I have always been a voracious reader, and therefore learned to spell as a result of seeing a lot of words, although my pronouncing some of those words often caused a humorous response from my teachers.
My older daughter followed in my footsteps when it came to spelling, When she was in sixth form at Columbus School for Girls, she won the middle school spelling bee, and received a new dictionary as her first prize. The following year, it was expected that she would win again, so they came up with a different prize for first, and put the dictionary in as the second prize. Well, that year, she was beaten in the spelling bee, and so she got a second copy of the same dictionary.
My spelling ability has often helped me in business, and has amazed my friends when we are in trivia contests. But I do not understand the competitions where students are expected to memorize words that would never materialize in any actual setting.
