Spelling out loud words in front of an audience ? You must be kidding...
We do have an annual event based on correct spelling, it has been running for nearly twenty years, but it's a dictation.
There are several groups, junior, senior, professional, a bit like in sports.
The French have always put a lot of emphasis on correct spelling, and knowing when and where to use an infinitive or a past participle (same sound for "-er" and "-é"), or when to put an "s" (plural, not sounded) or an "e" (mute) can prove very, very tricky even for someone with a very good level of education. This is of course a bit different in English, less problems of gender, and when you say "tables", you know you have to put an s, not in French, we have the same word (in fact you stole it from us
), but unless you use the article (une/des or la/les), you can't say if it's singular or plural.
Of course, we have words like "cuissots" and "cuisseaux" which mean about the same, but are spelled differently depending on the context, not to mention all the names of the hundreds of mushrooms and such, but I guess there is the same proportion of oddities in the English language.
To my mind, the main problems are based on the use of grammar : how well do you understand the way your own language functions?
But spelling words aloud, what a laugh !
Alain