The national final of the Foreign Language Spelling Bee, to be held at Anglia Ruskin University’s Cambridge campus, will see Year 7 pupils compete to correctly spell the most number of words in French, Spanish or German in just 60 seconds.
The competition, sponsored by the European Commission and run by Routes into Languages, has seen a total of 52,423 youngsters take part from 375 schools across the country. The pupils competing at Anglia Ruskin reached the final after first winning through class, school and regional heats.
Pupils have been given 200 words to memorise in their relevant language and on 5 July they will get the chance to show they know their Taschenrechner (German for pocket calculator) from their tortuga (Spanish for tortoise).
The competition was the brainchild of Cambridge teacher Jane Driver and has been extended across England, Wales and Scotland by Routes into Languages, a consortium of universities working with schools and colleges to encourage pupils to study languages.
Routes into Languages East, based at Anglia Ruskin University, helps to run the national competition and organise the final. Project Manager Sarah Schechter, of Anglia Ruskin, said: “The Year 7 pupils never fail to amaze us with their extraordinary memory skills.
“The competition really helps to raise language standards and gives pupils a great foundation of vocabulary knowledge in their first year of secondary school.
“Studies have shown that being able to speak a foreign language has many other benefits, including improving memory, multitasking and decision-making skills. Therefore the skills these youngsters have shown in reaching the final should prove very useful in other subjects as well.”
John Evans, Language Officer at the European Commission, said: “The Spelling Bee is a fantastic way of nurturing an enthusiasm for foreign languages among thousands of pupils and the hours that they have put into learning vocabulary provides a very solid foundation for future language studies.”
Prizes will be presented at the final by the Mayor of Cambridge, Cllr Paul Saunders, and Cambridge MP Julian Huppert. For further information about Routes into Languages, please visit www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk
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For more press information please contact:
Jon Green on t: 0845 196 4717, e: jon.green@anglia.ac.uk
Andrea Hilliard on t: 0845 196 4727, e: andrea.hilliard@anglia.ac.uk
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Language skills spell success for pupils
27 June 2013
Cambridge will host 100 of the country’s most talented young linguists on Friday, 5 July when the final of a nationwide Spelling Bee is staged in the city.