For Anja Beth Swoap, a 14-year-old spelling champ from Valley View Middle School, “success” is the least of her worries. These days, Swoap is mastering words like “galjoen” and “triforium.” The trick, she insists, is “building a knowledge of what’s behind a word.”
Fighting the claim that spelling just comes naturally to her, Anya Beth insists that it’s all about being dedicated. She practices an average of two hours a day and memorizes both spelling and definition in order to get down to the root of each word. “A lot of people think the longest words are the hardest,” explains Swoap, “but it’s the short words that become challenging.” Because long words are often easier to break apart, shorter words like “galjoen” (a Dutch-based word for ship) can be misspelled by even the best of minds.
Anya Beth is a three-time Regional Spelling Bee Champion and placed 20th out of 273 competitors for the Scripps Nationals Spelling Bee last year. Last month, Swoap travelled to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national tournament for a third straight year.
Q&A with Anja Beth Swoap
Q: What’s your favorite word?
A: Flibbertigibbet. The word means chatty, flighty and silly.
Q: What future career do you see yourself in?
A: I’ve thought about being a neurologist or astrophysicist.
Q: Do you study any other languages?
A: Yes, Spanish and French.
Q: Do you have any spelling tips?
A: Associating the meaning of a word with the spelling helps the word stick better for me.
