HABLAR ESPAÑOL CON SPELLING BEE
March 23, 2024 - ‘Hablar Español Con Spelling Bee’ or ‘Speak Spanish with Spelling Bee’ programme was organised by the Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) Spanish Language Club (Espansia Club) via Microsoft Teams. The objectives of the program were to spark students’ interest in learning Spanish, enhance their confidence in using the language, and create an engaging and interactive learning experience for the students. The programme was attended by the club advisor, Señora Azlina binti Mohd Ariffin,16 committee members, and 50 participants. The participants were students enrolled in Spanish courses in UMPSA.
There were two categories for the competition; one is for Beginner, consisting of 28 participants and another for Intermediate, with 22 participants. The programme began at 9 a.m. with an explanation of the competition rules by the host and continued with photo sessions. After that, the competition started with the Beginner category, followed by the Intermediate category. Participants needed to spell the given word correctly using Spanish letters. Additionally, they were given 30 seconds to spell the word, and if they misspelled the word within 30 seconds, they were eliminated and could not proceed to the next level.
There were three levels for the Beginner category. In the first level, only two words are given to the participants, three words given in the second level, and in the third level, participants needed to compete among each other to spell the word and to win the competition. On the other hand, there were four levels in the Intermediate category, the concept for the first two levels was similar to the Beginner category; however, in the third level, participants were given five words to spell. The fourth level had a concept similar to the final level for the Beginner category, where the participant who got the chance to spell the word would be declared as the winner.
The programme ended at 12 noon with an appreciation speech to everyone who helped make the programme a success. Well done, and congratulations to the six winners! There were three winners from the Beginner Category: Muhammad Hariz, Puteraci Rufaidah, and Nur Arina. The other three were from Intermediate Category: Wan Nur Qasrina, Ani Zahirah and Kisheaan. With the organisation of this programme, it can be seen that students are interested in learning Spanish. All the participants were very excited and showed great participation and involvement. This programme also helps in building students’ confidence to use foreign language, in this context, Spanish. Overall, without a doubt, this kind of programme will be carried out again in the future.
Prepared by:
Azlina binti Mohd Ariffin & Siti Ainun Jariyah binti Hassan
