Mesa 6th grader heads to district spelling bee 5 years after learning English

MESA, Ariz. - A Valley 12-year-old is headed to the district-wide spelling bee, having won her school’s spelling bee only a few years after she started learning English.

The backstory:

Althea Smith’s mother said her dream in moving to the United States from the Philippines was to give her daughter a better life. 

At the age of seven, Smith moved to the Valley five years ago knowing little English, and her parents say she was even bullied for being different. Smith battled things like pneumonia and dengue fever as a baby, and her mom says the two moved to the U.S. in search of a better life.

What She's Saying:

"School in Philippines was harder," said Althea Smith.

But when they got here, the two had to learn English, with Smith often getting pulled out of her normal classes, including her favorite subject in school—reading— to study the language.

"When I came here, I was, like, thinking that I couldn't do it because it was, like, really hard," Smith said. "Like for example, when I was in second grade I could not say octopus. I said 'octo-toe-pus.' But then, like, three months later, I learned how to say some sentences, and I was actually, like, really proud of myself."

Dig deeper:

But Smith discovered a love for reading and writing early on.

"I got bored in class one time and I decided to just write the words that I learned and just form them into a story," Smith said. "And then I thought, wow, this was really fun. I should do this more often."

With that inspiration, combined with a little help from her favorite American TV shows and a lot of determination, Smith became fluent enough to not just compete in the spelling bee at her school—American Leadership Academy Mesa North—but to win the whole thing. 

Now, she’s spelling words that would give many American-born adults a headache, including her favorite word "hors d’oeuvre," which she said is because it has such a unique spelling. 

"I never even knew what a spelling bee was until they said it in sixth grade," Smith said. "I thought I would just try to win and see how far I get."

What's next:

Smith will compete in the district-wide spelling bee for all ALA schools on Tuesday. And while she’s nervous, she acknowledges just how far she has come.

"I'm pretty proud of myself," she said.

She also admits that she’s still getting the hang of some American phrases, as the language barrier still reveals itself in comical ways sometimes.

"It was really raining hard outside," Smith said. "My teacher told me it’s raining cats and dogs outside. And I was like, ‘there’s no cats and dogs, what do you mean, they would die!’ And everybody just started laughing at me."