Twenty-three students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, competed in the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad Jan. 28 second through eighth periods in the computer labs in the 4500 building.
The students, members of the Linguistics Club, trained all year for the event as it is the only competition in which the club currently participates. The club met every other Monday in the room of sponsor Mrs. Marjorie Milam.
Test questions are based on different languages. For example, one question from the test of 2015 gave students sample sentences written in English and translated to Danish and Swedish. The question then asked students to determine the language of new sentences using patterns, similarities and differences between the languages.
Club members met every other Monday and completed practice problems online to prepare for the test. All students were eligible to participate in the first round of the competition.
All students who participate in the competition, whether winning or not, absorb information that helps them in their other studies and endeavors. Junior Angela Liu said, “[the competition] has helped me look at things more logically. It definitely helps in my Spanish class because it’s easier for me to detect patterns between the words.”
