Categorized | Education

Kona’s Talmage Nakamoto advances to semifinals in National Spelling Bee

By Baron Sekiya/Hawaii247.com

Talmage Nakamoto

Talmage Nakamoto

Konawaena Middle School eighth-grader  Talmage Nakamoto has advanced through three rounds of the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. and is one of 41 semifinalists going into the final day of competition on Thursday.

Nakamoto advanced through the first round test on Tuesday when all 293 spellers used a computer keyboard to  spell 50 test words. Only 25 of the 50 spellings counted toward each speller’s preliminary score.

The 25 first round test words were: Micawber, vacillatory, quomodo, asylum, onychorrhexis, warrant, calque, parody, décor, rebuttal, mores, verbiage, sedentary, secede, congenital, cubicle, arrogance, scalene, isthmus, abyss, affluent, limousine, civitas, thorough, cemetery.

In the second round, this morning (May 27), Nakamoto correctly spelled the word hazelnut and advanced to the third round.

In the third round, this afternoon, Nakamoto correctly spelled the word inexorable.

Talmage is active in Boy Scouts and has achieved Life rank. He enjoys judo and singing a cappella. Talmage is named after scientist and author James E. Talmage. Science happens to be his favorite subject, and he hopes to become a physicist one day. Talmage loves to quote movie lines—especially lines from his favorite movie, The Princess Bride. Talmage competed in the 2008 national finals.

The semifinals will be broadcast live via television on ESPN 4 a.m. HST on Thursday (May 28).

Official site: www.spellingbee.com

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