Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics

The International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) is one of the international science olympiads for secondary school students. Its participants are faced with problems dealing with linguistic features from various (often minority or endangered) languages that are unknown to them. The skills necessary for the successful analysis of the grammatical and semantical structures presented in the data therefore include analytical thinking, linguistic awareness, as well as considering the cultural context.

This year’s IOL in Brazil turned out to be an amazing success for Czechia. Our team became the absolute winner of the team contest, and moreover, three contestants also won medals in the individual part (one silver and two bronze). In this talk, the silver medalist Matěj Čapka will present some of the tasks that ensured this great achievement and he will share his impressions of the whole event and Brazil. Michaela Svatošová, the president of the Czech Linguistics Olympiad, will describe the IOL in general and she will focus on the process of selecting and preparing the Czech team through the national contest.

*** The talk will be delivered in person (MFF UK, Malostranské nám. 25, 4th floor, room S1) and will be streamed via Zoom. For details how to join the Zoom meeting, please write to sevcikova et ufal.mff.cuni.cz ***