Word nerd? Grammar guardian? Try your hand at Guy Montgomery's Spelling Bee quiz
Guy Montgomery and Aaron Chen are here once again to provide you with the chance to feel smug and laud your skills over your nearest and dearest.
Will you earn yourself a highly sought-after picture of a novelty-sized ticket to the next quiz? Or be forced to wear the (virtual) dunce's hat?
Now, let's get spelling!
Stream the new series of Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee free on ABC iview or catch it on Wednesdays at 8:35pm on ABC TV.
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ABC News
23 minutes ago
- ABC News
These aged care residents in Melbourne were given a rare glimpse of ancient Greece
Greek elders are sat around a table, listening intently as two volunteers sing the oldest surviving complete musical composition in the world. One of the volunteers plucks at strings of a lyre — and during a second run through of the song, the elders gradually begin singing along. "It was originally on a tombstone," explains Natasha Marinopoulos from the Hellenic Museum of Melbourne. "A man named Seikilos wrote it for his wife, so the lyrics are talking about … while you live, shine, and don't get down on the small stuff." The exercise is part of an outreach program lead by the museum that brings ancient history to the residents. Previously, residents of Fronditha Care in Thornbury would make the bus trip to the Hellenic Museum themselves — but challenges around mobility and the pandemic have made that more difficult. Now, the museum is coming to them. Museum staff and volunteers partnered with the centre to run sessions inside the home, using song, storytelling, weaving, and object handling to create a full sensory experience. Ms Marinopoulos says her own grandparents are residents of Fronditha Care in Clayton South — so leading the program holds a personal connection for her. "It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my professional life," she says. "Seeing people who can't make it into museums get to come and have that experience — and a really tailored experience as well." "Each of them involve object handling. We want to keep it really tactile so there's lots of different ways to engage — you can use your hands, you can see things, you can hear things." The hope for staff — igniting the deep connection between residents' muscle memory and more profound nostalgia, now lost to time. At 85, Angeliki knows she's losing her memory. She's started keeping a journal to write down the important ones. But after sitting in on a weaving workshop, it all comes rushing back to her. "She remembers she's from Ioannina," explains Mary Christofidis, a volunteer from the museum who lead the session. Mary translated her conversation with Angeliki, who spoke little English, to the ABC. "She also remembers the balconies high up in the mountains," Mary explains. "She said she would go up to those balconies and shout greetings to the neighbours which would be carried to them through echoes." Mary explains Angeliki also passed on tips and tricks to care for woven garments, handed down through generations of women in her family. The evidence of this generational knowledge, according to Mary, was intricately woven into Angeliki's cardigan. "If you have a close look … these designs go way back to ancient Greece," Mary explains. "It's just amazing." For Angeliki's husband, Lazaros, aged 88, a woven blanket brought in for the class begins to resurface memories of their wedding. "He got the dowry from [Angeliki's] family to marry this lovely lady," Mary says. "To create a family, the most important thing was safety, warmth and food". Louisa Storer, deputy manager at Fronditha, explains the day is more than just an opportunity to get the residents up and about. "[It's] language and culture," she says. "A lot of our residents speak limited English so having something that's in Greek and so relevant to their background is so important. "Many of our residents, when they move into aged care may have been quite isolated, but then they gain this whole community here." "It's not uncommon for people to already know someone here, or find someone they know, or came from their village, or came out on the same ship, worked at the same factory — it's just this lovely community," Louisa says. She says the men of the home have engaged particularly well with the session on implements of war and lessons on Petteia — an ancient gambling board game involving pebbles. One of the gentlemen, 84-year-old Christopher Theodoridis, says it's "pretty interesting". "We're talking about Hellenic history. We're talking three thousand years before — Alexander the Great!" The men pass around a reproduced coin engraved with the face of the historical Macedonian king, along with an authentic coin featuring Greek goddess Athena. For some, it's perhaps the first time they've held something that reflects their heritage in such a tangible way. It shows in their eyes. "So many Greeks are into their own history," Natasha says. "People have said, 'It's nice to feel connected to my culture again'. "That's the best we could hope for." She says she would like to see more museums bringing the exhibits within the walls of aged care homes. "People in aged care are just as much part of our community as anybody else, and we should include them as much.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
'Hidden and radical' power of First Nations women unlocked in big hART's Punkaliyarra project
For Ashweeni Mason and her family, cleaning abalone on the beach at Mystery Bay on the NSW South Coast is an act of cultural affirmation — and political resistance. The practice of preparing abalone at the water's edge has been handed down by her Walbunja and Djiringanj ancestors for millennia, as evidenced in local middens. But in recent decades, it was banned under NSW fisheries management regulations. Sitting on the sand with Ms Mason are women from the Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi communities in Roebourne (Iremugadu), in Western Australia's Pilbara region. They have travelled thousands of kilometres to Yuin country on the NSW far south coast as part of a cultural exchange project run by the arts and social change organisation, Big hART. The Punkaliyarra project aims to achieve greater recognition and support for First Nations women's leadership. "The Punkaliyarra story is really focused on the hidden and radical power structures that exist within the Aboriginal matriarchy," Big hART's national creative producer, Genevieve Dugard, said. Ms Mason said sharing her ancestral traditions with other First Nations women was empowering. "On the NSW east coast, we had a lot of our culture taken from us, and it has been a struggle to maintain that while still living in a modern world," Ms Mason said. Interim measures are now in place to decriminalise Aboriginal cultural fishing practices in NSW after legislation was passed in 2009. But 14 years on, the legislation has still not come into effect and cultural fishers still face prosecution. Yindjibarndi woman Michelle Adams, co-creator of Punkaliyarra, said the initiative was about women embracing their power. "That's what the Galharra (kinship system) is — more than one parent, more than one sister, more than one brother, and you're honouring those relationships." The Punkaliyarra project grew out of a collaboration between Big hART and senior women elders from the Roebourne community. The collaboration, which began in 2010, has included trips out on country, digital content creation, live performance, and political advocacy. In 2024, the project expanded from Roebourne to Yuin country on the NSW South Coast to connect the two communities of women. "We could see the value of bringing women together to collectively mobilise. To understand the common fights and their common strengths," Ms Dugard said. Ms Dugard says the strength of women's leadership is not in any doubt. What's missing is recognition and resources. Yindjibarndi woman Cherine Wally says the Punkaliyarra project enables women to learn from each other, and find the 'courage to talk up'. "My grandmothers, they had a lot to talk about but they couldn't say anything, because of the way society was back then," she said. She points to the importance of seeing other strong women as role models. "Being a woman and being connected to country is really strong and powerful, and we have to, as women, come together," Ms wally said. Ms Mason said the gathering was a chance for the women from opposite sides of the country to "strengthen each other". "To be able to connect with women, whose second or third language is English, is really special," she said. "They teach us things that we might have lost and we teach them. "I feel like we're reigniting those old pathways … and continuing what our old people did thousands of years ago." Ngarluma woman Sam Walker, a community leader, performer and activist, has been working with Big hART in Roebourne since 2022. Ms Walker believes in the power of women's kinship to support positive change in the face of enormous challenges. "They were put in chains, massacred, our sacred sites destroyed." She recognises the "bloodline of strong women" who came before her to fight for justice and inclusion, and improvements in health and education.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Carmen in Sydney, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon in Melbourne and Mozart's Clarinet across Australia
Opera Australia's new production of Carmen opens in Sydney, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra celebrates Deborah Cheetham Fraillon's music in Melbourne and Mozart's Clarinet tours Australia for Musica Viva as Alice Keath checks out the most exciting classical music events around the country this week. Bizet's Carmen in Sydney Opera Australia's new production of Bizet's Carmen opens in Sydney on 10 July, playing until 19 September. The production moves to Melbourne in November. Deborah Cheetham Fraillon in Melbourne To mark this year's 50th anniversary of NAIDOC week, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra celebrates the Strength, Vision and Legacy of Yorta Yorta / Yuin composer and soprano Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, Yinya dana: lighting the path at Hamer Hall on 11 July. Mozart's Clarinet tours Australia Historical clarinettist Nicola Boud joins cellist Simon Cobcroft and early keyboard specialist Erin Helyard for Mozart's Clarinet, touring nationally for Musica Viva Australia 15-28 July. Javier Perianes in Brisbane Javier Perianes performs Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra 11-12 July. Ravel and Falla in Sydney Jaime Martín conducts the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in music by Ravel and Falla 10-13 July. Benaud Trio's 20th birthday in Melbourne The Benaud Trio celebrates its 20th birthday at Melbourne Recital Centre with a program pairing piano trios by Jakub Jankowski and Antonín Dvořák. Schubert, Britten and Brahms in Perth Edward Gardner conducts the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Schubert, Britten and Brahms 11-12 July. Piano Quartets in Perth The Chimera Ensemble performs piano quartets by Mendelssohn, Elfman and Schumann in Perth on 13 July. The Darwin Chorale celebrates 40 years The Darwin Chorale is celebrating 40 years of music making with a Ruby Jubilee concert on 11 July at Darwin Entertainment Centre. Aura Go in Melbourne and Werribee Pianist Aura Go joins the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra for music by Samuel Barber, Doreen Carwithen and Peter Sculthorpe in Melbourne 10 and 13 July and Werribee 12 July. Do you have a classical music event you would like to hear featured in What's On? Please complete this form to let us know the details and we'll consider it for inclusion. Event Submission Form
