"Sylvie is a wonderful coach and mentor. In my time as her student, she has greatly aided me in my studies and reviewed difficult lists with me. Together, we have gone over varied lists such as How to Spell Like a Champ, Death by Spelling, Rebecca's Notebook, and many others. Sylvie has gone out of her way to help me in my spelling journey - even sitting with me the day before the Scripps finals pro bono for some last-minute revision. I am greatly indebted to Sylvie for all the help she has given me on this journey. Sylvie provided insightful feedback regarding my strengths and areas of improvement and greatly helped me in strategizing the specific preparation for the county and regional bees as well. Sylvie's dedication to coaching has also been exemplary - neither sickness nor AP exam deterred Sylvie from continuing with the scheduled coaching sessions. At the same time, Sylvie is extremely flexible in adapting her coaching to the specific needs and requests I had made from time to time. To sum up, Sylvie brings to the table a combination of competence, flexibility, dedication, and experience. I would strongly recommend Sylvie to any promising speller needing a competent coach to succeed in reaching the highest echelons of the Scripps Spelling Bee and other spelling contests."
--Sreeniketh Vogoti, 12th place tie in the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee and 2017 South Asian Spelling Bee National Runner-Up
"Before I met Sylvie, I only studied the school list and Spell It. I became a Scripps National Spelling Bee finalist and tied for 17th place in 2018 after working with Sylvie for one year. Sylvie is an excellent spelling coach. She is knowledgeable and has lots of spelling experience. Her coaching process is tool-based, clear, and effective. Simultaneously, she is also very kind and friendly. We are not only teacher and student, but also close friends. It is a great pleasure for me to learn spelling from Sylvie and have fun at the same time."
--Lauren Guo, 2018 and 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finalist
"Sylvie Lamontagne is not only an amazing and knowledgeable speller, she is also an awesome coach and an inspiration to me. Without her mentoring, encouragement, and patience I wouldn't be half the speller I am now. I owe my spelling career to her, and I would recommend her as a coach to any aspiring speller. It is thanks to her that I have the work ethic and discipline that I have now."
--Nilla Rajan, 2018 and 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee finalist, 2017 South Asian Spelling Bee Chicago Regional Champion, tied-for-fourth finisher at 2017 South Asian Spelling Bee National Finals, 2018 South Asian Spelling Bee National Finalist, 2019 South Asian Spelling Bee Washington, DC Metro Regional Champion
“In 2016, I missed the oral round of the state spelling bee. The next year, I hired Sylvie and got second in state! I would not have been able to do nearly as well without her help. She was extremely helpful and not only supplied spelling tips, but fantastic study tips as well. She has a massive knowledge of linguistics and I would absolutely recommend her to any competitive speller.”
--Luke Henson, 2nd place finisher in the 2017 Denver Post Colorado State Spelling Bee