Spelling Bee: Why English is so hard to spell
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.
Related
3 Oct 2020
Cameroon: Forbidden English?
28 Oct 2020
With one part in England and one part in Wales, border town Knighton, with around 3,000 inhabitants, has to follow two different sets of Covid rules.
26 Oct 2020
Britain's special forces have taken control of the Liberia-registered oil tanker after stowaways, discovered aboard, turned violent. Initial reports suggested the ship, which had traveled from Nigeria, had been hijacked.
15 Nov 2020
Considered non-essential businesses, independent bookshops across England plan new ways to reach their customers during lockdown, and utimately fight the online giant Amazon, with the help of the independant online platform Bookshops.org.
18 Nov 2020
A winemaker in Herefordshire, in the west of England, has created "English nouveau", a lightly fermented red wine inspired by its French cousin, the "Beaujolais nouveau". With the help of climate change, vine growing has become easier and more common in England, attracting international interest.
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.
Latest
5 hours ago
Two court rulings in Turkey regarding a femicide case, as well as the legality of the country's exit from a key accord against gender-based violence, are being closely watched by women's rights groups.
5 hours ago
Ukraine is facing the challenge of demining territory invaded by Russia. Now it will receive help from the Colombian military, which built its expertise fighting guerilla groups. DW's Johan Ramirez met soldiers who will lend Ukraine their know-how.
5 hours ago
Several Western European countries are facing a sweltering weekend as summer arrives early. Much of Spain, France and Italy have been put on high alert for wildfires.
6 hours ago
French prosecutors said on Wednesday they were investigating a junior minister in President Emmanuel Macron's government after two allegations of rape were brought against her.
6 hours ago
French politics continues to dominate the papers as Emmanuel Macron desperately seeks an alliance to secure a parliamentary majority. The US Senate finds bipartisan support for new gun possession laws for the first time in 30 years. Organisers of the Miss France beauty pageant introduce radical new changes to shake up the contest. Finally, a man escapes his kidnappers by driving erratically on a highway in order to be stopped by authorities.
6 hours ago
Noise rang out across Senegal's capital Dakar on Wednesday evening as people honked car horns and banged on pots and pans in an unusual form of protest organised by the political opposition ahead of legislative elections next month. Senegal's main opposition coalition, Yewwi Askan Wi, asked its supporters to come to their windows, balconies and doorways and clang lids together at 8pm to signal their anger over the disqualification of their candidates list in the upcoming poll.