Can you out-spell a grade-schooler?

B-I-N-G-O. It's probably one of the first words you learned how to spell -- but what about k-n-a-i-d-e-l? Doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

That was the winning word of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2013.

One of the winning words from 2014 was also not easy to pronounce -- feuilleton.

Enthusiasts ranging from third grade through eighth grade have gotten their spelling on since 1925. The winning word from that year? Gladiolus. That's a flower.

But hey! The spelling bee doesn't just show off young kids' brain power. It also brings us cool things like the #spellfie. In 2014, that trended on Twitter and encouraged people watching the Bee to take a selfie.

To amp up some excitement for the upcoming Bee, the 2010 champion took to the streets to ask people to spell "guerdon."

Preliminaries begin Tuesday, and finals will be Thursday.

There will be 285 participants, with nearly 70 percent from public schools. Thirty-six spellers have spelling in their blood, with relatives having participated in past Bees. It's almost 50-50 when it comes to male and female participants.

There's a $30,000 cash prize from Scripps for winning. That would be enough motivation for us, but "Words With Friends" is also giving a $5,000 cash prize, Merriam-Webster is doling out a $2,500 U.S. savings bond and Encyclopaedia Britannica is giving $1,100 worth of reference works.

Knowing how to spell apparently p-a-y-s.

See more difficult spelling bee words in the video above.

Find out when to watch the 2015 Scripps Spelling Bee on ESPN this week.

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