CV Linguistics Olympiad
Melanie Ascoli
Staff Writer
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The International Linguistics Olympiad is a worldwide competition relatively unknown to CV students. Sophomore Katine Shin is trying to change that with her new club CV Linguistics Olympiad at the high school. The club prepares students for the international competition held July 20-24 in Ventspils, Latvia.
But what is the Linguistics Olympiad? The competition is, “one of the official international olympiads… it is an individual competition where you are given 3-4 hours to solve 6-8 questions,” Shin said. “The test is designed so that people aren’t able to finish it in the amount of time given.”
The purpose of Shin’s club is to help prepare and make students aware of this competition and opportunity. The club does practice problems and goes over test-taking strategies so that students are ready to compete in the first level of the competition.
Shin said, “We provide practice problems and go over the answers to them. What we do during club meetings is how we prepare.”
Even for students who choose not to compete in the official competitions, the club can still be a fun place to learn and work on challenging language puzzles and problems. The club is a great opportunity for both students interested in linguistics and winning the competition, and students who enjoy puzzles and problem solving. Participating in the competitions is not only an impressive feat but is also great for resumes and college applications.
“You don’t need any prior linguistics background or knowledge. All the problems can be solved with logic and problem solving skills. Anyone who likes puzzles, riddles, etc. should join,” Shin said.
The CV Linguistics Olympiad club meets twice a month in order to prepare for the first level of competition from February 3rd to 7th. The Second Round of testing occurs from March 20th to 22nd. For more info on the competitions and problem solving, please come join the CV Linguistics Olympiad club.