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A learner from St Mary’s Primary School in Gardens has been selected to represent South Africa in the African Spelling Bee competition in Ethiopia in December.
Ifeomachukwu Osondo and several other learners from the province battled it out against 27 juniors from across six provinces in three gruelling rounds of spelling during the National Preliminaries.
The contest happened at Sun City, in the North West from Monday 9 to Thursday 12 October.
In the end, six learners were selected to represent the country, three of whom hail from the Western Cape.
Bayyinah Manjoo and Lauren Henderson, both from Rustenburg Girls’ High School in Rosebank, will be joining Osondo in Ethiopia.
Osondo, in the junior section, was challenged with the word “juxtapose” which she dealt with easily.
Henderson knocked her opposition out with the spelling of “quixotic” and in the second round of the top five Manjoo secured her spot to Ethiopia with the spelling of “sycophantic”.
According to the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), the Spelling Bee is not a test of memorisation but the understanding of words and language.
A word list was not provided, and participants had to be well prepared.
During the four-day action, the speed rounds had categories taken from across the curriculum. Learners had to use their textbook glossaries to prepare for those rounds.
Round Three had specific topics to prepare for.
Learners from the Western Cape aced the speed rounds and surprised the judges with their ability to spell many words in about 60 seconds.
The 13-year-old Osondo said the competition was “stressful”.
“The final round was the most challenging. They gave me a word and I just hoped I was able to spell it.”
An elated Osondo explained that she loves reading books and studied well in advance in preparation for the competition.
“I am happy because I didn’t know if I would make it. Because after the last round, I got the first word wrong.
“When they had to select the top three to represent South Africa there was only one position left and I thought to myself what’s the chance of it being me?”
She explained that she’s already started preparing for the competition in Ethiopia.
Her mother, Grace said she is proud of her daughter’s achievement and it’s only by God’s grace.
“When she was in crèche and saw the older kids read, she would also take a book.
“By the time she was in Grade One, she could read properly.”
David Maynier, Western Cape Minister of Education, said the learners kept the adjudicators “on their toes”.
“The words varied in complexity level and were across various topics. In round one, they were required to spell the names of languages, space and astronomy terms, mathematics terms, geography terms, etc.”
He explained that in the second round learners were challenged with some words with a Latin origin; South African slang words; food from around the world; words from Greek; African loan words; and words from the national anthem among others.
The junior competitors were required to know the names of flowers and parts of the human body for round three whilst the seniors had to familiarise themselves with words related to political movements/parties and words related to music.
Maynier said he is proud of the learners who represented the province on the national and international stages.
“I wish them the very best as they prepare for the competition in Ethiopia.”
The competition will take place from Tuesday 5 to Saturday 9 December in Ethiopia.
