He’s Had His F-I-L-L : Young Spelling Whiz Says It’s Time to Quit

Winston Chang finally made it to the National Spelling Bee in the nation’s capital this week, but after dozens of local and state competitions over the past six years, the 12-year-old Mission Viejo youngster says he has had his fill of spelling bees.

“It’s time to move on to something else for variety,” Winston said Friday in a telephone interview from his Washington hotel room. “But one thing, for sure, is that I’ve learned how to spell.”

And Winston acknowledged that competing with 185 young people from across the country was a thrilling finish to his spelling odyssey.

In the Top Third

Winston didn’t come away with the first-place trophy, or the $1,500 that went with it. But he managed to place in the top third of the pack, coming in 48th when he was eliminated Thursday.

He choked in the fifth round on nutria , a South American rodent, by misspelling it with two t’s. Still, he could be proud that in four earlier rounds he had correctly spelled conversant, tranquil, termagancy and unhygienic.

Winston was philosophical: “When you have competition like this, you can’t expect to win . . . just hope.”

And what’s the secret of his success that’s placed him at the top of county and state spelling bees in all but one of the last six years?

‘Good at Guessing’

“I guess it’s because I’m familiar with short vowel sounds, and I’m good at guessing.”

Also, Winston has a knack for identifying the roots and origins of words. “If you know that the root, or origin, of a word is Spanish and you hear a ‘yama’ sound, then you know that it’s spelled ‘llama’ rather than ‘yama.’ ”

Winston said he increased his vocabulary by reading “a lot of books and newspapers and playing role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons.”

After six years in the spelling bee trenches where he has tasted both victory and defeat, Winston said he’s learned a valuable lesson: “Winning or losing is not very important; just being there (in competition) is a lot to be proud of.”

Winston recently moved to Mission Viejo and still attends Rancho Santiago Intermediate School in Irvine, where he is in the eighth grade. He returns to Orange County today with his father, Gabriel, an aerospace engineer, and mother, Ivy, a systems analyst with the county.

When Winston enters high school next year he said he plans to put aside his spelling laurels and compete in math competitions and academic decathlons. And though he’s an A student, Winston said there’s more to life than academics. “I like to do other things . . . like piano, karate and chess. Maybe now I’ll have more time for them.”