Eleven-year-old Naa Koshie Manyo-Plange who won the latest Ghana Spelling Bee has revealed her strategy.
Ms Koshie, who made this known while speaking with BBC Focus on Africa, stated that she read a lot of books to broaden her vocabulary.
She disclosed that her parents encouraged her and she watched the movie Akeelah and the Bee to learn from the starring.
"We had training and we were given a certain group of words to study, so we had to study them and come with about 100 words from that group," she says.
The national finals of the competition were held last weekend with 60 competitors all hoping to win the coveted trophy and cash prize of around $1,700 (£1,200).
"I think its important to take part in something like the spelling bee - because if you lose it helps you to be a good loser and when you win it helps you not gloat, and builds resilience because it makes you want to come back for more," she says.