The national final of Spelling Bee China is held in Beijing on Aug 1. [Photo/hzdaily.hangzhou.com.cn]

The team from Hangzhou Shanghai Foreign Language Primary School won fourth place at the national final of Spelling Bee China, which concluded in Beijing on Aug 1.

Hangzhou Shanghai Foreign Language Primary School was the only primary school team in Zhejiang province to attend the competition.

As an international event, the Spelling Bee competition has been held in more than 100 countries in five continents. Five years ago, the competition entered China.

Thanks to partners like the North America Spelling Champion Challenge and the Global Champions Spelling Competition of China, winners have the chance to compete in various international competitions around the globe.

"It's really a test for children's English abilities," said Lin Chengjie, team leader of the students from Hangzhou. 

"In the 'word blind guess', contestants have to try to narrow down the scope and decide the correct word after the panel tells them the initial of the word and the number of letters that make up of the word."

"The final's lexicon has about 10,000 words, while the College English Test Band 4 requires only 4,000," said Lin. "It is not an easy task for pupils to master so many English words, not to mention that they have to be quick in searching for the right word in their mind within a limited period of time."

According to Lin, a total of seven students at his school participated in the competition, with the eldest one being a sixth grader and the youngest one being in second grade.

Lin added that their students start to learn English from first grade and spend roughly two hours in an English-speaking environment on a daily basis.