Sonoma State University
Language Festival 2008
German Program
Spelling Bee Contest

Individual students may participate in our Buchstabierwettbewerb. Click here for a list of the spelling words for your Stage 1 students (German 1 and 2), and click here for a list of spelling words for your Stage 2 students (German 3 and 4/5).  Each student will be given ten words from the list.

Rules for Spelling:

n    We use the standard German alphabet. If a student wishes to use spelling variants common in Switzerland or Austria, she/he needs to indicate that to the judges before the start of the contest.

n    ¨ß” must be pronounced as “ess-zett.” Words that must be spelled with “ß” will be considered misspelled if spelled “ss.”

n    Capital letters must be named as such (i.e. “Großes A,” “Großes F”).  Misspelling will be called for a word that must be capitalized. Likewise, a word that is normally capitalized (except as a first word in a sentence) will be considered misspelled if it is erroneously capitalized.

n    Umlautbuchstaben, such as “ü,” must be named “u-Umlaut” (or “großes U-Umlaut” for “Ü”).

Important: A contestant must give her response by first saying the word, then spelling it letter for letter, and then repeating the word.  Example:

Judge: “Wie schreibt man “Fahrrad?”

Student: “Fahrrad, großes F-a-h-r-r-a-d, Fahrrad.”

Please note: A student may correct himself while spelling, either by clearly correcting an individual letter or by starting over. Once a word has been said the second time, the judges will consider the spelling to be finished.

Evaluation Criteria:

Our judges, Dr. Kate Foley-Beining and Marcell Johnson (SSU German student), will evaluate the spelling based on

1.    correct spelling, and

2.    pronunciation of the words and individual letters.

Back to German Contest | SSU Language Festival 2008

Last updated March 16, 2008 MG