"Dark horse" Kittniti wins NJ spelling bee 2014

The national round of the 17th NJ spelling bee was opened at Assumption University’s Suvarna-bhumi campus on Saturday by Pana Chantarawirot, director of The Nation newspaper and Nation Junior magazine.

In this final contest, 100 winners from the regional round challenged to be the fastest and the most accurate in English spelling.

After the contest, Kittniti, who was a “dark horse” and not in the top five of previous rounds, admitted he was excited and had not expected to win the contest.

“This is my first time to compete in the NJ spelling bee competition. My first goal was just to enter the last round,” he said.

Kittniti will receive a trophy from Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and a scholarship to study English at Eltham College in Melbourne, in Australia, for four weeks. The adviser to the winner will also have an opportunity to visit Eltham College for two weeks.

Kittniti said he practised his spelling skills for half a year for the competition. “I read a lot of books, including dictionaries, watched and listened to English media for 2–3 hours a day,” he said.

One of the referees of the contest, Pimpimol Kongkraingkrai, an editor of Nation Junior magazine, said participants in this year’s competition showed better skills than previously. Even though the test was harder, many competitors gained impressive marks. “As I have participated in the contest for many years, I was glad to see the improvement, which is the result of being well prepared and dedicated — by both students and their advisers,” she said. The winning competitor had to pass three main contests: the online-test round, regional round and national round. The last round consisted of four spelling tests to select the best from 100 competitors.

The 17th spelling comtestwas organised by Nation Junior to promote English study and to provide an experience for Thai youth.