Posted: 06/07/17
This year’s International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL), the 15th of its kind, will be hosted by the ADAPT Centre for Digital Content Technology, who will welcome 180 international students to Dublin City University at the end of this month. The IOL is one of 12 International Science Olympiads for secondary school students, and has been held annually since 2003. Every year, a different host country invites teams of young linguists from around the world to gather and compete in this event which provides them with fantastic opportunities to test their minds against the world’s toughest puzzles and language and linguistics.
In addition to making a successful bid to act as the host country for this year’s IOL, Ireland is showing a competitive edge with two teams, each including four of the top secondary school students nationwide who previously competed in the All-Ireland Linguistics Olympiad. These students are listed as follows: Philip Krause, Eimer Kyle, Marco Stango, Tom McAlinden, Padraig Sheehy, Tristan l’Anson-Sparks, Cian O’Hara (17) of Holy Family Community School, Rathcoole, Dublin; Daniel Quingley (17) of Belfast Royal Academy, Belfast, Antrim.
For the duration of this year’s competition, running from the 31st July to the 4th August, these students will compete with others from 30 countries worldwide to translate dead or expired languages into their own native language. Challenges tackled by the competitors in previous Olympiads, such as that held in India last year, have included translating Jaqaru, a language once spoken among indigenous tribes in the Andes, and Iatmul, a language with only 8,400 native speakers.
Throughout this week, competitors will also be given the chance to socialise with their peers and learn more about their host country as ADAPT will carry out excursions and various events so as to make their stay in Ireland a truly worthwhile and enjoyable experience.
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