BGA FALL LINGUISTICS OLYMPIAD (BuFfaLO) 2015

I invite middle school (5th-8th) and high school (9th-12th) level students who love language, logic, or puzzle-solving to compete at our first ever BGA Fall Linguistics Olympiad, Saturday, November 14, 2015, from 9am to about 1pm, at Battle Ground Academy Middle School (336 Ernest Rice Ln., Franklin, Tennessee).

We will be checking competitors in at registration at the BGA Middle School Gym before a short opening assembly to explain the competition and the schedule. Then competitors will move to the Middle School Academic building to compete.

For DIRECTIONS to campus see here or this map. Once on Ernest Rice Ln., you will pass Gray Fox Ln. and turn left on Echo Ln. before making a right into the Middle School Parking Lot. The Gym is the first building you see on the right.

I hope that the competition lets the students have some fun while they're getting great experience doing what I call "language hacking." The students use available data in each puzzle along with logic and analytical skills to reverse engineer a working understanding of vocabulary, grammar, writing systems, and other aspects of languages that were previously unknown to them.

Competitors may work alone to solve the puzzles (individual competition) or may register as pairs and enter the pairs competition where both work together. This year, as we are getting started and trying to attract more competitors, I have made the entry cost FREE. Students will just need to bring their own lunch if they want to stay after the competition (which runs 9:15-11:45) for the awards ceremony (about 1pm). There will be some fun activities planned for that intervening time around lunch.

To register students, send me their names, grade levels, sponsor names (teacher or parent), sponsor email contact, and finally whether they plan to compete as an individual or in a pair. If they are competing in pairs, please identify which students are paired together. Email me, Abram Ring, at abram.ring (AT) mybga.org. I hope to have all competitors registered by Monday, November 9, because, though I'll try, I can't guarantee entry after that date.

Prizes will be awarded for the best individual scores at each grade level (5th-12th), and for the top 3 individuals and top 3 pairs at the middle school level (5th-8th) and for the top 3 individuals and top 3 pairs at the high school (9th-12th) level.

The olympiad is inspired by the spring competition at MTSU, and see their site for information and for practice puzzles. Students, especially in the upper grades, may also be interested in competing in the national level linguistics olympiad, called NACLO.