The basic rule of spelling a word in the competition is that once having started to spell a word, the speller may start over, but the letter or sequence of letters already spoken may not be changed.
In the United States, spelling bees are annually held from local levels up to the level of the National Spelling Bee which awards a scholarship to the winner. The National Spelling Bee is sponsored by English language newspapers. In 2003, spellers came from the Bahamas and Jamaica as well as the United States.
This kind of competition is depicted in the 2002 Academy Award nominated documentary, Spellbound.
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