Her favorite word is one that would never apply to her: hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. And that may have contributed to the stunning success of Ming-Ming Tran, 11, of West Windsor, who took first place in the third annual Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge held at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida — and earned a $25,”000 college scholarship. She is a sixth grade student at Grover Middle School. Before you run to the dictionary, that 36-letter word above means fear of long words.##M:[more]##
The educational outreach program of Reader’s Digest, a vocabulary competition, attracted 1.6 million fourth through eighth grade students nationwide. It is based on “Word Power,” a feature in Reader’s Digest. The competition began last fall with contests within schools followed by state championships in March. Tran was the New Jersey champion at the March 18 event held in Westfield. (The News, April 1, 2005). State finalists and their teacher escort received an all-expenses paid trip to Walt Disney World Resorts.
On April 18 Ming-Ming was one of 10 contestants to advance to the championship round. She earned the championship when she identified the word “contrite” when she was asked how the rabbit felt in the following sentence: “When the white rabbit said, ‘Oh the duchess, won’t she be savage if I’ve kept her waiting?’” Her opponent answered “insolent” and received the second place award.
Born in Edison, Ming-Ming moved to West Windsor with her family — including sister Ying-Ying, 15, a sophomore at High School South — in 2000. Her mother Angela, a teacher in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District for 12 years, was born in Taiwan and came to the United States in 1990. She earned her master’s degree at Jersey City State College where she received certificates in bilingual education, elementary education, and English as a second language. “I love teaching and I like to find the best way to help kids find their potential,” she says.
Ming-Ming’s father, Duynang, was born in Vietnam and came to United States with his family when he was 16 and completed his education here. After working in the U.S. for years, he went to Taiwan to work — leaving his immediate family in Edison. While working in Taiwan, he met Angela and they were married there. “It is a Chinese tradition that the eldest son has to be with the mother,” says Angela. “He returned to the Edison and I followed with Ying-Ying, who was then only five months old.” Duynang is now a retired engineer and a stay-at-home dad.
Ming-Ming, whose name means “bright” in Chinese, began learning to read at an early age. By age four Angela was teaching her Bible study and she was reading the Bible. “By five she was reading everything and has continued to enjoy reading,” says Angela. “A punishment for her would be if we told her she couldn’t read and a reward would be to let her read more.”
The sixth grader now likes books about magic — especially dragons. One of her favorite characters is Princess Cimorene from Patricia C. Wrede’s “Dealing with Dragons.” She also has been playing piano since she was seven and violin since fourth grade. She plays violin in Grover School’s orchestra.
Angela heard about the contest last year and encouraged Ming-Ming’s teacher at Grover to be involved but it was too late to enter. This was the first year that all Grover and Community students were involved in the project. The top students from each school go to the state championship and then one person from each state goes to the nationals.
Other students from WW-P who qualified for the March 18 state competition include:
From Community Middle School: Spencer Palombit, grade 6; Daesun Yim, grade 7; and Chris Bergman, grade 8.
From Grover Middle School: Keerthana Krosuri, grade 7; and Nonie Sethi, grade 8.
This was Ming-Ming’s second trip to Disney World although she did not remember much from her first trip when she was very young. “Because of interviews, commercials, and rehearsals, we did not get to spend much time in the park,” says her mother. “Ming-Ming was disappointed not to be able to spend time with her new friends.”
Ming-Ming did not study at all for the school or state championships. She was busy studying for a math competition at the time of the state challenge. When she won the state championship, she received a copy of the “Word Power Quiz Book.” She planned to study during spring break but developed a flu-like illness with a high fever and did not study much. The night before the national competition was the only time she was able to go to the Magic Kingdom and she played there from 6 to 10 p.m. Her favorite rides were Astro Orbit Space Ship and the Mad Tea Party.
The day after winning the championship Ming-Ming’s father drove her to school. “When I got out of the car everyone was cheering,” she said. “When I got to my locker I saw that my friends had decorated my locker it and gave me gifts.”
On Thursday, April 21, she was picked up at 7 a.m. for an appearance on NBC’s Today show. On television she admitted to being nervous during the competition — but trying not to show it. Ming-Ming, who said she would like to be a doctor, talked about studying SAT words when reading the dictionary took too much time.
At the national competition, Al Roker, NBC’s Today Show host, served as official quiz master. “What’s exciting about the Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge is that it harnesses the power of words in a time when verbal communication seems to be dying art,” said Roker in a press release. “It’s great to see hundreds of thousands of young people enthusiastic about vocabulary. In fact, it’s so exciting I’m at a loss for words.”
A television special of the championship event airs on NBC on Saturday, May 14. Check listings for time. For information about the contest or to register for next year’s contest visit www.wordpowerchallenge.com.
