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Alex Brandon / AP
Snigdha Nandipati won the 2012 National Spelling Bee, which featured 278 spellers from around the country.
Snigdha Nandipati clinched the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee title with the French word guetapens. (If you're feeling cheeky, you could say that no guetapens could have tripped up Snigdha.) She won in the 13th round, beating Stuti Mishra, a 14-year-old from Orlando, Fla. Arvind Mahankali, a 12-year-old from Bayside Hills, N.Y. was third place for the second year in a row.
Snigdha is an 8th grade student at Francis Parker School, a private school in Mission Valley, according NBC San Diego. She also competed in last year’s contest and tied for 27th place. She was eliminated when she misspelled "kerystic."
Read the story at NBCSanDiego.com
According to the Spelling Bee's official web site, Snigdha reads mysteries, adventure stories and "random facts in encyclopedias, particularly those topics pertaining to science or history." She also enjoys collecting coins from around the world. She plays violin, is a member of her school yearbook club and is fluent in Telugu.
Her grandfather, who traveled from India with her grandmother to watch her compete, promised her a trip to India if she won, according to the announcers. When she won, he rushed up to the stage and gave her a hug as confetti fell around them.
One of the announcers said that Snigdha means "smooth like honey" -- we weren't able to verify that, but we'll roll with it. She was cool and confident throughout the contest, which last two days. As she said minutes she won, "I knew my words."
Below is the feed from the final rounds:
10 p.m.: Snigdha Nandipati is trending on Twitter!
9:43 p.m.: "Is there any word you didn't know?" Snigdha responds, "I knew my words." Apparently she studied 10 to 12 hours on weekends and six hours on weekdays.
9:40 p.m.: One of the announcers says that Snigdha lives up to her name, which means "smooth like honey." A bit of a leap, but I'll go with it -- she was cool and unflappable.
9:39 p.m.: Snigdha's grandfather apparently promised her a trip to India if she won. Snigdha tells the announcer that this is a "miracle." She apparently knew the word when she heard it.
9:37 p.m.: Congratulations Snigdha Nandipati, who wins with "guetapens"! Her father wrote a computer program to help her study, and it paid off. The confetti is everywhere. (Guetapens means "an ambush, snare or trap.")
Alex Brandon / AP
Lena Greenberg, 14, of Philadelphia, reacts after spelling a word incorrectly and being eliminated during the finals of the National Spelling Bee Thursday, May 31, 2012 in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
9:36 p.m.: @ScrippsBee tells us there have been co-champions three times and that the last time was in 1962.
9:36 p.m.: It's not over yet! But Stuti misspelled her word, schwarmerei.
9:34 p.m.: Oooh, apparently Stuti and Snigdha did not "exchange much chitchat during the break." Stuti's little sister has been staring at her intently as she spells her word.
9:28 p.m.: We may be here for a while. Love that Snigdha, Speller 44, just said, "right, arrondissement." As in, I used to live in the 14th arrondissement in Paris.
9:25 p.m.: We're down to two spellers. Nail biter. Snigdha aces "admittatur."
9:21 p.m.: Arvind, who is 12, misspells schwannoma. He finishes third for the second year. He'll be able to return next year.
9:20 p.m.: Oh my word. Dr. Bailey uses "schwannoma" in a sentence: "M-m-m-my schwannoma." Was Arvind even alive when Reality Bites came out? (I just looked it up. No.)
Alex Wong / Getty Images
Lena Greenberg of Philadelphia celebrates with fellow speller Nicholas Rushlow of Pickerington, Ohio, after she correctly spelled her word.
9:14 p.m.: We should have noted that Lena got out for "geistlich," from the German for ghost.
9:12 p.m.: Down to the last three spellers! Arvind, Snigdha and Stuti remain on stage.
9:09 p.m.: Nicholas Rushlow gets another French word, vetiver, which he misspells. (He says, "another one?" referring to another word of French origin. What he was really thinking, he says later: "Oh crap.") His parents, clutching each others' hands in the audience, are his coaches.
9:08 p.m.: Arvind Mahankali of New York, who was at the Bee last year, is considered the favorite by many. He just correctly spelled quattrocento, which means fifteenth century.
9:07 p.m.: Love the judges who counsel the spellers to "watch Dr. Bailey's lips" and to "watch the time."
9:05 p.m.: Gifton Wright is out with ericeticolous, receives a standing ovation from his fellow spellers. Apparently you don't see this often. Gifton spells the word with an "o."
Alex Brandon / AP
Frank Cahill, 14, of Parker, Colo., reacts as he spells a word during the finals of the National Spelling Bee on Thursday. He was eliminated.
8:55 p.m.: "That luteovirescent shirt so does not go with those skinny jeans." -- Dr. Bailey
8:54 p.m.: Lena Greenberg is a delight. She just spelled yttriferous, her voice rising an octave with each letter.
8:53 p.m.: The last word was "rouille" and Nicholas Rushlow nailed it with just seconds on the clock. Not fair. I haven't had dinner yet.
8:50 p.m.: Dr. Jacques Bailey, the official pronouncer of the Bee, was the 1980 champion. He apparently trained with a nun at his Catholic school. He says that when he joined the Bee, he "kind of had an attitude."
8:44 p.m.: Gifton Wright takes the stage and my palms start to sweat. We're literally spelling the word out loud with him as he spells p-h-t-h-i-s-i-o-l-o-g-y.
Reuters
Emma Ciereszynski, 14, from Dover, New Hampshire, reacts as she incorrectly spells a word in the final round.
8:41 p.m. Frank Cahill of Parker, Colo. has been given the word "porwigle": Frog or toad larva that at hatching has a rounded body, also known as a tadpole. Countdown ... trips up and spells it p-o-r-w-i-g-g-l-e.
8:40 p.m.: Apparently some of these kids spend 600 hours practicing.
8:31 p.m.: My favorite response so far, to the word "otosteon" -- Lena Greenberg of Philadelphia just said, "What?" The audience laughed. Her mother had her head in her hands. The announcer said she doesn't watch her daughter spell.
8:30 p.m.: My favorite comment so far, about Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego: "A strong threat to go deep this time."
8:23 p.m.: I'm not sure what's more stressful -- watching the parents or watching the spellers.
Alex Brandon / AP
Snigdha Nandipati, 14, of San Diego, Calif., spells a word during the finals of the National Spelling Bee Thursday.
8:22 p.m.: There are now seven contestants remaining at the National Spelling Bee. Two were eliminated in the time it took simply to format this blog.
8:21 p.m.: Ouch: The National Spelling Bee's Twitter feed: "Speller 145, Emma Ciereszynski, spells ridotto incorrectly in Round Seven of the Bee. #spellingbee She's out."
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Jordan Hoffman, 14, of Lee's Summit, Missouri, reacts as she incorrectly spells a word in the final round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee at National Harbor in Maryland May 31, 2012.
Leave a Comment:
First one to post. yippeee. Who cares about the spelling bee. It's stuipd and it's for nerds.
More stories about cannibals and zombies in miami please.
I'm not a right wing nut job or a conservative you idiot. So go back to downloading your kiddie porn and get off this site.
heehee, c-c-c-can we just get along and say none of us watch Fixednoose, and that's a good thing, yeehaa!
Bwahhhhh. Not an "American" name among the top three places.
Hey, "American" parents--what are you teaching your kids if you're not teaching them the importance of a good education?
(Tip: Teach them how to say "Yes, sir" and "No, sir" to their new masters.)
She can win all those neat little meaningless awards, but she's still a dot head!!! She'll end up marrying another hadji and remain at the bottom of society! It's a fact!!
Wow in truth your the idiot. Just because these kids could memorize a friggin dictionary doesn't mean theyre future einsteins. And whats with "bwahhhh", are you ten?
American name....
I grew up in a town where German and Irish and Italian names weren't considered to be really "American." If there had been African-Americans or Jewish-Americans in town, they definitely wouldn't have been considered "American." There was one Asian-American family, and they were considered quite exotic and definitely not "American."
The popular conception of "American" keeps evolving. And that is a good thing. America is what it is because it it a "melting pot" or "salad bowl" or whatever other culinary analogy comes to mind (I kind of like 'ratatouille'). People from all over the world have contributed to the richness of our culture. And make no mistake about it, these kids are American.
There were lots of "American" kids competing, too. Excellent spellers, all. Spelling bees are about innate ability, about memory, about studying hard, and about luck. (Anyone who has ever participated in one knows what I mean.) All of the kids did well. One was the winner. She deserves credit -- and so do all the other kids who qualified.
By the way, spelling is something that people love to latch on to as a sign of education and intelligence and learning. While it is true that most good spellers are indeed educated and intelligent people, it is also true that there are educated and intelligent people who do not spell well! There is way more to intelligence and learning than the ability to spell guetapens.
(That said, I am guilty of cringing when I read a post on newsvine with lots of misspellings....)
@morrigan - you are cool. Exactly my thoughts. Having said that let's raise a toast to all children - "American" or not and wish them a great future!
p.s. - Snigdha means "full of love/compassion". Literally speaking snigdha means "full of butter"
Common misconception that spell bee contestants memorize the words.
They don't.
They study and memorize the latin root of words. The study how words have evolved over time. They learn and store copious amount of knowledge about how words came to mean something - Not an easy task for someone with just average brain power.
And then based upon the sound and relationship with other words of the same root they do a best case estimation of what the spelling could be.
It is not just rote memorization.
As for the person making the dothead comment - suck my dotted dick mother@!$%#er !!!
PS - Hadji refers to muslims. Indians are Hindus - Remember that you ignorant f*** !!!!
You are a moron in truth, just because you don't think that these names are "American" does not make you right. I am quite sure that all of these kids are American citizens. Even you came from some corner of another continent.
Good for her for learning how to spell those words. Now if she can learn to pronounce them ......
wow...racism and jealousy in all its glory in this forum.....hahahahahahaha....."The time for honouring yourself and your beliefs will soon come to an end" -paraphrase from Gladiator
While the first part of In Truth's post is derogatory the second part is fact. Our kids will not get a proper education if they do not respect the institution they are learning in nor the teachers. That is something the parents are required, or at least supped to, teach their kids; judging by our educational ratings not enough parents are doing their jobs.
If it inspires academics in our youth it is great but spell checking in all of electronic devices reduces the relevance of this event in everyday life.
Plain and simple. Congratulations to you young lady. Good going! Your hard work has paid off.
The winner said she watches Fox for both sides of every issue. Clearly she has a lot of good common sense in addition to her amazing ability to spell.
Snidha does NOT mean smooth like honey. Announcer's a dumbass. I means tender and smooth yes, but refers less to physical smoothness, and more to gentleness and kindness.
Also stop asking me to post to Facebook Wall. I don't have one, and even if I did, what it's really saying is "give us permission to permanently record everything you say." Facebook is run by fascists.
Melting pot, and salad bowl, are two different concepts. Melting pot is 1920-1950s concept, that basically emphasizes that citizens of this country lose their cultural identity, and become Americans. Whatever white bread concept being "American" is. Salad bowl is the opposite extreme, we take these immigrants as they are. Which is fine for the vast bulk of new citizens (I actually like the idea idea of going to an italian restaurant and having stuff other than spaghetti and meatballs), but for illegals it means they can invade our country.
lol look who's showing they are "stupd" by example!
IT is not stupid, it's just not for you. Are you 12 or something?
Allowing enemies of states to keep their cultural identity, means they stay enemies of state. Salad bowl concept really means every part is recognizable, but also part of the bowl. Melting pot, is actually a frightening concept on the other hand.
What now? Are you referring to facebook? Ummm, yea right. Any idiot can effectively ruin their future employment by posting some nude picture of themselves, plastered or stoned. How many brain cells does it take to realize that this little privacy is a liability, not an asset, and personal choice never enters the picture, when personal safety and common sense are involved. You have every right to use FB. But just know it makes you the greatest order of imbecile.
I'm nearly 30. I believe in private forums and chatrooms not "Walls". Posting something on a physical wall is bad enough, it stays there until someone takes it down. Posting on an online Wall, is social suicide. You friends may leave you, your boss may drop you, you can even get arrested, all because you couldn't resist the urge to show and tell. That's what 12-year-old do. 30-year-olds with decent parents, they be quiet about their affairs, and keep them offline.
Good for her. Now when she goes back to India they will reinforce their cultural beliefs and she can marry her cousin.
With a name like Snigdha Nandipati you gotta be able to spell !
Congratulations to Snigdha - good for her!
And mysterious stranger, I'll take what you said as a compliment. My son, who will be eight this summer, already lives for this stuff. He hopes to be in our state tournament in a few years. Better to have a so called "nerdy" kid than a misfit that you know doubt seeded out.
Joe MaMa
Indians are hindus. They don't marry their cousins.
But i know that in southern US, people f**k their sisters without even marrying her - hence the phrase - Inbred redneck retard.
Seriously, what does it matter where she is from, what color her skin is or whether she wears a dot on her forehead? I didn't see one in the picture. You know what I did see?
I see someone who puts effort into her work, her studies, her life, and believes there's more out there than drugs, weapons, violence and being barefoot and pregnant in a kitchen. Someone who is intelligent, well read, takes her life and her education seriously and has a life full of potential.
In the picture of her and her father hugging after she won, I see the US. I see what is truly meant by the American dream, I see the reason why immigrants come from all over the world. I see a father who loves his daughter in the face of some Asian/Middle Eastern cultural norms that say girls are 'worthless' or 'unwanted; I see a girl proving to those narrow-minded that her gender is not worthless and good for only making babies. I see a father who flew in the face of these cultural traditions and moved to the US so that she wouldn't be influenced by others' perception of her; here in the US where the sky is the limit and you can be whatever you dream if you work hard enough for it.
I see a father who started with literally nothing realize his hopes of a better life for his child, not only through his own hard work so that she can go to school, but also the validation of his effort in teaching her that education is fundamental, paying attention to your schoolwork is essential, and that hard work will eventually pay off in the end. I see a child who has a sense of achievement instead of entitlement, this wasn't handed to her, she truly had to earn it, and I see the possibility of another child out there somewhere saying 'I want that to be me' and sets out to make it so.
If you look at these photos and see only color or race or gender or religion, then I would respectfully point out that there's something wrong with your eyes and your perception of what you see.
And who do you think programs the spell checker program in these computers?
Language is a living thing, it evolves and changes with the population. when it stops evolving it a 'dead' language--like Latin. Want proof of this, look t the difference between the Queens English and American English. Look at the terminology used in books written by Ben Franklin, letters written by Thomas Jefferson, compare them with language and terminology of today. If people like Ms. Nandipati didn't learn these words as they are created and enter them into the lexicon, our language wouldn't evolve.
Hey, Gunga Din --
Sadly, much of English spelling has to be memorized. Because our language is as multicultural as our country, our spelling is 'all over the map.'
Latin roots are only the beginning. Even relatively common words like succotash (Native American) and cookie (Dutch) and pajamas (the Indian subcontinent) have roots nowhere near Rome -- or Athens.
So Snigdha had a lot of memorizing to do in addition to her use of common roots! By the way, in the back of some dictionaries (mine is American Heritage) there is a very cool appendix of Indo-European roots. Fascinating to see what words are connected! For example, the words steward, reward and panorama are all connected to the root -wer which means 'look out for.'
And Thomas Hooker, I agree -- 'salad bowl' and 'melting pot' are two metaphors for American culture that are on opposite ends of the spectrum. That's why I said I like 'ratatouille.' It sounds better than 'stew,' and it maintains the character of each ingredient, yet that character has been influenced by the character of the other ingredients in the dish. I think that's a pretty good description of how it works!
(Except the tomatoes don't point fingers at the zucchini and call them names!)
Spel checker
Which you would do well to use unless the typo above was deliberate. But, as I also posted above, who do you think programs the spell checker programs in our computers?
he was joking. chil oudt weerdo!
Watching it now. Down to 6! Oh man that phthisiology word was scary.
Snigdha is from San Diego?
No, she's from Bombay. Or hell!!!! be afraid, very afraid!
This is mostly an exercise in phonics. Knowing what the words they are spelling actually mean would be considerably more intellectually challenging.
Somebody please response or else I'll have to practice the damned piano.
I'm just going to assume you're trolling.
ok, well, how you get good at it is not just memorizing how to spell, but along the way you learn the roots and understand how words form, and that's knowledge, believe it or not! And that's a good thing, yeehaa!
Nicholas' parents should have listened to REM-Find a River and they would have known vetiver. And Arvind, Schwann cells are from bio101, pal. Not very well-rounded people, are they?
I really admire Indian kids....1st, 2nd , and 3rd place Indian immigrant kids
They were. dare I say it, untouchable
Bill-284190: arrggghhhhh!
why would you say they're not American???? ignorant asses you are!!!
LMAO @ Bill ...that was good :-)
Bill-284190 - Thanks, I needed a good laugh. But you owe my employer a new keyboard.
@Bill, Snigdha, Stuti and Arvind are all brahmins
deleted
I know this is a very xenophobic comment, but I think the Indians get an unfair advantage just having to learn to spell their names.
Of course then you know the difference between a push start and a pull start?
that's not xenophobic-it's funny.
And then you look at traditional Native American names:
ANGWUSNASOMTAQA: Hopi name meaning "crow mother spirit."
ASDZA: Navajo name meaning "woman."
CHOCHMINGWU: Hopi name meaning "corn mother."
DEZBA: Navajo name meaning "goes to war."
HAKIDONMUYA: Hopi name meaning "time of waiting moon."
KAKAWANGWA: Hopi name meaning "bitter."
KOKYANGWUTI: Hopi name meaning "spider woman at middle-age."
LOMAHONGVA: Hopi name meaning "beautiful clouds arising."
MAGASKAWEE: Sioux name meaning "graceful."
OMINOTAGO: Cheyenne name meaning "beautiful voice."
POLIKWAPTIWA: Hopi name meaning "butterfly sitting on a flower."
PTAYSANWEE: Sioux name meaning "white buffalo."
Etc., etc., etc.....
Heck, I saw posts from people who couldn't even spell 'Trayvon Martin' correctly.
LOL @ BillLumbergh
"Heck, I saw posts from people who couldn't even spell 'Trayvon Martin' correctly."
Doesn't matter. He's dead.
I don`t mean to be picky, but when I was in Germany, geistlich meant ghostly. The lich iis adjective or adverb form of the root word.
My daughter competed in this about ten or eleven years ago and she made it into (but not out of) the regionals. She had an awful lot of fun. I, on the other hand, was a basket case.
Wow....Congratulations to winner... I admire Indian kids...1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in this competetion!!!! amazing
Yep, untouchables
That's right, Bill, no woman that beautiful would let YOU or any other of these redneck POS' touch her!
Win iz thuh ebonics spelin be? Iz ani bodi taykin betz own hoo thuh wina wil bee?
You're head will explode when I tell you that the top-rated Black college football program in the country just hired a white head coach
That's what affirmative action is for folks, lol
An obvious racist contest. Why weren't such words as nomesayin, mudderfukker, sheeeeitt, etc.... asked?
Kids from Jamaica, Ghana, and the Bahamas and even Mexico participate every year. As well as Canadians, New Zealanders. It's not just for native-born Americans. And, there is an African American National Spelling Bee. I am not sure why this company (the African American one ends in 'INC.' - so it might be a for-profit organization) has its own - maybe it was a direct response to the Scripps Bee, which was formed in 1925 - when segregation by color was at it's height. And if you have watched the 2006 movie, AKEELAH AND THE BEE. You would know that Akeelah Anderson won that championship. The movie also explores issues of education in a low socioeconomic African American community - which is a key factor in underperformance in schools - by anyone.
And for SOME African-Americans, its generational poverty since the days of slavery that have coalesced into current states of poverty, and, different accents. You should know that African Americans were denied literature. Some have pulled themselves out of ignorance. Like Condoleeza Rice, Eric Holder, Denzel Washington etc. But what can you say about uneducated imbeciles like yourself who run on stereotypes? You have probably never heard people write like you do. So you simply recant what your parents or friends say.
Most of America reads/ understands common English at a seventh-grade level. If blacks are 13% of the population, then who comprises the majority of people whose first-language is English - but yet read at a 7th-grade level? You know the answer. Can YOU compete in the Spelling Bee (and you do know that 'Bee' has nothing to do with the insects, right? No, an oaf like you knowing something like that - highly unlikely.
I meant YOU SHOULD WATCH Akeelah and the Bee. It is a FICTIONALIZED story.
Canadians (Canadiens) never win. They always add an 'eh' to the end of every word.
Why is Snigdha's photo next to last? Does she not deserve to be the first thing people see when they select this story? Can someone please tell me any reason behind the placement of her photo, because she is clearly at the top of her field? I cant make sense of.
Yeah its a crisis
Haven't you ever heard,"saving the BEST for LAST"?
It's because she is of INDIAN ancestry. Let's not pretend. THAT'S EXACTLY WHY.
She also had the headline picture. But thanks for the nice injection of racism, YNW. We needed that. /s
So why were photos of white kids who performed relatively poorly included but those of the Indian-American kids who placed second and third left out? Oh, I know, a white person felt that this was necessary to soothe ruffled white-feathered birds. Or is it "boids"?
These kids - all who competed, be they of any race - were intelligent, competitive, hard-working and cool!
Dunno. Save the best for last maybe.
The winning word? Snighda Nadipati.
That would be a spelling error on you. It's Snigdha Nandipati, and if she can spell her own name she can spell anything!
I disagree with those referring to these kids as nothing more than trained monkeys. Trained monkeys are much more entertaining to watch.
Do I sense jealousy?
Perhaps he is a bestialist? (spell that, it's not a real word as far as I know)
I watched the Geography Bee the other day. 8 of 10 finalists were Asian! most Indian! We have an Indian heritage winner in Spelling. Culture really does help kids get an education. Maybe someone should point this out. Parents who demand academic excellence, get academic excellence.
I thought the same thing about children being successful with parents who come from Asian countries. It's because their parents inspire them with good mentoring as well as being involved in their lives and demanding academic achievement from them. Basically, though, it has nothing to do with race or ethnicity but more with the children being surrounded by productive adults.
And no social lives, hardly a recipe for success in our society!! Top it off being colored and it's no picnic for those people!!
Yeah, social life like getting drunk, stay out late, pre-marital sex getting on french fries and soda. These kids are certainly missing a lot.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Indian Americans had the highest household income of all ethnic groups in the United States. $90,711. Asian Indians value education highly. A great percentage of all Asian Americans attend college for a minimum of four years. This percentage is much higher than any other ethnic group in America. Many also attend graduate school and pursue such professions as medicine, business administration, and law.
Also, Indians get married before they have kids, and then hold them accountable, unlike the thug raising idiots in this country..
marlane you seem to really not like the country you are in so get out. By the way some parents in this country raise successful kids but you wouldn't no that being a 40 year old virgin huh?
The Indian kids are coached by the "North-South Foundation" where they have their own spelling contests, regionals and national. In other words, the National Spelling Bee is targeted by Indians. It doesn't mean that they or their culture are superior or any other of that nonsense. It merely means that they are superbly coached and trained to win the contest. Do you ascribe superior culture to the Taiwanese when they win the Little League World Series year after year? Of course not. All it means is that they have targeted the contest with the best trained players they can find in Taiwan and then train them as a national team to win the L.L. World series where as the American team is always a home town team NOT national. There is a difference. As long as the National Spelling Bee continues to put up with this nonsense of being targeted by an ethnic organization then the spelling bee will be reduced to a side show that has no significance to American culture.
Ralphy, you are absolutely right. The Scripps National Bee includes children from Bahamas, Ghana, Mexico, New Zealand and Canada. You are right on point with the TARGETING. It's what people do. Especially in class-based societies - and people who tend to be the smallest minorities in ANY world culture, do exactly that. Jews TARGETED financial systems in Old Europe. The Arabs TARGETED trade in Kenya's ancient Swahili Empire. The French TARGETED the fur trade in Old Canada etc..etc..
@Marlane - I know Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis - oh and their Southern neighbours, the Sri Lankans, who HAVE CHILDREN before they are married, and make a mockery of bride price/ dowry. East Indian men in the USA or Canada, who go to India, pick a wife, demand money, and come back this way promising the 'new wife' a visa. Then the 'new wife' never hears from him again. The guy escapes with her family's money. The next year he does that again, only this time, in a different Indian village. And the cycle repeats - year after year.
On the other hand, based on your observations, why does India have an extremely unhealthy population? What of all the children born there out of wedlock? Don't be so naive. Don't ride on the coattails of a 14 yr old. You, be YOUR OWN STAR, and don't mock people whose culture, ancestry, and lifestyle you obviously know nothing about.
They can mock Indians too for washing in the same 'holy' river that cows urinate and defecate, and bathing in the same river that DEAD HUMAN BODIES FLOAT IN. You know the river that I am talking about - it's in India. Plus the worship of CATTLE.....obviously these people you mock know nothing about that culture - so should they mock South Asians too? Maybe they should. It's only fair, right? What sheer idiocy.
@!$%# parental heritage
We excel in academics just to piss off the people who call themselves "The REAL" Americans.
They explode in a fit of racist , jealous rage every time an Indian origin American wins and that is reward enough.
youwish - Did you ever stop to think that in their own countries they are not considered "colored"? What the hell does someone's skin have to do with this?
There are a lot of Indian people in this area as we are just over the border from Vancouver B.C. All the ones I've encountered are polite and courteous. They do dress a little different but, hey, so do most of our kids.
Ralphy - Indian kids target academic excellence. American kids target Cancun. WTF do you mean by targetting anyways you dolt !!!
Ralphy--You are just being silly. I hope you are not serious. I am Indian, and I can honestly say that Indians do not have some "conspiracy" to clinch the spelling bee. Indians are very individualistic. I think if you want some tidbit to mull over----think about this...... Indian (hindu) parents usually have only one or two children, and educate them well. The parents have high expectations, and the children try to meet them.Think about the hours that white teens waste on facebook and texting....what a terrible waste of time.
She said, "it took years of study with my dad as mentor and teacher for me to learn how to spell my first and last names correctly. So having said that, I give my dad 'Kriliphidodichrilopsckovitchinitski' credit for the win. Thanks 'Ski' daddy." haha!
I think it's great to have the ability. But, honestly, if you won, would you admit to it anytime after puberty? There seems to be a serious nerd factor in that contest.
Alan, did a nerd do something to offend you, or something?
Do they have any English words in this contest?
I thought that that was kind of ridiculous as well. This is still an English speaking country, right?
hubba - Not so much anymore.
I am so proud of all and everyone one of them. That is our children achieving the miraculous. Reaching for the starts with every bit of their Soul!
Me I am not such a good speller or typist ;P
People who would rather watch trained monkeys ought to join that club and quit complaining about this one.
The drama here is not physically acrobatic, but intellectually and emotionally so. It involves roots and phonics and cultural awareness, memory and decision-making. Being up in front of your peers and auditoriums full of people is not an easy thing for super-sensitive middle school kids. I was a coach of a spelling team for a few years and the French words were the toughest for most kids, those and the medical terms derived from Greek and Latin.
Such a club already exists. Borderline illiterates mumbling in monotones every Sunday on ESPN. It's called the NFL.
Another ethnically named Indian girl wearing masculine clothing has won the spelling bee. What else is new.
Try joining the human race some day. It will serve your heart good.
And his balls :)
Jonathan, why didn't you offer her one of your dresses?
Masculine clothing like the girls shirt, the bracelet, the girls watch, the girls hair, the girls sandals, and the girls pants? Apart from ... nothing ... I see no masculine clothing on her.
I wonder what kind of a grown up, cold-hearted, mean, miserable son a bitch can hate on mere children like these people here - Jonathan ...Bill ...etc ...
Exactly right GungaDin!
I admire these kids who can diligently put 12 -14 hours a week practicing for this competition. Congratulation to the winner and all the participants.
I admire the hours but mostly I admire the heart and spirit it takes to achieve what they have. I am pretty sure we meant the same thing just a different way of saying it.
Let's start a calculus competition, solve equations on the spot!! Now that'd be some @!$%#e!!
To youwish
First of all, she is an American (her parents are from India). Secondly, she will not end up at the bottom of society like you claim. Indian immigrants are much more highly educated than the average American. For e.g., most of them have dual degrees and many end up becoming scientists, engineers, or medical doctors. Look up "Indian immigrants" and "income levels" or "education levels" on Google. OR read this article:
I was a hospital Endoscopy Tech for 10 of my 32yrs employment at a hospital. Those Indian and Middle Eastern doctors I worked with can blow any American doctor right off the stage.
All the people who bashed Indians earlier this month - due to Mr Dharun Ravi's case? and wanted him to be deported, where are you folks now?
Many people in the USA are jealous of the Indian community - highly educated, good family values, well-off. Why don't you guys look in the mirror before you pass racist comments?
USA is the land of immigrants. This country belongs to Native Americans. Not Whites Blacks or Asians. They (Native Americans) were the one who were butchered by European whites and now white people (the uncultured, mean minded) complain about Indians!
Well said! The folks commenting on this page are just plain jealous that it wasn't their kid.
Nonetheless, that Dharun Ravi is a real jerk. And also, this land doesn't belong to native Americans any longer, Europeans butchered them fair and square, just like the denizens of probably every other continent on the planet butchered their prior lands' claimants. It sounds very harsh, but Native Americans are lucky that they even continue to exist, let alone that we give them reservations to live on.
Amen, Master. That's exactly what I posted.
yes, Indians rule, I was reading throu the comments, how racist and discrimatory some of them are. Instaed of being racists, educate your children. we work with our children very deigently, we have already made a physician, another one is going to be one,(Ph.D) and the next one is also going to be a physician.
Two words: private school.
Yeah, and an awful lot of cash! Our country is going straight to hell.
Hubba, you're another one who's lucky to be alive, you redneck.
Marlane does your bitch ass have to comment on every post?