福州西湖国际学校于5月11日举行了第四届英语拼词大赛。在场我们看到了极为自信的选手，也目睹了他们全然困惑的时刻，观众们多次屏住了呼吸……最终，五年级的Eason Yao同学，凭借正确拼写"tribulations（苦难）"一词而获得了冠军！
There were demonstrations of supreme confidence.  There were moments of utter confusion.  And there were seconds when the audience held its breath.  The FLIS 4th annual spelling bee came and went on May 11, and Eason Yao, a 5th grader, won it all with his spelling of "tribulations".  


不仅如此，Eason同学的班级通过披萨派对庆祝了他的胜利，因此五年级的全体学生也“赢得”了不少东西！
Of course there were more winners.  The teacher in Eason's class promised quite a hefty reward this year should a 5th grader win it all.  The class celebrated Eason's victory with a pizza party, so they all “won” something, didn’t they?  

可对拼词大赛中的选手来说，什么才是真正的回报呢？如今，我们有语法、拼写检查程序，大部分人都可以轻易地通过手机查到正确的拼写……所以，今时今日学习拼写并举办拼词大赛，还有多重要？但或许，练习、准备参加拼词大赛，这一经历也能带来其他的回报。
But what is the real reward for spellers in a spelling bee? Today, we have grammar and spelling checkers, and most people can find the correct spelling of a word without much effort on their phones, so how important is learning to spell, and then holding a competition, in this day and age?  Perhaps there are some other rewards that can be earned by practicing for the spelling bee.

众所周知，学习是校园生活中重要的一部分，但当学习拼词时，或许学生在学习的是如何去“学习”。所有与学习单词有关的技能，都可以应用到其他学科的学习上。描摹、效仿、记忆、组合分类、专注于词汇中比较难的部分、将大任务分割为几小点、答题卡的运用、寻找有趣的学习方式、与学习伙伴结对、使用字典、寻觅常规练习时间、避免拖延症与临时抱佛脚、复习、将所学整合进日常生活中……当一个孩子坐下，面对一长串拼写单词表时，他就开始学习运用这些技能。或许他甚至还从中学习了数学，谁知道呢？或许 “Perimeter（周长）”这个单词恰好在列表上，通过学习这个词，他们便偶然了解了一些数学知识；又或许“Oceanography（海洋学）”也是单词表中的一员，这就引领学生发现了一片新的职业领域。
Studying is a big part of school, and we all know that, but when studying spelling, perhaps students are studying how to study.  All of the skills involved in learning words can be applied to studying other topics as well.  Tracing, copying, recalling, memorizing, grouping, focusing on the difficult parts of the words, segmenting and breaking down large tasks into smaller pieces, using and hiding answer sheets, discovering fun ways to study, bonding with study partners, using the dictionary, finding a regular practice time, avoiding procrastination and cramming, reviewing, integrating what you study into daily life... All of these skills are learned when a child sits down with a big list of spelling words.   And who knows, maybe he’s even learning Math!  Maybe the word “Perimeter” is on that list, so in learning this word, they stumble upon some Math knowledge, or maybe the word “Oceanography” leads students to discover a new career field.


学生并非因身为一名优秀的拼词选手、并意识到这点，而被赋予了勇气。是花时间计划并大量学习，才使得他们在校时获得了巨大优势。他们面对巨大的挑战，并战胜了它。这才是真正的回报。
It's not just that being a good speller and knowing it that gives you confidence, it's taking the time to plan and consume a large amount of study data that gives students such tremendous advantage in their school career going forward.  They have faced a monumental challenge and overcome it.  That’s the real reward.

First place（第一名）: 
Eason Yao
Second place（第二名）: 
Grace Zheng
Third place（第三名）: 
Jason Weng


在Eason同学之前，难倒上一位决赛选手的单词，是"ricochet（反弹）"，难度颇高。所以，或许参赛选手再也不会忘记这个词了，获胜者们可以将奖杯纳入自己的藏品中，但，说真的，刻苦准备参赛的过程，已让每一位参与者成了真正的赢家！
Of course the word that stumped the finalist before Eason was "ricochet", which is pretty tough.  So maybe they’ll never forget that word, and maybe the winners can add a trophy to their collection, but, really, just preparing for the contest is what makes the participants real winners.