Bilingual student wins Scripps Bucks/Mont Regional Spelling Bee
Jonathan Xi, a sixth grade student at Keith Valley Middle School, will compete in the virtual 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee this July.
Xi’s family speaks Chinese at home and he grew up learning how to speak Chinese first and English second. “I really appreciated how his teachers in elementary and middle school helped him with English,” said his mom, Hong Lin. Xi says after he learned English, his parents bought him many English books and would read to him at night. He would also spend hours at the library reading books. “After my parents taught me how to read and write in both languages, I started reading harder books by myself.”
Before the regional spelling bee, Xi won at the sixth grade level and then the school level first. Due to the virtual format, the Bucks/Mont Regional Spelling Bee was set up more like a test rather than in the traditional format where students take turns spelling. All of the scores are taken into account at the end and the person with the highest score wins. “When my name was announced in first place, it took me a second to comprehend it,” said Xi.
To prepare for the National Spelling Bee, Xi said he will read a lot of books. “My ELA teacher recommended me a lot of books and I’ve started reading a lot more since the beginning of quarantine,” said Xi. “I have finished 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 and right now I’m reading The Odyssey, and I plan to read Animal Farm soon.”
Xi says he looks at spelling lists and writes down words until they are memorized. “I memorize roots, prefixes, suffixes and word cells,” he said. As Xi looks forward to Nationals, he encourages everyone to read more books. “Find books that you enjoy and expand your vocabulary,” he said.