Spellbound (2002)

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Spellbound (2002)

Post by bunniefuu »

The word is "banns".

Bands, bands, bands, bands.

Bands. Oh-h...

There's gotta
be something I can think of.

With a "d" sound or
without a "d" sound?

Um, you said it's
a h*m* and you told me what it means,

but am I allowed to ask
what its h*m* means?

All right, i'm
starting over.

B-a-n-...

D...

What I have so
far is b-a-n-d.

I don't know if that
was a great idea but...

Oops, maybe I shouldn't
have said that. Oh well.

Yesterday, the artist in the blue smock

sketched and painted
Margaret Ann's portrait.

Who sketched and painted
Margaret Ann's portrait?

How do you guys describe life out here?

Boring.
Boring.

Boring.

There's nothing much to do

except go to the theatre.

Terrible there.

I know.

It's terrible there.

I've had some of my friends

sign the cards.

Like Chelsea, she's
a good friend of mine.

If I see that name

and it's right
next to the word,

I kind of think that
she's cheering me on,

you know, to win
the spelling bee.

I also wrote down
words on poster board

and I glued 'em
on here, and...

I kind of made this
little crossword puzzle.

Who taught you these methods of learning spelling?

I guess I kind of just...

Came up with them myself.

Whoo-oo-oo!

Whoo-oo!

Whoo-oo!

Angela was kind of giving him a hard time

the other
day, that...

'Cause he didn't
know any English,

and she said, "you know,
you've been here for 20 years

and you can't speak English."

He says, "well I've been
taking care of cattle

for 20 years. They
don't speak English."

He's worked here,

practically, I think,

for about... what is it?

19 or 20 years now?

20.

Huh?

20.

30...

20!
20.

I knew it was
19 or 20 he's worked here.

He's a real
reliable...

He's a reliable
Mexican.

And of course
you run into a few Mexicans pretty reliable.

They're not all
just bums and tramps, you know.

There's a lot
of good ones mixed up in them.

...Border patrol agents.

Senator Judith zaffirini
wants to give agents

the right to make arrests,

searches and seizures

for violations
of state law.

The father of a
border agent sh*t to death last year

is the one who requested
the legislation.

They're just
so proud that...

I mean, they didn't come
over here for nothing.

They thought we would
have better educational opportunities over here.

And I guess it has all
been worth it for them.

He was scared 'cause
back in his youth,

he had tried crossing
illegally and he had gotten caught,

and spent...

Quite a bit of time
in an immigration detention centre.

And he wasn't
treated very well.

I kind of had
an idea, as old as I was, believe it or not,

that, you know,
we weren't doing what... what was right.

To me, I just, you know,
I remember my mother

as, you know,
such an innocent...

Girl back then,
that was, you know...

Had these two children.

And I remember...

You know,
actually walking to the river.

She held me by
the hand and had my sister in her arms

when we
crossed.

Are you talking
about Angela?

How...

How did she
learn to speak English so well

since they
speak Spanish all the time?

Well, the
first way is...

First deal,
she's smart.

She don't
have to hear something but one time

and she knows
what it is.

When I took her home the other afternoon,

she said, "miss slaughter,

what if I don't win?"

And I said, "so you don't win.

You know, you've...

You're already...
You've won.

So you don't spell
the right word, okay."

I said, "then you
don't have to study for the next month."

She said, "yeah!" You
know how she is. "Yeah!"

I have been waiting for...

Tomorrow,
for that day.

I've been waiting
for it forever.

All year. All year.

And it's... I
can finally say,

"tomorrow is the
regional spelling bee."

I could finally say that.

As you know, the spellers

are under a
tremendous amount of stress and pressure.

So we'd like... we need
to try for the audience

to keep as quiet
as you possibly can.

Speller 21.

"Cultivation."

Cultivation:

C-u-l-t-i-v-a-t-i-o-n.

Cultivation.

C-o-m-e-d-i-a-n.

Comedian.

P-o-d-a-n-t-i-c.

P-e-d-a-n-t-i-c.

Correct spelling:

R-a-p-p-e-l-l-e-d.

Could I have spellers 21 and 24 to the mic, please?

"Angstroms."

A-n-g-s-t-r-o-m-s.

"Atrophy."

A-t-r-o-...

"Extenuate."

Extenuate.
"Bludgeon."

Bludgeon.
Radiocin.

I-o-c-i-....

"Chapeau."

"Renowned."

"Perpetuate."

Interrogatory...

Prophylaxis...
Feasible...

Post-prandial...
Stamina...

"Valetudinarian."

Val-et-udinarian:

V-a-l-e-...

T-u-...

D-i-n-a-r-i-a-n.

Valetudinarian.

"Cabana."

C-a-b-a-n-y-a.

Cabanya.

I'm sorry, it's incorrect.

Angela, you now have
a chance to spell the championship word.

"Crocodilian."

C-r-o-c-

o-d-i-l-i-a-n.

We have a champ.

I did it.

Turn around here.

...around the
other side.

Put you in
the middle. Yeah.

Put you in
the middle.

There you go, gram, that's good.

Talk about your winner.
That looks great.

Oh, I did it.
I did it!

Maybe.
Washington.

I'm just... i'm
like, "whoa."

See you
Friday. Okay...

I don't even
know some of them.

An eighth grader
in perryton was the guest of honour

at a pep rally
and parade today.

Angela arenivar is
off to Washington, D.C. this weekend

for the national
spelling bee.

She's the regional
spelling champ.

And today, Angela's
teachers and classmates

gave her a
royal send-off.

A-r-e-n-i-v-a-r,

in case you're
wondering.

You cheated.
See you tonight.

Good night.

I mean, I was crying
after the spelling bee.

I'm... I've never
cried, like, for being happy, you know?

That's how happy I was.

Your dad was crying. He... oh...

I've never seen
my dad cry.

He's going to go.

He didn't really
want to go at first,

but you know he's been
out here for 20, 25 years.

He came here...

His... I think that it
would be closing for him

to go to Washington
and see Angela

because this is
what he came here for.

He didn't come
out here to work.

I mean, that's part of it.

But the closing
in it for me,

the end of the
story is for him

to get to go to
Washington and see her.

Mesoseismal:

Of, or relating to,

the centre of an area of
earthquake disturbance.

My parents were very
pressured to succeed,

especially in
India, because...

Academics there are taken
very, very seriously.

People from India have a very strict philosophy

about education
with their children,

and I notice that with
all the children from India

who come into my class.

I'm always thrilled

to see any child come in
who is from India

because I know that
they're going to have a great work ethic,

and they're going to be
good students. And it's...

I've never been wrong,
not one single time.

Hymenoptera:

An extensive
order of highly specialized insects...

Nupur, can you
spell "laicize"?

L-a-i-c-i-z-e.

B-u-s-h-i-d-o.

And she always liked big
words for some reason.

Right? Yeah.

The bigger the word,
the better she liked it.

She would say things like,

"I don't have
any opportunities"

when she had
no idea what opportunity meant.

Yeah.
But she liked the sounds.

So there she be

at two and a half and
she had no opportunity.

"Munchausen."

Oh, Munchausen syndrome.

M-u-n-c-h-a-u-s-e-n.

Hm-hmm.

She had a lot of trouble
b*ating the trio there,

sid, Alex and ju jing.

It was the eighth grade bee,

and they were going to
send the eighth grade representative

to the "tampa tribune"
to compete.

All we did was
try to win.

Oh yeah. I wanted
to b*at her.

They would be like,
"oh, nupur, we're gonna go out there

and we're gonna b*at
you. We're gonna try so, so, so hard."

She had this
little tactic. She would...

She acted
like she was not nervous.

And then I remember,
one of the boys,

especially the one who
had seemed very confident,

he got the word
mongrel, and suddenly he blanked out.

I spelled it
m-o-n-g-r-o-l.

I don't know...

I guess I was just
pretty nervous.

And then it was
the three of US,

two of those boys and me.

We went on for, I think,
11 or 12 rounds.

Well, I got out
on "stethoscope".

He was a fast speller.

He didn't like
definitions.

So he started
going, "s-t-h-t-..."

And then all of
a sudden he goes...

And then he covers
his face with his hands

and he's like, "no."

My word was
"iridescent."

I, like...

I thought it
had two rs.

We all thought
it had two rs. Yeah. Every...

A lot of
people thought it had two rs.

And then they
started looking it up in the dictionary,

so we waited up there
for five minutes.

And I remember him
wringing his hands the whole time,

wondering, "oh my gosh.
Am I right? Am I right?"

He wanted to win. He
wanted to win very badly.

He was wrong.

So that's our
story. She b*at US.

And that was the most
nerve-wracking experience of this entire...

Of all these
preliminary bees.

She was very happy,

and her mother
was very happy.

I was boo-hooing, sobbing,

you know, so hard

that they came over
to me and said,

"you must be her mother."

They are part of this community.

People accept them
for who they are

and can
look beyond differences,

you know, to
find things that are common.

We're very community involved.

We saw one of the people
from our community

being recognized as a
spelling bee champion,

and... so we right
away put it up and congratulated her.

Last year, I would say

the only bad experience
I had the entire bee was getting out.

This year I came back with
a lot more determination.

And I said, "you know,
you could always come back next year."

And she said, "oh,
I am. I'm coming back next year."

She said, "I know what
to do. I'm gonna work."

You don't get any
second chances in India

the way you do in america.

"Mayonnaise."

Mayonnaise:

A-... uh...

I messed up already.

Fine.

M-a-y-o-n-n-a-i-s-e.

Mayonnaise.

That is correct.

We have our winner.

We have our winner.

Congratulations.

Have you watched the national bee on TV before?

No. I never even heard
of it before this year.

The teacher just asked me
if I wanted to be in it,

and the school
provided the $50.

Wow.

That's going to
go right in the centre of the mantle.

I don't think Ted has any really close friends.

And sometimes
this school can be...

A little less
than kind to new people,

and new people who
are especially a little different,

and Ted is, because
he's that intelligent.

But he knows how
to handle that.

His size helps him.

You're the man.

Go, go, go!

There are a couple smart kids in my grade,

but... not many.

Our class only has,
like, 40 kids in it.

They just like
using simple words,

words that
you'll understand.

A lot of the time,
they just talk about the same things.

A kid in my class, all
he talks about is trucks.

So anything you say to
him that doesn't have to do with an engine

or how the truck
runs, besides real basic English,

he won't understand
what you're saying.

Here's the
peacocks.

One of them is the five- year-old male.

It's the one
with all the feathers.

We have a
five-year-old female

and, like, a
nine-year-old female.

If you pick
them up by their feet

and they hang
like a "j",

they get
real docile.

They'll remain...

Like this for a
long time until they get a head rush.

I've always liked
it out here.

It's calm and
it's peaceful.

We don't end up having
a lot of traffic. We...

Can do pretty much
whatever we want

as long as we're not...

Causing problems
for anybody else.

Older boy needs
direction, and...

I think the marines
would be good for him.

And... his interests

just are not things that...

They're not like...

I'd push him to do it,

but it's the things
he's interested in, g*ns and expl*sives

and weapons
and all that... I told him you gotta be

on the right
side of the law with his interests,

or he'll
be in jail.

I think it's pretty cool.

See, I know he
is really smart.

What's his IQ?

I think his IQ is one
short of being a genius.

I'm really not that
good in spelling.

I'm really good in math.

I teach learning
disabilities now and...

I'm certified to teach
regular education

and learning
disabilities both.

And I think I just
had a lot of empathy

for the kids that
were struggling and having a hard time.

"Chapm." "chapm."

Hey, chapm,
how you doing?

It's nice 'cause he's not real...

Conceited
about it.

And if he ever got
that way, we'd...

Try and bring
him down a little bit.

Are you nervous about the national bee?

Yeah.

Yeah, I've never been
to Washington before.

Pretty much stayed
in the midwest.

Haven't been to
the east coast or the west coast.

I think this is going
to open some doors for him to realize,

"hey, there's a lot
of people out there that are like me.

I will be able
to fit in."

You know, there may
not be a lot of them,

and they're not
going to be.

If there's no one that can really understand you

so it makes you feel like
you're above them. But...

It's kind of strange.
It's kind of hard to make friends

when no one can understand
what all you can do.

B-u-r-g...

B-u-r-g. Burg, burg...

Pusillanimous.

Spelling is kind of just like...

I do it because...

I don't know, my
competitive side kind of comes out.

And I don't
love spelling.

I do it 'cause
I want to compete.

I want to say,
"hey, look at me. I'm good at this.

'Cause I ride with people
who are better than me

and I sing with people
who are better than me."

♪ I am sitting here ♪

♪ writing memories
to teach me ♪

♪ to see the beauty
in the world ♪

♪ through my own eyes ♪

♪ I am sitting here,
writing memories to teach me ♪

♪ to see the beauty
in the world ♪

♪ through my own eyes ♪

♪ I know that please
and thank you ♪

♪ and a smile will
take you far... ♪

I am wary of sounding too smart.

I just talk, I think, like
a normal teenager would,

maybe with some big
words, but nothing out of the ordinary.

...divided by 3x over
9 times x minus 2.

Okay now, Emily,
what are you going to do

with a squared
minus b squared?

There's a difference
of squares,

that's it.
So it's a minus b, a plus b.

Okay.

Most of the words that I learn, I don't know what they mean.

I just remember
how to spell them.

And a lot of the ones
that I use, like a Moroccan desert wind...

And when am I
going to a chance

to use that
in a sentence?

Easy to spell
"cool" and "d-uh."

How do you
spell "d-uh?"

D-u-h.
Oh, okay.

Well I hate all the
words I've gotten out on.

I hate oracle, ossicular
and despotism,

are the three words
I've gotten out on in the past three years.

And I'm probably going
to hate one more word after Washington's over.

Cargador?

What's the language
of origin?

Spanish.

And once a letter is said, you can't take it back.

C-a-r-g-a-d-o-r.

Cargador.

Emily stagg gets the word correct.

Well, the first year we went,

we brought the
au pair as well.

We brought Claudia
from Germany.

And last year I
was just, like...

When we had to
fill out a form to say who we're going to bring,

I was like,
"mom, you forgot the au pair. You forgot Marie,"

who was our
then au pair. And she's like,

"well, I don't
think we're going to bring the au pair this year."

And I'm like,
"why not?"

You know? But
then we went,

and it was like
a family thing.

It was like a real
time to be with my mom and my dad

and... it was nice.

You're going on trips, you're going to picnics.

You're going
to ice cream socials.

And I was very
impressed. And when...

On the first...
Bus trip we had

before the actual
spelling bee,

I sat with a
mother of a girl

who was now
back for her second year.

And I vividly
remember saying how wonderful this all seemed.

And she had said,
"well I think it's a different form of child abuse,"

which sort of
took me aback.

And then the next day
Emily is, you know,

out on the first round,
and all the emotions

that came
with that,

and you see your
child who's really worked hard

seemingly, you
know, knocked down pretty hard,

and you start
to think, "well maybe... "

And it's like,
yeah, it is.

"Maybe this
woman is right."

"Heuristic."
Greek.

Heuristic?
Heuristic.

Didn't we do
this last night?

Don't remember.

At the beginning of the year,

we talked about whether
Emily wanted to work towards the goal

of returning to the
national spelling bee.

I just almost
feel like I would disappoint people

if I didn't do
as well as I did last year.

My daughter is very capable and talented

and I know she
could do well.

So there's a part of
me that wants to see her strive for that.

On the other hand, I knew
it would be a stress

and I really felt that
it was her decision.

I heard the
winning word was something that I had studied,

I would just be
like, "oh, that was dumb," you know.

Doesn't mean you
would've gotten that winning word though.

Obviously I'd like to win.

Everybody would like
to win. I don't think that's realistic.

People have told
me I'm up there

because I'm one of the
few returning spellers,

you know, that
placed high.

I'm not holding my breath
for anything great.

My life is like a movie.

How's that?

Because I go through
different trials and tribulations,

and then I finally
overcome them,

you know?

It's hard.
It's hard.

With the jobs and
everything, and...

Economy being like
it is, it's hard.

And the healthcare
situation...

It's hard.

I don't really
go outside much

because it's boring to me

because I don't
have any...

Peers around here,

and if I do,
well, I don't...

I rarely see them.

Our playground's
over there.

It's called kids' view.

It seems like it's
very fun for the boys

because they
play basketball.

It's like,
wherever you go,

if there's a
basketball court,

the boys are
always on there.

Girls just...

Stand around
talking and things.

Permeability:

Use, especially
of a substance,

that allows
the passage of fluids.

Permeability.

Per-me-a-bility.

I look at Ashley...

This is funny...

Like a little angel.

It's almost like you
know this perfect child.

It's like, of the full
package all around.

Think about it.

Is this supposed
to be "oasis?"

Mm-hmm.

I remember when she won citywide

and I said, "what's next?

What does she study from?"

They said,
"the dictionary."

All right, I'll tell you what.

Here. You
open it up.

And wherever
you go, that's where we going to start.

Where do you start with the dictionary?

"A", in the middle?

You know, I mean,
where do you start?

I hope there'll be
a big turnout on...

On... what day is that?

During the spelling bee.

I done called everybody.

I just hope they have
enough seats for 'em.

Two of her
uncles are incarcerated, but...

They'll watch it on TV.

They'll be there
with her, regardless.

Mm-hm.

What I would like
for her to do

is when she... I'll
be extremely happy

when she crosses that
stage at 12th grade with honours.

I'll have a job that pays well,

and I will love
my profession.

And I'll have
a house and...

And whenever my mother or
a family member needs me,

I'll be there for them.

I mean, they focus on children doing crime

and always talk
about negative,

and then they
have somebody that's from the district,

that's representing
the district, and they're not giving...

I don't think
they're giving Ashley her proper...

You know... her props.
Put it that way.

They told me I would receive a certificate

and a bag full of goodies

by the superintendent
of D.C. public schools

for winning the
citywide spelling bee.

There was a b*mb
thr*at in the building.

What does that
mean... there was a b*mb thr*at?

Because somebody
called and told them

that they were
going to b*mb the building.

"Hines student is top speller, Ashley white."

They made an error.

11 years old. She's 13.

You see how
this stuff is going on now,

as far as
publicity-wise?

They're not
publicizing my...

Or recognizing
my daughter.

They're not
recognizing my daughter.

But it's fine.
It's okay.

'Cause she gonna
be all right.

Ashley, tell the truth.

When did you get
your spelling...

Your spelling material?

Your real
spelling material?

March something...

March what?

Your contest
was march 24th.

It was like, early in
the beginning of march.

And if she wins this,
prove me wrong,

but I know she won
the race even if she lost at the nationals.

But I'm not thinking...
Pessimistically.

I'm thinking
optimistically.

My baby gonna win.

And the word coming up
for you is "plague."

Plague.

Would you give me a
definition, please?

A destructively
numerous influx

or multiplication
of a noxious animal.

Plague...
Plague.

P-l-a-g-u-e.

I think, ladies and
gentlemen, we found our champion.

Man, that was the glorious day of my life.

Lord have mercy.
My baby spell that right.

Go girl,
go girl...

See? Look
at her.

She can't
believe herself.

That was the happiest
moment of my life.

I felt really good.

I think I prayed.

I prayed that night also.

I've been praying...

I think I'm a
prayer warrior.

I don't know why, but
it's some reason I just can't stop praying.

So whatever happens, I'll be happy for her.

As long as she
place in the top 50.

But I want her to
win in first place.

I would like for her to.

As I go higher, my
goals go higher also.

And so, I just gotta
keep on reaching, keep on reaching.

So this year, I Rose
above all of my problems

and I went straight
through the local,

straight through
the regional.

I was determined that
I was going to win the citywide spelling bee.

I told the photographer.

He was like, "so what
are you gonna do when you get to citywide?"

I said, "I'm gonna win."

And sure I did.

I won citywide
spelling bee.

Now I'm going
to the nationals.

"Hybrid."

H-y-b-r-i-d.

"Hydrophyte."
h-y-d-r-o-p-h-y-t-e.

"Hygiene."
h-y-g-i-e-n-e.

"Hymeneal."
h-y-m-e-n-e-a-l.

I-d-e-n-t-i-f-y.

"Ideology."
i-d-e-o-l-o-g-y.

"Idiosyncrasy."
i-d-i-o-s-y-n-c-r-a-s-y.

Excellent.

You've done 4,000
words and you got one mistake.

You're doing
good now.

We did all
the words

that were ever
given to spellers in the competition.

We collected the
data from all the previous spelling bees

and saw why
people were failing on certain words

and tried to
correct that for our kids.

So to derive a
complete number would be hard,

but I can tell
you that in the final days of the competition,

we're doing
between 7,000 to 8,000 words a day.

Very good.
"Sacrosanct."

S-a-c-r-o-s-a-n-c-t.

Sacrosanct means
mostly holy or overly sacred.

"Sardion."
s-a-r-d-i-o-n.

What we do is, to get
the meaning of the word,

we get the
language of origin,

we get the
root word,

we tell them to use
it in a sentence,

we tell them to
re-pronounce the word,

we understand the
meaning in our head.

Say the spelling
alphabetically inside your own head.

Match it with the
sound that you're going to come out with

that you just pronounced,

re-pronounce the
word in the head,

and then spell the
word out loud slowly.

That's what we do.

There are 46
words and you missed 3 words.

That's not bad.

And we still
have 25 days. Yeah.

So, thank god
for what we have.

It is definitely a
bonding experience.

We were close,
but this was like a crisis,

and we all had
to pitch in to help

whichever way we could.

If I could help him
pull his clothes out

and make sure that
they're ready for him when he takes shower

and he can save
two minutes,

that also was important.

When you fight in a w*r,

everybody has
the same goal.

He's only 12 years old.

He's in the 8th grade.

So he comes off the
spelling bee cycle

because he's academically
advanced early on.

So this is his first
and last chance.

This is my trophy

for winning the
orange county spelling bee.

And for, like, the
rest of that afternoon,

I was seeing, like,
white flashes and stuff.

I don't know why. I
guess I was just, like, too happy or something.

At the
spelling bee, I mean,

you'll find a
lot of people

that are
bookworms,

do wear really
thick glasses.

You know the
stereotypical,

quiet, shy,
studious types.

And then you'll
find people like my brother

who's, like, an athlete,

has, like, almost
a black belt in tae Kwon do.

He hangs out with
his friends, you know.

We go... I mean, yeah,
we do watch movies.

We watch TV.
We have a life.

I don't think every child can excel.

And the reason
it doesn't happen

is because they don't have
a way of concentrating

on what they're doing.

I think if
everybody meditated,

the competitions
like spelling bees

would become very,
very difficult.

We are very blessed and lucky to have kids like Neil,

and to be blessed
with this abundance.

I am so indebted to my
spiritual master and to god

and to this country,
you know, which will accept a stranger come in

and give them this
opportunity and...

America is just great.

This is our little house.

Me and my brother built
this house ourselves.

Every single thing
that you see here, we had no contractor.

We got the sub-contractors
and we did it all.

Granite, marble,
fireplace...

Stucco work,
sheffield doors,

backyard, hypo-allergenic
trees all around.

There is no way you can
fail in this country.

That's one guarantee
in this country

that if you work
hard, you'll make it.

And that's not existent
in the rest of the world,

at least in many
parts of the world.

I am a firm believer of having the best coach

for the problem
that you have.

"Dissent."

D-i-... oh, wait.
There's two.

Yeah, this...
Not coming down.

This is to
disagree.

D-i-s-s-e-n-t.
Uh-huh.

Well, I work with
Neil Monday, Tuesday,

Wednesday and Thursday.

We worked about 3 to 3 1/2 hours

and I get home about
11:00 o'clock at night.

We did that 4
nights a week.

And then Saturday, I
would sometimes come up

and work anywhere from
4 to 8 hours with him.

I'm tutoring
him in French.

He isn't taking
French as a subject,

but I'm tutoring him
in the French words

that may come up in the
national spelling bee.

Same thing
we did with a Spanish teacher

who came and
showed them the Spanish words

or why to break
them down.

And then we got
a German teacher to come in

and break down
the German words.

Now fortunately for both of them,

they've got excellent
Latin teachers at school.

But Neil is studying
really hard.

I mean, he's... he's
studying really hard.

O-h-m-m-a-t-e-r.

You're
wrong, Neil.

There you go.

Okay, we're done
with the state bee preparation.

I think he's more serious
about it than I was.

No. You're
forcing it on yourself.

I want you to
step back, take a deep breath

and use your
technique again.

Re-pronounce
the word, please, for me.

What are you
trying to spell? S-a-d-e-r.

Great, Neil.
Not missing a single word.

"Senility."

I'll be the first one
to admit it is hard.

But what is... what
is valuable in life

that is easy to achieve?

Nothing.

It's a once in a
lifetime experience.

And... I mean, after
you've studied so hard,

it would... it
would just be...

It would just feel great
to be up there and win.

"Epitaph."
e-p-i-t-a-p-h.

"Epithet."
e-p-i-t-h-e-t.

"Epitome."
e-p-i-t-o-m-e.

"Equable."
e-q-u-a-b-l-e.

"Existence."
e-x-i-s-t-e-n-c-e.

Keep on
going, champ. "Description."

D-e-s-c-r-...

Here she is,
winning a bee in...

This was seventh grade.

And Billy, her brother,
look what he put...

Another face on it.
He made a little cartoon face.

My mom and dad both
like to play with words

and make funny sayings

and stuff like that.

"Ain't mis- bee-having."

And I have stationary
that says "bee happy."

B-e-e.

And it's bumblebees
flying around.

I think that's where my
love of words came from.

Well, you're full of
jabberwocky tonight,

aren't you?

I've got another
word for it.

They remind me of
Edith and Archie bunker

because Archie's
always getting mad at Edith for being dumb.

And the cover is just...

Has fallen off.

She was really glad
to get the new one

because this one had
gotten kind of battered.

However, we'll
never throw it away.

Smithsonian material.

I think I worked
pretty hard at...

Maybe a little too hard.

In the summer, I
kind of worked...

Around eight to
nine hours a day.

But... as school began,

I just worked about
five or six hours a day.

Our lives have
revolved around April and the spelling bee.

I mean, I
hardly could see my friends.

They would call
me up and say,

yeah.
"When can we get together for lunch, breakfast,

whatever you
can squeeze in?"

Well, the
spelling bee's coming up,

and this
was just the regional.

This is the
regional word list

and sponsor
bee guide collection.

I ended up going
through this book three times in all.

And I've pretty
much memorized it.

She didn't even like to go to the mall.

Yeah.
It became where that was actually...

Right.
A young girl that doesn't want to go to the mall.

I mean, with
girlfriends. Right.

Not with her
parents, with her girlfriends.

Right.
"I can't... I can't go.

They want me to
go Friday night

but I can't
go because I gotta study. I can't..."

And we'd
say, "April, lighten up,"

you know?

In the classroom,
if there's a break,

right away, out come the
cards and the notebooks.

I'm also the
softball coach here, and she was part of the team.

But any break in play,
if it was stopped or for whatever reason,

out came the
spelling words.

The kids used
to tease her. Yeah.

Even in the
beginning of this year,

they would say, "oh April.
Why don't you get a life?"

How could anybody
want to study words

and not have
another interest?

Besides spelling, I like
to ride roller-coasters...

And I'm a vegetarian.

And I like to drink coffee.

Here's another one. Look.

I can't even
pronounce these words.

It's... rather
sad, but...

I know she can.

It's just...

A world of...

Of knowledge
here. I'm...

I want to go back to
school, tell you the truth.

I've been working in the bar business 45 years.

Yeah, I was born
across the tracks.

That was the depression
centre back there.

That was all the houses
for the people that worked in the asbestos mill.

And then they found
out that the asbestos stuff was coming up,

seeping through
the ground, so they closed it all off now.

There's a lot of people in
this town have asbestosis.

d*ed from cancer.

I didn't go far.

I went from that side of
the street to this side of the street, really.

Not a real success story.

I'd always...

Used to dream that i'd
go down on an easy word

or something like that.

I never dreamed
of doing well or anything like that.

I pretty much always had
a pessimistic attitude.

Only one night did she say to me,

"mom, I would really
want to win this thing."

And I said, "oh,
I know, April."

I didn't want her to
get disappointed though,

or have too big a goal.

But I loved hearing
that she was giving that thought

because sometimes
her confidence was a bit shaky.

So I was happy to
hear that that was in the back of her head.

"I would really like
to win this bee."

Wait, I can't... I'm gonna start over.

Okay. Moshe and izzi
are working in a factory,

and Moshe asks
izzi, "what time is it?"

And he says, "it's
3:00 o'clock."

And later he
asks him again,

"what time is it?" And
he says, "it's 3:30."

And later he
asks him again,

"what time is it?" And he
says, "it's 4:00 o'clock."

And later he asks him
again, "what time is it?"

And he says, "it's 4:30."

Then izzi asks Moshe,
"when you go home at night and it's dark out,

how do you know
what time it is?"

And he says, "oh, that's
simple. I get out my horn,

blow a little
toot-toot on my horn

and everybody... and
everybody pulls up their shades and yells out,

"you idiot! What are you
playing your horn for?

It's 3:00 o'clock
in the morning!"

I guess you could
call me talkative.

Not really. I mean...
If... I mean...

But, yeah, sort of.

What's that? This is a dictionary,

a big dictionary.

I don't know why
it's in my room.

Okay, but it seems like it's got

all sorts of
pieces of paper in there.

Oh yeah. Um...

Well that was so
my mom could find the definitions

of the words
we were studying.

This thing isn't
edible, is it?

In fourth
grade, Harry entered...

They have
in Glen rock a 4th/5th grade bee

which is not related to the
Howard scripps at all.

And he was out... he was
the first person out.

The very first person out.

How many hours
a day would you say

you spent
studying with your mom?

Maybe one-half, or one,

or maybe one-quarter.

I don't know. I
really don't know.

Probably one-half.
That is my guess.

Does this sound like
a musical robot?

This year, I saw an ad in "the record" about the bee,

and we didn't practice
for it at all because I didn't even realize...

I forgot what day it was.

Harry never came
home with a paper.

One day, it's a Friday.
I come home from...

I usually come home
about the same time as he does from...

From my office. He's not
home. I wait and wait.

It's, like, 3:30.
He's not home.

I call up the school.
Call the library.

All the places I think
he might be at the school.

Finally someone gets
on the phone and says,

"oh, I have some
good news for you.

Harry won the
spelling bee."

Harry and this
boy, oshgay,

they were the last
two in the last bee,

and they went for
a very long time.

They told me they'd never
had a bee go that long.

We went for quite
a while before...

Before he finally he
missed "discotheque".

In my generation,
everybody knows "discotheque",

but in this generation
the kids really don't.

But we had studied
"discotheque",

and Harry knew as soon
as... you could see it.

He's there and
he's like...

He just couldn't wait to
get up there and spell it.

And that was, of course,
one of the words that stuck in my head,

for some reason.

Look at this.

"Huked on fonix
wurked fur mee!"

Acrophobia,

aoristic,

rayonnant,

cucurbit,

orenda...

I'm a little nervous right now,

but I think
that's natural.

I think every speller
is a little bit.

Llanero,

staurolatry...

I'm nervous.

There's so much
luck in it. It's not...

You can't not
be nervous.

It's too scary.

Well I don't think I'll win,

but I'm going to
try hard anyways.

It would be funny to win.

Up, up, up, up.

Right there, like that.

Well, I think the
parents and children

who come away with the
most valuable experiences

are the ones who
approach it with realistic expectations.

I don't really
expect to win.

I don't know. I've
studied enough.

So I just have to
see what happens.

And how was the trip
to the capitol today?

The part we went to,
which was about five minutes, that was fine.

Then mom and I decided
we'd rather study and went home in a taxi cab.

Left me high
and dry.

Of all the 10 million
participants,

there's only going to be
one child at the very end

holding that trophy
high above the head.

I would spell all the
words if I had to get...

A chance to win $10,000.

I... I would spell every
word in the dictionary.

Repetiteur,

clavecin,

marotte,

cabot...

Cabotinage. Cabotinage.

It has been
a very odd experience for me

because I do
get stopped.

I have been
stopped in restaurants in Ohio

and just total strangers
say, "I've seen you.

I know I've seen
you somewhere,"

and then suddenly
remember,

or people just walk
up out of nowhere, months from now,

and say, "I've seen
you on television.

I want to shake
your hand."

If you start to
spell a word... ord,

can you... and you stop
in the middle... iddle,

can you ask
for information

then, you know like,
the language of origin,

concerning stuff
like... can you say the first letter,

then ask for the
language of origin,

then once you know
that, keep on spelling?

One of them just
came running up

because he said he
wanted to tell me

that he really
enjoyed hearing old English pronounced.

And... then he took off.

"Pernicious."

P-e-r-n-i-c-i-o-u-s.

He's good
now. Very good. "Tamarack."

Very, very good.

From the minute I walked in on Sunday to register,

I was in total shock
at how huge it was,

how grand the whole
affair would be.

Oh yeah.

It's our stop.

I picture myself getting that winning word,

and then jumping up
and screaming,

and getting a trophy.

And I picture
myself appearing on Rosie O'Donnell.

"Cephalalgia."

Cephalalgia?

A pain in the head.

"Cephalalgia."

Cephalalgia:

C-e-p-h-...

A-l-a-l-g-i-a.

Cephalalgia.

Z-w-i-e-b-a-c-k.

Zwieback.

T-u-y-e-r-e.

Tuyere.

T-r-a-c-h-o-d-o-n.

Trachodon.

"Nephelognosy."

Dysphasia...

"Xerostomia."

Quaquaversal...

"Siphonapterology."

Could you repeat that
word again, please?

Zaibatsu...

"Chateaubriand."

May I have the language of origin?

It is from amboinese.

Is the origin Latin?

And it's French?

...p-h-a-l-o-n.

Encephalon.

...d-i-l-l-a.

Quesadilla.

"Lycanthrope."

A werewolf is a lycanthrope.

I just hope and I pray to god

that I'll get a
presentable place, or a good place at least...

The top 5, top 10.

It really doesn't
matter to me. It's...

I mean, spelling
is something that I love to do.

How can you
compete and be scared?

You're trying
to win.

Lycanthrope:

L-y-c-a-n-t-h-r-o-p-e.

Lycanthrope.

That concluded round one.

"Mattock."

Mattock...

Can I have the
definition, please?

A mattock
is a tool...

My mom tells me that sometimes,

I would be saying
words in my sleep.

I was so scared
and nervous

'cause I really wanted
to get past that first day.

Well, it's more
intense than any competition

because in
baseball, your kid gets up in the first inning;

he strikes out.
He gets up in the third inning.

Then he gets up
in the sixth inning and the ninth inning.

This one,
one letter,

and you're out.

M-a-t-t-o-c-k.

Ted's... he is really competitive.

I don't know if
he can memorize all those words or not.

Yeah, he
plays to win.

"Distractible."

Distractable:

D-i-s-t-r-a-c-t-a-b-l-e.

Distractable.

Distractible is d-i-s-t-r-a-c-t-i-b-l-e.

How you feeling?

Fine.

Just kind of annoyed.

I was surprised
that...

That an easier
word got him

after practicing
those real long jaw-breaker words.

I think
Ted's got the advantage

of parents that
think it's great that he's here, irregardless.

He's a champ in my eyes.

I still think
he spelled it right.

"Wheedle."

"Wheedle."

Wheedle?

"Wheedle"
or wheedle.

Wheedle...

Wheedle...

If I win the
national spelling bee,

oh man, i'd
be... ecstatic.

I would like
for her to...

To be satisfied with
whatever place she gets.

However, from what
I saw yesterday,

there isn't any reason
why she can't win.

Could I please have
the language of origin?

The origin
of the word in unknown.

Wheedle...

"Wheedle",
wheedle.

Wheedle... wheedle...

W-h-e-e-d-l-e.

...E-r-v-...

A-i-l.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Cameron.

That's concluded round two.

At this time, we
are going to take

our 15-minute
mid-morning break.

Spellers, you need
to leave your placards on your chairs,

and we will resume
spelling at 10:20.

So this time,
you just want to get through the next round.

This time, I want
to get a word like, you know, like pasimology,

which I know
pasi means signs.

Or I want to
get a word that I've studied,

like something
nat's notes that I actually remember,

which is,
like, 5%. Right.

What's really special about being at the bee

is whereas in New York,
where we come from,

Amy is considered
kind of like a geek,

you know, because
she's into the words

and she's into
the vocabulary,

and the kids look at her
when she uses these words

that she doesn't
understand...

That they don't
understand;

when we come here,
it's so refreshing

to see all of these bright
kids in one environment.

And here she's
accepted. Here she's one of the crowd.

Here she's popular.
Everybody loves her here.

No, I've not had any lunch
or dinner or breakfast,

nothing, because
I just cannot eat.

Neil's paternal
grandfather in India

has actually
paid 1,000 people

to be chanting and
praying around the clock for Neil to win.

And should he win,

I believe he's going
to pay to feed 5,000 people in India.

So there's a lot
more resting on this

than just maybe
the $10,000 prize

and all the glory
he'd get here.

There are a lot of
hungry people in India

that could be fed
if Neil wins.

We will go right on to round three.

"Odyssey."

O-d-y-s-s-e-y.

Odyssey.

"Heleoplankton."

Heleoplankton?

Could I please have
the definition?

Plankton typical of small bodies of still, fresh water.

H-e-l-i-o-p-l-a-n-k-t-o-n.

Heleoplankton
is h-e-l-e-o-

p-l-a-n-k-t-o-n.

"Utilitarian."

Me. I thought
it was right!

I did, I did, I did.

Man...

Heleoplankton,

I never would
have guessed it was h-e-l-e-o...

I kind of
feel relieved

because I don't
have to prepare for spelling bees any more.

But I think
I will kind of miss this.

...All the time preparing,

is it pretty
disappointing when you're up there?

Or what
goes through your mind? Not really.

I already feel
like a champion just getting here.

I mean, I think
that's enough

because a
lot of people don't even accomplish that.

K-r-a-v-a-t.

Kravat?

Crap.

"Corollary."

Corollary?

May I have the
definition, please? A proposition...

Last year I got out in the third round,

and I was already
nervous because...

That was kind of,
like, my jinx round.

Even before the bee,
it's like we were trying to work through lists,

which we didn't do
last year at all

because I thought,
"she's so close that maybe this word

or the other word we
do or maybe..." You know.

It could be just
one of those words that would help her.

I don't know what happened. Maybe I blanked out,

maybe the pressure was
getting to be too much.

But I asked whether
it had anything to do with the word corolla.

Does it have to do
with, like, a corolla?

What's a
corolla?

I don't know,
like the car.

I'm sorry.
We need a...

We just need
a little more information if you could...

Every time she went to
pronounce the word, I...

For some reason,
I closed my eyes.

I didn't realize that
I'm closing my eyes.

But I just don't
know why I did it.

I got so nervous that...

I just kept... when
she walked up, whoa.

If I had blood
pressure, it would've rocketed high sky.

May I have the
definition again?

A proposition that follows
upon one just demonstrated

and that requires
no additional proof.

C-o-r-o-l-l-a-r-y.

Mercenary...

M-e-r-c-e-n-a-r-y.

Mercenary.

F-i-b-u-l-a.

"Kookaburra."
kookaburra.

I think if I get out really early,

I'm going to be, like,
a little bit of relief,

kind of like,
"oh, it's over. I don't have to do this again.

I can be a
normal kid."

But mostly,
I think it's going to be,

"how come
I didn't do as well?"

You know, I
don't want to go back home and tell kids,

"oh, I got out
in the first round again,"

or, "I got out
in the second round this time."

K-o-o-k-a-b-u-r-r-a.

Kookaburra.

"Ecclesiastical."

Would you give me the
definition, please?

This is an
adjective.

It means
belonging to, suggestive of, or suitable for,

use in a church
building or service of worship.

Ec-cleviastic?

Eccleviastic?

"Ecclesiastical."

Ecclesiastical?

Ecclesiastical...
Am I pronouncing the word correctly?

Ashley, why don't you lower the microphone just a little bit

and turn toward US.
There you go.

Ecclesiastical?
Ec-clesiastical?

E-...

C-...

C-...

L-...

E-c-c-l-...

E-a-s-t-i-c-a-l.

Oh-h-h...

Ecclesiastical
is e-c-c-l-e-s-

i-a-s-t-i-c-a-l.

Oh, is she crying?

You did good.

You're
finished, okay?

That's great.
I'm proud.

That's right.

She did good.

You did
good, baby.

It wasn't your
fault, honey.

You remember
that now,

baby, you
came to the national.

You came,
that's why. You're still a winner.

That makes a total of 104 spellers

that will be coming
back to spell tomorrow,

and we'll see everyone
back here in the morning

to begin promptly
spelling at 8:00 o'clock.

- Oh, I just die.
- Relieved?

I just die.
I just die...

Well... wait
for the word.

And I heard
"disclaimant."

I said, "okay."
I know she could handle that.

And the next word
was kookaburra.

I had no clue
what this word was.

And she... she
saw me pained.

And she... she
smiled at me and told me, "I know this word."

Okay. Supper.
You eat now? I'll eat.

First food
today.

I could spell
some of the words

but I couldn't spell
all of them, and...

I hate to say it, but
there is some relief,

like, "oh, I didn't get
that word. I'm so happy."

Ah, baby.

Every time it was nearing
for April to spell,

my hands were wet right
in the centre here.

Just real wet.

And then when she
spelled her word and I breathed a sigh of relief,

they would
dry instantly.

I walked around this hotel
three times, outside.

Right before she
got ready to spell, I walked around, and...

Then I would come back
just as she was spelling.

Three times in a
row. That's too... it's too much.

I don't even expect
to get past the first round tomorrow.

But...

We're more
optimistic, and...

And that... feeling
she has there...

I wish she could
just shake it

because she has a
lot going for her.

And I think she's
going to do very well.

I don't know. Huh.

I just... I'm more
of a pessimist. But...

The words get
really hard and...

It's really the
luck of the draw.

One thing I remember

that as the spelling bee
approached its end

with three,
and then two and so on,

my father
was right on the steps

leading up
to the...

The stage, and as soon as I
spelled the word correctly,

he rushed onto the stage.

He was not an emotional
man in general,

but he was very
emotional that time.

It was a big thing,

getting to the national
spelling bee, of course.

And my older brother

had made it to the
second day of competition,

got a word that he
unfortunately misspelled,

and that really
broke my mother up

and she was crying
in the balcony.

And I tried to comfort
her and I told her,

"mom don't worry. I'll
win it for you some day."

1985, I was so
focused on this

that they actually selected
four people to lay a wreath

at Arlington cemetery

at the tomb of the
unknown soldier.

And so they called me
a couple days before the championship

and they said, "hey,"
you know, "you've been selected.

Would you like to be
there as part of this?"

I didn't even
ask my parents.

I'm like, "no.
I gotta study."

It's an extremely heady
experience for any child.

You know, you
go from being relatively anonymous

to being mobbed by
all the major media in the United States.

I don't think it
really helped me...

In my love life, my
nascent love life.

I think that having won
something like that

could be regarded as being
a significant liability.

We got letters from places

that we'd never heard of

because, you know,
it appeared in all the national newspapers.

So from a local newspaper,
somebody put a cutting

in an envelope and
then addressed it to balu natarajan:

"He won the national
spelling bee."

People always
knew about it.

"Oh, she's the girl that
won the spelling bee."

And it's certainly
something

that has always
captured people's attention and imagination.

It's just a great
americana tradition

that has basically
filtered out throughout the entire world.

One thing he said,
"they'll always remember

is you won the
first spelling bee."

And that is true.
I get the... credit for being the first.

Yesterday, we began with 249 spellers.

Today, 104 remain.

By mid-afternoon, one
of them will be declared

the 1999
scripps Howard national spelling bee champion.

At this time, I
would like to turn

the 72nd annual
scripps Howard national spelling bee

over to
Dr. Alex j. Cameron,

with the 605th word
of the competition.

Thank you.

The word
is "banns".

It's a
plural noun.

This banns means
notice of a proposed marriage

proclaimed
in a church or other place prescribed by law.

Bands, bands, bands, bands,

bands, oh...

There's gotta
be something I can think of.

Take a deep breath, Harry,

and let's finish
the word, please.

All right, i'm
starting over.

Let's see. What do
I've got so far? Bands.

I've got
b-a-n-d.

Gotta think
of something.

Harry. Turn toward the microphone

and let's finish
the word, please.

Okay, then.

B-a-n-d-...

...s? Bands?

Banns is
b-a-n-n-s.

I didn't know. I was
just trying out anything.

But... well, the
guy pronounced it wrong anyway.

How did he say it? "Bands."

I didn't know it.
People told me that if I was catholic,

I might've known
it, because it's a church word.

It's...they put up...

It's something
to do with some certificate they put up

when someone's going to
get married in the church.

I probably should have
tried something like d-e-s

or t-s, or...

Or even n-d-s.

And I felt bad for
the boy who was from Texas and got "yenta."

"Yenta."

Yenta?

...or even d-z. Something.

But for some reason,
I didn't take any of those...

Well, you can't really
call them good ideas.

And I went with... but I
went with the worst idea,

which was d-s,
and I got out.

I got out.

But still, he did
pronounce it wrong

even though I did
make my worst guess.

"Darjeeling."

Can I have the
etymology, please?

It's from a...

Bengali
geographical name.

Darjeely?

Say it toward US again, Neil.

Darjeely.

Slow down the ending.

Dar-jeely.

No. Darjeeling.

Darjeeling.

So this is a noun.

A noun.

Can you pronounce the
word again, please?

"Darjeeling."

This is the last spelling bee I'm ever going to go to.

And so, it would feel good

to come out successful
at the last one.

But...

I'm still happy
if I go into the comfort room and...

And at least in, like,
one of the higher rounds.

After Neil finishes
this spelling bee

and after he's done
with all this,

at least he'll have
fond memories of what...

What it was to
strive for something that's very difficult

and to keep your
mind focused, whether you succeed or not.

You still continue to
strive in other things.

Darjeeling...

D-...

A-...

R-...

J-...

E-e-...

L-i-...

N-...

G. Darjeeling.

Viant?

I don't think I'd remember any letters.

I mean, it's like...

I sit there
with the camera so nervous.

And don't take
any pictures.

It's like,
i'm, like...

Paralysed
by seeing her at the mic.

You can know every single
word in a round but one

and get that one.

It's statistical.

I mean, you're not
going to do well

without having trained.

Is it from French?

Yeah, Latin,
but from French to US.

From the French word
viande, meaning meat?

Yes.

V-i-a-n-d.

Viand.

"Palimpsest."

Palimpsest.

Am I pronouncing
it correctly?

Palimpsest?

This is not the most important thing in life

to be a best speller
in the world.

In your spare time, if
you can do the spelling

and then do well,
that's good.

Otherwise, you know,
it's not that important.

Well, she had those words down.

She was determined
to come back this year.

Come back.
She wanted to go the whole way.

Palimpsest:

P-a-l-i-m-p-s-e-s-t.

Palimpsest.

"Alegar."

Alegar?

Can I have the
language of origin?

Latin.

A-l-e-g-a-r.

I could tell by her...

Her flair, whatever
you can call that,

that she studied
that word.

Yes.

Yes.

I did too.

Bee happy.

B-e-e.

This concludes round four.

There are 48
spellers remaining.

At this time we are
going to take our break.

You need to leave
your placards on your chairs, spellers,

and you need to be
back promptly at 11:50

in time for the
12:00 o'clock ESPN live broadcast.

Welcome to Washington, d. C.

For the 72nd annual
scripps Howard national spelling bee.

We're at the
grand Hyatt hotel

where yesterday
249 spellers began competition.

Through the first
3 rounds, overnight, 104 survived.

We're now in
the 5th round.

There are 46
spellers remaining.

Well, it's as
difficult as handicapping, say, the belmont stakes.

But can you
give me a couple of people to watch today?

I do have
a couple favourites today.

Let's watch for
Emily stagg.

She's from Connecticut,

and she's done a great job
with foreign languages,

which helps a lot
with spelling.

And this is her
third visit here.

My other favourite
is George thampy.

He's from Missouri and he
placed fourth last year.

He's home-schooled and
he seems to study spelling around the clock.

I'd put my money
on Georgie.

He was in the
top five last year,

and he had a very
good understanding of the words.

I mean, you could tell
this kid was processing the information.

I think that
George thampy will do... probably do well.

He was incredible
last year.

He remembers
everything he studied

when he was four or
five or six years old.

Whatever he learned
at the age of four,

he still remembers
every bit of it.

He doesn't have to
review anything at all.

This country needs godly values.

We are in
a bankrupt society

with respect
to principles and character.

Georgie thampy is going to Washington, D.C. again

for the national
spelling bee where he came in fourth last year.

I believe he's going
to win it all this year.

But you know, that's
not the most remarkable thing about Georgie.

His father has told me
on a number of occasions

that Georgie honours his
father and his mother.

That is a lot more
important to god,

and that's a lot
more important to Georgie's future.

There's three tips I have for other spellers,

Trust in Jesus.

Trust and
believe in Jesus.

Honouring
your parents,

Hard work.

All right. 46 spellers are ready to begin competition.

The speller on stage
right now is Neil kadakia.

Hypsometer:

H-y-p-s-o-

m-e-t-e-r.

Hypsometer.

"Apocope."

What is the language
that this word is from?

This is Greek.

Apocope...

I think it's a peculiarly American tradition.

Competition is...

A more important
part of American children's upbringing,

I think, than it
is a European... European child's.

That's
part of my misgivings now.

It's kind
of just like everyone saying,

"oh, you're
going to win."

I'm like, "no,
I'm not. I'm really not."

Um... the beginning,

does it come from the root
a-, meaning, like, "not?"

I don't see that listed here.

A-p-o-c-o-p-e.

Apocope.

"Marotte."

M-a-r-o-t-t-e.

Tergiversate:

T-e-r-g-i-

v-e-r-

s-a-t-e.

Tergiversate.

This concludes round five.

There are 17
spellers remaining.

"Cosset."

"Audace."

"Microphakia."

"Beignet."

"Cucurbit."

"Hellebore."

Telibore...

No. "Hellebore."

Helebore...

Hellebore
is any

of a genus of
poisonous herbs

of the buttercup
family, having showy flowers

with petaloid sepals.

Is the root word
helios, meaning... sun?

No.

I don't find
that listed here.

H-...

E-l-

e-b-o-...

R-e.

Helebore.

Hellebore is h-e-l-l-e-b-o-r-e.

I made it through the first day,

and I was pretty
happy with that

because that was
the first goal I set.

And then on the...

On the second day, my
second goal was to...

Was to make it to ESPN

and then I made it
to ESPN, and so...

And then I set another
goal to make it into the top 10, which I did.

To come 9th at
12 years of age is phenomenal.

Because he's in
the 8th grade, he might not be able to come back,

but I know that
if he's 14 and he was in the 8th grade,

we would have
an easy street, 2 more years in a row.

But that's
not what it is all about.

So for US
it was great.

Just
phenomenally great.

There are 8 spellers remaining.

We are now ready
to begin round 7.

Speller number 28, you may
step to the microphone.

A-c-e-l-u-s.

Acelus.

Quinquevere:

Q-u-i-n-q-u-e-v-e-r-e.

"Repetiteur."

Repeditor?

Or "repetiteur."

Can I have the
origin, please?

I didn't panic when
I heard the word

because I thought maybe
I could figure it out.

You just almost
can taste victory.

And it just seemed like...

It could be...

It could be
coming our way.

"Repetiteur,"
repetiteur.

Repetiteur:

R-e-p-e-t-i-t-e-u-r.

Can you say it again, please?

"Clavecin."

Can you pronounce the
word one more time?

"Clavecin."

Clavison...

Clavison?

C-l-a-v-i-s-o-n.

Clavison.

Clavecin is c-l-a-v-e-c-i-n.

We are incredibly
proud of Emily.

Absolutely.
Absolutely.

Emily did a
phenomenal job. She did.

There's a bunch
of kids in there and they were all very good.

And she's
up there. Yeah. I think...

I think the
kids in the end all...

All had the
chance of winning.

I think the
last... probably the last eight.

Part of me is kind
of just like...

You know, "it's over. This
part of my life is over."

And that's a little bit
of a letdown, but...

I can throw
away the books.

Don't have to do it again.

"Cabotinage."

Could you repeat the
word again, please?

"Cabotinage."

Cabotinage?

Inside I had butterflies in my stomach.

May I have a
sentence, please?

Like, and my heart
was pounding, my hands were clammy.

I was just trying not
to dwell on the fact

that there were thousands
of people in the audience.

"Cabotinage."

Cabotinage:

C-a-b-o-t-i-n-a-g-e.

Yes.

4 spellers remain.

April, you may once again
step to the microphone

to begin round 10.

There is a h*m* to this word.

The word is
"terrene," or terrene,

and this one means
relating to this world of life, mundane.

Does this come from the root terra, meaning earth?

Yes.

Okay.

T-e-r-r-i-n-e.

Terrene is
t-e-r-r-e-n-e.

She calmed me because she
was very cool up there.

She manages to
stay that way

and yet...

Maybe when we go back
to the room, she'll fall apart a little.

But up on the stage,
she really keeps a very good presence.

So I'm real proud.

I'm happy with
my placement.

I'm a little disappointed

because I only
missed one letter.

I guess I wouldn't be
any happier if she won.

It wouldn't have made
any difference to me.

If she had won or
come in second...

I mean, she just
did so good.

Curtle...

C-u-r-

t-l-e.

Curtle?

Oh-h-h....

Kirtle is
k-i-r-t-l-e.

That concluded round 10.

There are 2
spellers remaining.

At this time we
will be moving

to the championship
word sub-section.

"Opsimath."

Opsomath? Opsomath?

O-p-...

S-o-m-a-t-h.

Opsimath is
spelled o-p-s-i-

m-a-t-h.

Now, that does not necessarily make nupur the winner.

"Logorrhea."

Logorrhea. May I have a definition?

Pathologically
excessive and often incoherent talkativeness.

Logorrhea. May I have a sentence, please?

The patient's
logorrhea

was indicative
of deep emotional problems.

Somehow or other,
in america,

spelling, although it's a
fairly mechanical process,

in small communities
it was identified with, you know,

the beginning of being
able to read and write and handle language.

In this country,
spelling has always been a community process.

We tried to raise him that...

Try, and if you
do it, great,

and if you
don't...

Just roll on.

Oh, my god. I'm sixth,

but I could've won.
I knew those words that she was spelling.

Did you know
the words that she got?

Nociceptor
and logorrhea? Yeah.

Yes. That's
why I'm so mad.

I know. I'm
just like, "oh, I could've won."

Some part of me wants to think

that I could have
gotten that word right,

and if I'd gotten
that word right

then maybe I'd have
a chance at winning or something like that.

There's such a thing, I guess,

as coming too close

and yet not coming,
you know, close enough.

But that's... there
has to be someone in third place, right?

If I lose,

it'll be okay because...

I'll be upset for
a little while,

and then I'll
rise above it

because that's just
another obstacle.

In america, back in
the 18th century,

people had this
sense of opportunity.

You could leap out
of one's social class.

You could move up, and
I think they understood

education was a
basic part of that.

The process of going through some- thing that complex,

that hard, and you
still put in energy with a passion.

And if they can do
that in anything else,

that they take in
these very qualities

will make them successful
and happy at what they do.

Whooo-ooo!

I don't know that I could
do that for my family.

I don't know
that I could say,

"well you know, we're
going to another country

so that you can have
a better way of life."

Maybe it's because of my background

that I work so hard.

He has said that if he were to die today,

he would die
a happy person

because he feels like...

We have...

Accomplished what
he wanted US to.

Oh, you want
to talk to her too.

We've got
nupur-mania here.

I go to college,

and I want to do
something in neurology.

Just forget about all the
people in the audience.

Forget about all
the other spellers...

See, right
now we're seeing video of you coming home,

and you said
it kind of shocked you

how many people
actually showed up for that. Yeah. It...

You can get a sense of belonging in america

outside of India,
which you don't get anywhere else.

We wanted our children
to have that.

L-o-g-o-r-r-h-e-a.

That is correct.

Scripps Howard is most proud to present

the 1999 national
spelling bee champion

from the "tampa tribune,"
nupur lala.
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