Spelling Bee

Spelling bees or competitions are very popular in the USA. Young people take part in local and regional tournaments to qualify for the national championship.

Fourteen year-old Anamika Veeramani defeated 249 other competitors to win the 83rd Scripps National Spelling Bee in June 2010. This is an edited extract from an interview given to the BBC for the Americana radio series - full version here.

Listen to this extract. Did Anamika win the competition at her first attempt?

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Now go here to listen again and answer more questions about this interview