Spelling bee

Spelling Bee is a oral competition where spellers are asked to spell the English words. Failure to spell a word correctly disqualifies a speller and the speller will be removed from the competition. The competition is conducted in rounds until only one speller remains.

The basic rule of spelling a word in the competition is that once having started to spell a word, the speller may start over, but the letter or sequence of letters already spoken may not be changed.

In the United States, spelling bees are annually held from local levels up to the level of the National Spelling Bee which awards a scholarship to the winner. The National Spelling Bee is sponsored by English language newspapers. In 2003, spellers came from the Bahamas and Jamaica as well as the United States.

Suggestions for expanding this stub

• historical origins
• origin of the word bee in Spelling Bee and Geography Bee[?]
• spelling bee competitions around the world
• past winners of the Spelling Bee
• details of the competition