School spellers lead the way in multilingual competition

Pupils from over 30 Welsh schools caused a buzz this July by competing against each other in the Routes into Languages Spelling Bee.

The competition, which is in its seventh year, took place in Aberystwyth University and brought together over 90 year 7 pupils who competed in French, German, Spanish or Welsh to highlight their spelling prowess!

The annual event enables pupils to improve their spelling and vocabulary, encourages correct pronunciation and most importantly raises confidence levels. Different to a monolingual Spelling Bee, pupils in Wales have the option of receiving their words in English or Welsh.

Many months of preparation had taken place in advance of the Spelling Bee with pupils competing in preliminary school rounds from September last year.

This year’s rounds were won by Gabriella Razie from Bro Edern (French category winner), Efa Huw from Tryfan (German category winner), Ella Parry from St Martin’s (Spanish category winner) and Melys Thomas from Maes Garmon (Welsh category winner).

Alison Hughes, Project Coordinator for Routes into Languages Cymru based at Cardiff’s School of Modern Languages said,“The Spelling Bee is a real highlight of the Routes into Languages calendar. Although we work with pupils from across Wales throughout the year this event, more than any other, really shows the enthusiasm that exists across the country for language learning which is really inspirational.”