On 14th March 2015, Hirari Aoki represented Gyosei International in the 6th annual Japan Times National Spelling Bee in The Nifco Hall, Tokyo. Over 40 of the best spellers from around the country had come to take part in the competition, many of whom are now competition veterans. Nevertheless Hirari, seemingly undaunted, gave a fantastic performance and managed to go through to the fourth round – out-spelling over half the competition.
After a shaky practice round where Hirari misspelled Errand A-R-R-E-N-D, It looked like it would be an early exit for the J1A student. Especially, as Hirari was given the difficult word Hickory to spell in the first round. Confidently, however, Hirari spelled it out correctly. The second round word was Croquet. Again, without hesitation Hirari spelled out this difficult French word. As each round went on and the words got more and more difficult, I was not optimistic that Hirari would be able to clear round three. The word was Chronic. Coolly, Hirari asked for the word to be repeated. Then, in perfect English, asked for the language of origin (Greek). Having learned the spelling patterns of Greek words, Hirari proceeded to spell the word C-H-R-O-N-I-C, to which the judges replied, “Correct!” I was truly excited as a Gyosei student has never made it through to the fourth round! The word in the fourth round was Benevolent. A very tough word, but based on Hirari’s performance up to this point, I had hope she would spell it correctly. Unfortunately, Benevolent proved too difficult, and Hirari was eliminated from the completion.
Hirari really did give a tremendous performance, making for a truly exciting and enjoyable event. We hope she will try again in next year’s competition.(Written by Mr. McMahon)
（3月14日にJapan Times National Spelling Beeに出場しました）
