Spelling Before Artificial Intelligence

-

Keke Palmer plays Akeelah, a spelling genius.

Akeela and the Bee, directed by Doug Atchison must be Miss Khumalo’s favourite film, if she is a student of cinema like me. She was my English teacher and subjected me to a lot of torture during what she called spelling and dictation.

Try spelling hippopotamus at the tender age of eleven.  I could not tell Ma that she hit my hand with a cane because she would have taken her own stick without knowing the merits of the case. ”She didn’t punish you enough.”

My favorite spelling joke is when the teacher wanted the class to write a sentence with the word fastidious.  This is what one student wrote. “My father knows the meaning of fastidious!” It is no laughing matter.

Cellphones and text messages have fractured the English language.  I’m sure the German, French and  Spanish are also in tears.  I’m not ignoring my language isiZulu.  It’s only because friends and family send me messages in real Zulu.  It is just not done.  How do you write Asikhulume kusasa (Let’s talk tomorrow) in text-speak?

Akeelah and the Bee, starring Laurence Fishbourne, Angela Bassett and Keke Palmer, is about words, small words, big words and how you use them in sentences.  Spelling bee contests are very common in the United States.

The film is about Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) who is very good with words and their meaning. That is why her school asks Dr. Joshua Laraby (Laurence Fishburne) to tutor her for the provincial competition.  Akeelah doesn’t enjoy the lessons initially because he is a disciplinarian.  He cannot stand sassy kids and being late.

That was then. Technology has created havoc in the language world.  Cellphones are here and an individual can have two or three.  We have text messages now or SMS, as they call it in South Africa.  We use them to advertise goods and services, post exam results, confirm dental appointments, to declare love and as evidence in divorce cases.  Text messages are short and sweet and have no allegiance to the King of England, Prince William and Prince Harry spelling and sentence structure.

Therefore, it will be very interesting to have a sequel called Texting Akeelah, where she rips apart all those difficult words she learned in the film Akeelah and the Bee.  I don’t think financing will be a problem.

In fact, HTC, Apple iPhone, Nokia, Samsung, Sony-Ericsson and even LG will be fighting to finance such a film and give all cast and crew members the latest phones. Oprah will review Texting Akeelah and give every cast member a limited edition  phone. 

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

Einstein Passengers

-
Image
Being a passenger is very stressful.   You must listen to the owner of the car, nod and grumble yes to everything he says because you don’t want to piss him off. Two things can happen if you disagree with the driver: he can lose concentration and you all end up in a mash-up accident or stop the car and ask you to get out.   That is the driver’s prerogative.   You must listen to me if you are a passenger in my car.   Let’s flip the script for a minute and sympathise with the driver if she has a passenger who is more intelligent than Albert Einstein. He talks non-stop.   It is all about himself, how right he is, how good he is, how stupid his boss is. Einstein is also a driving instructor.   “Careful.   Look at that guy.   Is he crazy or something? ” says Einstein. Einstein is the unofficial pilot.   He presses imaginary brakes in the passenger seat when the driver stops abruptly for a guy who is texting on his bicycle. A certain Einstein took it to another level.   S
Read more