Scripps National Spelling Bee Has Seen Indian-American Winners Since a Decade, Know the Possible Reasons and the List of Winners

The Scripps National Spelling Bee competition held in Washington DC, US every year is a very coveted event. The two-day event held every year is no less than a gruelling test of spellings and vocabulary. The oral and written tests require a lot of training and overall knowledge of the language. The spelling bee competition has been arranged since the year 1925 and in the year 1985, Balu Natarajan set the record by becoming the first Indian-American champion. And then on Indian-Americans have dominated the first spot. To put it straight, in the last 23 years of the competition, 19 of them have been Indian-Americans. The most recent winner of 2018 is Karthik Nemmani, a 14-year old from Texas who competed against 515 contestants and stood to take the trophy home.

This is the 11th consecutive year, Indian-origin child has won the competition. It has become a trend to have a contestant from South Asian descent in the champion or at least the co-champion list. Sameer Mishra won the competition in the year 2008 and following him are the Indian-Americans on the top spot. This trend cannot go unnoticed. And several theories have been proposed as to how and why only the Indian Americans win the competition. Scripps National Spelling Bee 2018: Know Words That Americans Google For Spelling

Why do Indian-Americans win the Spelling Bee Competitions?

To tackle the question which everybody has about the winners, a film was also released called 'Breaking the Bee.' It starts out with highly educated immigrants heading to the US for education. So there is a large focus on education from early childhood of these children.

It was also observed that very few of Indian- American students actually enrol for other hobby classes like music or even sports. Cricket is a dream for boys in India but in the US there is football, baseball or ice hockey. So there is a plausible reasoning that children get directed towards something else. Many of the parents who have immigrated to the US are themselves highly educated thus knowledge and education is in the family sphere as well. Their work culture of cluster, ethics and familial network takes shape even in training for the spelling bee championships.

A theory suggested by author Shalini Shankar, head of the Asian American Studies Program at Northwestern University suggests, Indian-Americans love the games that will drive them to rack their brains. So children start preparing very early, as good as the first grade. Shankar's research also points to the overwhelming support Indian kids get from their families and surrounding community to participate in the competitive spelling.

The past winners prove to be a great source of inspiration and have been role models to many of the participants. It is an association at the community level which drives these children to do better. It is like keeping the legacy alive. As more and more talk about it, it is only an encouragement to work hard towards winning. Son of National Spelling Bee Champ Hopes to Make History

According to filmmaker Sam Rega who made Breaking the Bee, the multilingual nature also acts as an advantage. He has said in an interview, "Exposure to multiple languages can also play a role in spellers’ facility with spelling. Spelling is a worldly sport, it connects you to languages and places far away from you."

Here is a list of the past 10 winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Contest

These factors of family togetherness, working in groups, showing constant encouragement, emphasis on education and the need to maintain the spot have worked in favour year after year for every Indian-American student. Of course, not discrediting their hard work and efforts towards the same.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 02, 2018 11:17 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).