Everybody has to endure certain things at work, perhaps projects that they don`t agree with, projects that don`t make sense, something like that. That`s my current dilemma. The Ministry of Education, likely in an attempt to bolster support from without, started having a Spelling Contest (since the standard term "bee" doesn`t seem to fit within the exact translation they crave). To me, it makes little to no sense. The student contestants between sixth and eighth grade have enough trouble spelling in Spanish. But instead of doing a spelling bee in the native language, they thought it would be cool to do it in English, seeing as how the government is slowly enforcing English as the nation`s second language. So students learn the alphabet in English (mildly useful). Then they memorize the words, the meanings of which is a mystery to them, since their level is basic at best. I always thought of a spelling bee as a way for a person to improve their vocabulary and learn about roots of words...or maybe I only think that now that I`ve seen Akeelah and the Bee. The pronunciation factors in too, since the judges say the words the kids have to spell. It might as well be Chinese. It`s a ridiculous idea.
And I have the misfortune of being a native speaker of English in this situation. This means I have been thrust into the position of coach, under the assumption that my knowledge of English is the magic bullet. Everyone else also assumes that I will dedicate countless hours to hone these kids` non-existent skills because, obviously, they want to win. I told the teachers outright that I didn`t agree with the idea of the spelling bee. I tried to give them an analogy: "Oh, you`re a Spanish speaker, right? Can you help me translate the Bible into Spanish? I want to teach it to my 4th graders." Crazy to me, but maybe not so much to them, seeing as how they teach Religion classes here. So that flopped. It just doesn`t occur to them that none of this actually helps them learn English.
Sadly, this spelling bee also brings back the horrible memories of my 4th grade Spelling Bee back at Gill Elementary, my first and only...
Announcer: Exclamation.
Me: E-X-C-A...Repeat. E-X-C...(Long pause, knowing I`d made a mistake, wondering whether I should correct myself)L-A-M-A-T-I-O-N. Exclamation. (Of course I corrected myself.)
Of course I also got eliminated because you`re not allowed to change the arrangement of letters already spelled. So I watched in agony as my classmates spelled new words, words I knew I could spell. Words like multiplication and raspberry. I believe those were the last two words, and I`ll never forget. So, maybe, just maybe, I`m still a little sore about that, and that paints my idea of spelling bees in a different light. But still!
All personal affliction aside, it still doesn`t make sense to do a contest in a foreign language and make kids do worthless work just to do it. If their English was better, then maybe it might make sense...but we should be honest with ourselves here.
Update: Since I wrote this post, my counterpart had me hold a little practice session with the kids on a Monday when there was no school. 9:00am. I should have known going in that they wouldn`t show up. But I went and waited. Not one of those brats showed up. Now I am even more miffed about the Spelling Bee.
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