Liceo Majorana is going to participate for the second time to the spelling bee for foreign students - we're going to do our best, for sure!
In countries where English is the national language, primary school children have an extra subject to study – SPELLING! You all know that words in English are not pronounced the way they are written and that there are words that have the same sounds but are spelt differently e.g. Week / weak. So students have to memorize words and learn rules and how to use dictionaries so that they will spell correctly when they write. As foreign language students, you are taught the alphabet and the more common spelling rules, for example the changes in spelling when forming the plural but most of the time when you have to write in English you keep your dictionary close at hand. In the 
United States and in England, Schools have spelling competitions (called a spelling bee) but there are also regional and national spelling competitions.
Two years ago Franklin Electronics together with TESOL organized a spelling bee for foreign students and it was a great success. The 2 finalists won a trip to New York with all expenses paid and the winner in New York won a $10,000 scholarship. Last year the 1st year students of the Linguistic section of Liceo Majorana decided to enter the competition. After a series of spelling bees held in class a group of 9 students qualified and participated in the Italian national competition held in Rome on May 8th 2010. None of them won but 4 of them lasted till the 5th round. The students were: Cingarelli, Elvira, Cupello Benedetta, Ercoli, Francesca, Luciani Nicolò, Pepè Maria Concetta, Piazza Giulia, Pizzo Alice and Tomassini, Goia. They told me that they enjoyed the experience and felt we should try again this year. Hopefully they will help me coach this year’s contestants.
Deborah Del Grosso
