I’m not sure if it exists outside the US. Maybe in other parts of the anglosphere. I know it from The Simpsons and the concept is foreign for languages with more or less straightforward spelling
Watching that and Taskmaster NZ makes me think there are like 2 dozen comedians in the entire country and they just run around doing different TV shows where sometimes they’re the guest and sometimes they host. And occasionally there aren’t enough people so they have to import some from Australia.
They started in the US as, get this, a way to sell spelling books to children. Because the US had (and has!) it’s own spelling system, the standard spelling book was being sold to schools around the country and to sell more of them, the publishers held competitions.
Because the US had (and has!) it’s own spelling system
English wasn’t standardized before the American revolution so it’s not like they abolished the existing standard but they came up with their own when other nations did. Australia and Canada fall somewhere between US and British spelling and don’t get me started on NZ. I don’t know shit about NZ.
This. I’ve never heard of spelling bees outside of the US. I remember learning about it though movies/tv, and thought it was very odd because of course you know how to spell words, otherwise, how would one write.
But yeah, English definitely has more words that can throw you off.
The reason is most likely that English isn’t phonetically consistent (i.e. you don’t say stuff the way you write it) while other languages like German and Spanish are, so it doesn’t make sense for those.
I dunno about China but in Japan they sometimes have segments where they ask guests to read obscure characters, and other ones where you’re supposed to write the character they name. Writing kanji is somewhat comparable to spelling words in English.
I’m not sure if it exists outside the US. Maybe in other parts of the anglosphere. I know it from The Simpsons and the concept is foreign for languages with more or less straightforward spelling
Pretty sure it’s only the US. Definitely not a thing in NZ
I had them in primary and intermediate school. Everyone hated them except the one nerd kid who could actually spell things.
Don’t you guys [NZ] literally have a spelling bee comedy panel show?
Watching that and Taskmaster NZ makes me think there are like 2 dozen comedians in the entire country and they just run around doing different TV shows where sometimes they’re the guest and sometimes they host. And occasionally there aren’t enough people so they have to import some from Australia.
They started in the US as, get this, a way to sell spelling books to children. Because the US had (and has!) it’s own spelling system, the standard spelling book was being sold to schools around the country and to sell more of them, the publishers held competitions.
English wasn’t standardized before the American revolution so it’s not like they abolished the existing standard but they came up with their own when other nations did. Australia and Canada fall somewhere between US and British spelling and don’t get me started on NZ. I don’t know shit about NZ.
This. I’ve never heard of spelling bees outside of the US. I remember learning about it though movies/tv, and thought it was very odd because of course you know how to spell words, otherwise, how would one write.
But yeah, English definitely has more words that can throw you off.
The reason is most likely that English isn’t phonetically consistent (i.e. you don’t say stuff the way you write it) while other languages like German and Spanish are, so it doesn’t make sense for those.
It makes even less sense for Chinese.
Your word is: 愛
Uh, 愛?
Correct.
That is pretty much how they do it. They do have spelling bees in China, and it’s more about writing the correct character down than reciting it.
So are they supposed to write it down or name the radicals and other components?
I dunno about China but in Japan they sometimes have segments where they ask guests to read obscure characters, and other ones where you’re supposed to write the character they name. Writing kanji is somewhat comparable to spelling words in English.
“字音字形比賽” is similar to spelling bees
ill never forget that kid getting negus and looking terrified