on competition days. There were a few days during my first Bee Week where I ate little to nothing for breakfast because I felt so nervous, and this was a mistake. As unnecessary or unwanted as it might seem, eat something before you go onstage in the mornings. It will help you focus and be the best speller you can be. (This also applies before going onstage in the afternoon or evening, but since people have greater tendencies to skip breakfast (as I did), this was a main focus.
4. Ask every single question on every single word. Don't skip asking for the definition just because you think you don't need it. Give yourself ample time and resources to really examine the word at hand, even if you already know it. Make sure you're thinking of the right word and the right spelling, and whatever you do, never jump straight into spelling the word.
5. Be prepared to accept any outcome. Envision yourself winning. It truly does work wonders for confidence, which is key onstage (although it's no substitute for diligent studying). However, also be prepared to miss a word at any point in the Bee. Remember that you've already accomplished so much just in your preparations for the Bee, and the experience matters more than the place you get.

The main change at this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee is the introduction of an innovative new program called RSVBee, a "second chance" for competent spellers who either didn't win their regional bees or didn't have a sponsor for their regional bee. It will undeniably change the way the bee runs. Due to RSVBee, there are 519 spellers attending the Scripps National Spelling Bee--almost double the numbers of spellers in recent Scripps bees. The RSVBee Effect, as some have dubbed it, will likely show itself in a number of ways throughout the bee, mostly logistically but also competition-wise.
Firstly, the schedule of the bee itself has changed. Instead of the preliminaries test on Tuesday followed by rounds 2 and 3 on Wednesday, the test and round 2 will take place on Tuesday, leaving Wednesday just reserved for round 3. Spellers will be divided into five groups for the onstage preliminary rounds instead of two. Many past spellers reported that Rounds 2 and 3 felt long in previous years--they will likely feel even longer this year.
In addition, the Thursday night finals have a ticket policy for the first time in years. Each speller receives three tickets, and anyone else who wants to watch will have to stand in line in order to obtain a limited number of first come, first serve general admission tickets.
Perhaps the most interesting (although this is more of speculation than fact, unlike the previously mentioned effects) impact of RSVBee will be a higher cut line for the semifinals. Previously, the best prepared speller in a regional bee sometimes lost and, therefore, could not go to nationals. This phenomenon has largely been eliminated, as many of the most competent spellers in the nation who did not win their regionals are going to nationals anyway. This means that there will be a higher concentration of top tier spellers, which likely means that there will be a greater number of high scores on the Preliminaries Test. However, since only 50 spellers will be named semifinalists (just as before), the minimum score required to be a semifinalist will likely be higher than it has been in the past.
How do you think RSVBee will change the outcome of the Scripps National Spelling Bee this year? Will the cutoff score be higher than usual? What are your thoughts on the RSVBee program in general?

I had so much fun talking about Portuguese words last week that I decided to do it again. This brief post will have some more of my favorites. 
Abacaxi   \¦a-bə-kə-¦shē\. This one has the typical Portuguese "x" for the \sh\ sound, which is always fun. Other than that, the spelling is actually pretty straightforward. It's a word for a large pineapple grown in Brazil. 
Barbeiro \bärˈbā(ˌ)rü, -rō\. This word for a type of insect exemplifies Portuguese patterns in two ways. Firstly, the \ā\ sound being spelled as "ei" is very common. There's also the tendency to spell \ü\ as "o" at the ends of words derived from Portuguese. 
Cachaca  \kəˈshäsə\. This is a type of Brazilian liquor. The last c has a cedilla, which enables it to be used for an \s\ sound before an a (it otherwise would be pronounced as \k\). It also has the typical "ch" used for the \sh\ sound in Portuguese.
What are your favorite Portuguese words?