<![CDATA[Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility.]]>Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility.

Fediverse, my question is this: setting aside English-first cultures, does your country or culture of origin have spelling bees?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/24a0394a-6099-4aad-a4a5-c11a3cce22a0/huh.-a-strange-question-has-come-to-me-that-in-a-certain-light-looks-like-it-s-at-the-heart-of-language-maybe-colonialism-propaganda-and-accessibility.RSS for NodeFri, 01 May 2026 07:17:03 GMTSat, 18 Apr 2026 13:43:03 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:40:12 GMT]]>@felurx @mhoye
It was established in the ussr in the 30s as far as I know, and exists till today in russia, belarus and in countries with ties to russia (like I found a similar thing on a smaller scale organized by russian embassy in Venezuela).
It always had and continue to have a strong propagandistic background in a manner "our culture is powerful and rich, so we are bringing it everywhere".
In my own memories, a few of my classmates in the 90s were selected to compete at a city and a regional level.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mammut.moe/users/gemelen/statuses/116427404934894422https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mammut.moe/users/gemelen/statuses/116427404934894422Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:40:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:27:50 GMT]]>@luis thank you - this is the Spanish consensus, it looks like. This is just not a thing in Spanish-speaking countries at all.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cosocial.ca/users/mhoye/statuses/116427356262849810https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cosocial.ca/users/mhoye/statuses/116427356262849810Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:27:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:20:11 GMT]]>@mhoye in .ar it’s not a thing. Pretty sure the same apply to other Spanish speaking countries.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://noc.social/users/luis/statuses/116427326221911743https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://noc.social/users/luis/statuses/116427326221911743Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:20:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 17:56:13 GMT]]>@mhoye In Denmark, at least when I went to school, we did spend a lot of time on conventional spelling. The mismatch between our alphabet (at least the way it is taught) and the sound inventory of our language is I'd say roughly on par with English, so spelling is hard. But it's not turned into a competition, it'd be culturally inappropriate to pitch kids against each other like that. We aren't graded until they're 12-13 either.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.xyz/users/niklasnisbeth/statuses/116426996028964877https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.xyz/users/niklasnisbeth/statuses/116426996028964877Sat, 18 Apr 2026 17:56:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:33:52 GMT]]>@mhoye @gemelen I vaguely recall that this is a thing in Germany, but definitely not with the same cultural signifigance as spelling bees in the US

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://troet.cafe/users/felurx/statuses/116426672195586942https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://troet.cafe/users/felurx/statuses/116426672195586942Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:33:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:28:51 GMT]]>@technomancy @mhoye Hmm, in German there's "Rechtschreibung", pretty much literally "correct-writing". The act of spelling (eg a word letter by letter) is "buchstabieren" / "letter-ing".

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://troet.cafe/users/felurx/statuses/116426652454185226https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://troet.cafe/users/felurx/statuses/116426652454185226Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:28:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:04:32 GMT]]>@mhoye just listened to a podcast that said it was a pretty distinctly American thing, and particularly related to the English language being so full of words stolen from colonized peoples.
https://yourewrongabout.buzzsprout.com/1112270/episodes/19010491-the-great-american-spelling-bee-with-gabe-henry

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/c0dec0dec0de/statuses/116426556838360044https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/c0dec0dec0de/statuses/116426556838360044Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:04:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:58:23 GMT]]>@mhoye another related question I've encountered: "does your language even have a word for spelling distinct from writing?"

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hey.hagelb.org/users/technomancy/statuses/01KPGN12B12Z2T399DD2TBVPBZhttps://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hey.hagelb.org/users/technomancy/statuses/01KPGN12B12Z2T399DD2TBVPBZSat, 18 Apr 2026 15:58:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:47:15 GMT]]>@mhoye not even in Britain, no. As far as I know it's uniquely an American thing

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.coop/users/fraggle/statuses/116426488900299729https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.coop/users/fraggle/statuses/116426488900299729Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:47:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:34:05 GMT]]>@gemelen interesting - can I ask where this is?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cosocial.ca/users/mhoye/statuses/116426437166801879https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cosocial.ca/users/mhoye/statuses/116426437166801879Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:34:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:20:09 GMT]]>@mhoye
No. At about the upper end of the age range as for the spelling bees, there was and still is a recitation competition:
"""a competition in expressive reading of prose or poetry, aimed at developing speaking skills, artistry, and promoting literature.
Participants recite works from memory, and a panel of judges evaluates grammar, intonation, tempo, and emotionality. Popular examples include "Living Classics," "Poetics," and themed competitions for anniversaries"""

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mammut.moe/users/gemelen/statuses/116426382338528260https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mammut.moe/users/gemelen/statuses/116426382338528260Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:20:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:57:09 GMT]]>@mhoye There’s no such thing in Brazil as far as I know

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cosocial.ca/ap/users/115917569245000899/statuses/116426291938552429https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cosocial.ca/ap/users/115917569245000899/statuses/116426291938552429Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:57:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:44:07 GMT]]>@mhoye My inner sociolinguist is intrigued!

It would be especially interesting if there are bees held for languages with phonemic spelling, where it likely wouldn’t make sense for native speakers as a language learning thing.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://lingo.lol/ap/users/116404198720403352/statuses/116426240637678846https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://lingo.lol/ap/users/116404198720403352/statuses/116426240637678846Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:44:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:18:06 GMT]]>@mhoye I have always thought that spelling bees were a special case of the holy-shit-my-child-seems-really-good-at-this-thing-i-have-always-struggled-with bee

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/jimfl/statuses/116426138330662873https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/jimfl/statuses/116426138330662873Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:18:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:08:48 GMT]]>@mpjgregoire @mhoye

A French spelling bee would be a lot more challenging than a Spanish spelling bee.
💪

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://glasgow.social/users/Phosphenes/statuses/116426101760608145https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://glasgow.social/users/Phosphenes/statuses/116426101760608145Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:08:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:02:31 GMT]]>@mhoye The sad irony of being Scottish of course is that Irvine Welsh was right -- we have been colonised by wankers in the past, but devolution has let us recover some ground (I wish it were federation actually). It was Scottish engineering that built the British Empire and don't we know it. We weren't just following orders, we were socioeconomic captives, and to some extent, this persists in modern discourse

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116175731239673526/statuses/116426077066596004https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116175731239673526/statuses/116426077066596004Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:02:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:00:20 GMT]]>@mhoye Pretty sure I'm Scottish but I loathe bagpipes and only wear kilts on special occasions though this greatly interests the opposite sex for some obscure reason. No spelling bees but we were taught to spell from primary school age onwards.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116175731239673526/statuses/116426068501520955https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116175731239673526/statuses/116426068501520955Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:00:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Huh. A strange question has come to me that in a certain light looks like it’s at the heart of language, maybe colonialism, propaganda and accessibility. on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:49:54 GMT]]>@mhoye https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2074026/epelle-moi-canada-finale-2024

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cosocial.ca/users/mpjgregoire/statuses/116426027484832655https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cosocial.ca/users/mpjgregoire/statuses/116426027484832655Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:49:54 GMT