This teacher inspires awe in her students by demonstrating her unique ability to spell backwards.
Pam Onnen (USA) holds the world record for most words spelled backwards in one minute – successfully spelling almost one per second.
Pam has held the title with 56 words since July 2020, beating her own previous record of 39 set in November 2019.
Then, she was tied with Yaser Akbari (Iran), but came back once more to claim it for herself.
In an incredible video of her achievement, Pam is seen standing on stage in front of a microphone as her daughter Maria reads from a randomized list of words.
What’s even more incredible is that a new word is read out before Pam is even finished spelling the current one and she doesn’t miss a beat.
Reciting the spellings of words like ‘penguins’, ‘earliest’ and ‘speaking’ in reverse, Pam’s talent is absolutely incredible.
But just how does she do it?
She told us: “I'm not sure exactly how I discovered I could spell backwards. I know that I have always just loved words. I enjoy palindromes and how cool it is that a word can be spelled backwards and forwards and still be the same word - I just love that.
I think I am a good speller because I can see the words in my head. I was surprised when I found out not everybody could see the words; I remember wondering how anyone could spell if they couldn't see words in their head. I am fascinated and humbled that people can do that.
Pam explained further: “In my head, when I see a word, it seems to be mostly behind my forehead. I have noticed that as I spell backwards, my eyes will travel right to left and my eyes will be looking up.
“Spelling longer words is harder. I think it's because my forehead isn't that big. I know that sounds funny, but that's the only way I can describe it. With really long words, I need to chunk the word into parts (like cars on a train), and then I can spell each of the chunks backwards going from right to left.”
The example Pam gave us is that if she was spelling the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, she’d split it up like this – super cali frag i lis tic expi ali docious.
Mum-of-two Pam works as a substitute teacher and could find herself teaching a different subject and different age group every day, but one thing is always the same – her students’ shock when she starts spelling backwards.
She said: “People are shocked when they learn I can do this. Of course, I use this to my advantage as a substitute teacher. When the topic of the world record comes up, I tell the students that the best way to show them, is if they ask me to spell a word that they can see, but that I cannot see.
“Usually, it works if the students look at a word that is behind me when we are in the classroom. Since I'm a substitute teacher, of course I say that we can't try the next word until attendance is done... or.... until everyone has finished the first two problems in their homework...
Also, the really cool video that Guinness World Records put together is a favourite in the classroom. It helps the students realize that it's okay to have different skills and interests that your classmates might not share.
In our video, Pam recited the alphabet backwards with lightning speed and showed her talents for speaking backwards too. She's also seen teaching her daughter how to say “Officially Amazing” in reverse.
Pam set her record in Hastings, Minnesota, where she moved with her husband after they got married, as she wanted to help put the town she loves so much on the map.
Pam went on: “It is AMAZING to have this record! When the students ask me to spell words backwards, I have noticed that (as I'm spelling) they start looking at me like I'm an alien or a superhero (I choose to believe superhero).
“Our daughter Maria, who read the words for the world record attempts, was able to use her engineering skills to help her realize faster ways to read the words, all while making sure that we didn't have a repeat word, or a word out of the 8-letter, 6-letter, 4-letter sequence that was required.
“Of course, she has this on her resume, which she thinks did help her get a few more job interviews than others may have had.”
Pam would love to put her backwards spelling skills to use to break even more records in the future.
But whatever happens…
!gnizamA yllaiciffO era uoy ,maP
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