What will you spell? First edition of Maltese spelling bee at St James Cavalier

The University of Malta’s Għaqda tal-Malti will be be organising the first Spelling Bee in Maltese at Spazju Kreattiv, St James Cavalier in Valletta, on Wednesday, 20 September, from 6pm-8pm.

This will take the form of a competition for children between 8 and 13 years old, split between two sessions, the first for children 8-10 years old, and the second session for children aged 11-13.

Whoever applies to take part in this event shall be given a list of 100 words, of which 50 shall be used during the spelling bee, so that the participants will familiarise themselves with the words beforehand. The participants of each session shall be on stage, taking it in turns to spell a given word. If a word is spelled right, the participant is given a point, if not, the word goes to the next participant.

Ananya Vinay became the Scripps National Spelling Bee champ in 2017

The first three winners in each session shall be given a set of books from Merlin Publishers, as well as a certificate of participation.

Teacher of Maltese Dorothy Bezzina will preside over the event as a special judge, together with two other judges who studying Maltese at University level.