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Matthew's Round 8

May 31, 2007

Well, he spelled out on fauchard, a French word, meaning a long-handled medieval weapon with a long convex edge.

Last year, he misspelled joual, another French word. He'll be concentrating on French this year, I'm sure.

He's tied for sixth place. Best for Albuquerque, and The Tribune's region, in 59 years.

Wow!

He has another year of eligibility. If he can win his school, home-school cluster and the region again, he'll be back in D.C., but none of that is a certainty and Matthew knows it.

He'll be determined, though. And if I know him, he'll rest for a week while the family is on vacation, then come back home and start studying again.

I expect him to really push himself harder than ever. It's just that important to him.

And that's why he does so well.

Congratulations, Matthew!!

Posted by Jan at 07:25 PM |

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Posted by: mona everett | June 2, 2007 06:59 AM


My husband and I enjoyed watching Matthew Evans and the other spellers compete the other night on televison. However, I felt I had to write to comment on something Matthew said in his interview.

He pointed out some words, which he said were "Irish or something," that had no vowels. While I didn't catch all the words he used to illustrate his point, at least one of the words was "cwm"--a Welsh (not Irish!) word for "valley". With a surname like Evans, I am surprised Matthew did not know this! Also, Welsh is truly a phonetic language (unlike Irish), and "w" is a vowel--it makes the "oo" sound, as in "cool". Perhaps if he had been given a Welsh word and not a French one, with a silent "d," the outcome would have been different!

I would encourage Matthew (if he is indeed Welsh) to embrace his heritage and learn a bit of "the language of Heaven"!

Mona Everett (descended from a long line of Welsh copper smeltermen)
1314 Woodvale Drive
Madison, WI 53716

Posted by: N.K | June 1, 2007 09:13 AM

Are you sure he has another year of eligibility?
I was thinking it was his last year to D.C
Do check it out

From Jan:

Matthew is in seventh grade this year and is 12, giving him one more year to compete.

The rules are spellers can't be beyond eighth grade or age 16.

I certainly expect him to try again.

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