Spelling Bee: Why English is so hard to spell
By Reuters
11 June 2022 |
3:06 pm
Decoding English from spoken to spelled is a tradition that’s almost 100 years old at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. But how did the language get so convoluted in the first place? Lucy Ha has more.
In this article
Related
30 Nov 2020
France wants to vote on a French version of the Brexit deal. But the EU's chief negotiator has confirmed the talks have dragged on for so long there is not enough time for a translation.
11 Dec 2020
A green coronavirus-induced recovery could help close the emissions gap, but it is not enough for world leaders to meet their goal of limiting warming to well below 2C.
21 Feb 2021
Drone images of the Brittany countryside under snow around Quedillac, in Ille-et-Vilaine, France.
12 Apr 2021
Pub owners and staff in England are preparing for the reopening of outdoor hospitality on April 12. The landlady of the Crown Inn in Yorkshire says she has ordered more beer and is "praying for fine weather." Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed earlier that from April 12, non-essential retail, gyms, hairdressers and outdoor hospitality will reopen in England.
11 Apr 2021
Pub owners and staff in England are preparing for the reopening of outdoor hospitality on April 12. The landlady of the Crown Inn in Yorkshire says she has ordered more beer and is "praying for fine weather." Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed earlier that from April 12, non-essential retail, gyms, hairdressers and outdoor hospitality will reopen in England.
6 May 2021
Chelsea will meet Manchester City in the second all-English Champions League final in three seasons. Thomas Tuchel masterminded another big win for Chelsea, whose German striker Timo Werner scored the opener.
1 Jun 2021
Carlo Ancelotti has returned to Real Madrid for a second spell as coach, re-joining the club from Everton, both teams announced on Tuesday. The Italian, who was previously in charge of Real between 2013 and 2015, has agreed a three-year deal at the Bernabeu and replaces Zinedine Zidane, who left Real last month.
9 Jul 2021
Zaila Avant-garde, 14, became the first African American to win the 90-year-old Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday by correctly spelling 'Murraya,' a genus of plants, staying cool after a near miss with a botanical word in a previous round.
9 Aug 2021
Despite tougher measures on both sides of the English Channel, asylum-seekers are still trying to make the dangerous crossing from France to the United Kingdom, in an attempt to find a better future.
3 Oct 2021
Our guest warns of a devastating crisis in Cameroon's western Anglophone regions, where for five years the military has been fighting separatists who want to break away from the Francophone country. Education has been one of the main casualties, with separatists allegedly attacking thousands of teachers, students and parents as they enforce a boycott of schools. Meanwhile, Cameroon's military is accused of killing civilians, razing homes and burning down villages. Human Rights Watch is calling for a response that focuses on dialogue and crimes perpetrated by both sides. The NGO's senior researcher Ilaria Allegrozzi joined us for Perspective.
18 Nov 2021
Since August, a new British ambassador to France has been in post. Menna Rawlings has taken up the job at a time when the two countries have butted heads over various issues, from migration to Northern Ireland to fishing, while still bound together on other international issues – including the COP26 climate summit and as permanent members of the UN Security Council. Speaking to FRANCE 24 in a week when around 1,000 undocumented migrants crossed from France to England in small boats in a single day, she defended British border policy and spoke out about the ongoing disputes over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Latest
1 day ago
We take a look at how the press is covering the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and how, for some, the tragedy is both a natural disaster story but a political one as well. We also discuss controversies over the Grammy Awards and a trans Harry Potter video game character.
1 day ago
As European countries struggle to reach their targets on reducing carbon emissions, one small landlocked country in central Asia stands as an example to the world. With nearly three quarters of its territory covered by woodland, Bhutan, with a population of around 780,000, claims to be a carbon-negative economy.
1 day ago
Glaciers are increasingly threatened by climate change. The French Alps are home to more than 4,000 of these fascinating natural monuments, of which 80 to 90 percent are set to disappear by 2100 due to global warming.
1 day ago
Aid, personnel and equipment is arriving from around the world following the devastating earthquakes that have killed over 2,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
1 day ago
"Clan wars are what damage our communities the most," young men and women of the Muslim part of Mindanao tell DW. Conflict between families is driving intergenerational conflict and preventing girls from going to school.
1 day ago
US oil company ExxonMobil recorded a net profit of $56 billion last year, beating its previous 2008 record. It benefitted from a surge in prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a cost-cutting drive during the pandemic.