The International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) is a contest for students up to secondary school level where they compete in solving problems based in the scientific study of languages - linguistics. The contest does not involve knowing lots of languages.
Are you a high school student who likes language or logic puzzles? Do you know one who does?
Check out the linguistics olympiads! No prior knowledge is assumed, and it’s a cool way to learn more about how languages work, meet other nerds, and potentially have something cool to put on your university application.
The international competition is happening in July in Prague, but the national olympiads that qualify you for the international one are coming up very soon!
North America - January 25
Many other countries can be found on the International Linguistics Olympiad website, and if yours isn’t on there, they’re expanding every year and always open to new enthusiasts.
To get a sense of what the linguistics olympiad is like, you can check out an archive of past problems and their solutions on the IOL website:
Start with the samples if you're new to IOL problems and when you're ready take a stab at our past problems. If you've done all those and can't get enough, the national olympiads below also keep archives of past problems.