The North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO)
Important information about NACLO at William & Mary:
William & Mary annually hosts the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO). This is a unique opportunity for middle and high school students between grades 6 and 12 to participate in solving linguistic puzzles and challenging themselves to refine their logic skills.
The Olympiad consists of two rounds: the Open Round is accessible to all willing participants, while the Invitational Round is open to those participants that excel in the Open Round. The format of the competition is in the form of a written test with linguistic puzzle problems. The types of problems one can expect vary greatly and can include such items as translation problems, number problems, writing systems, calendar systems, formal problems, phonological problems, computational problems, kinship systems, and transcriptions of speech.
No experience or prior knowledge of linguistics or second languages is required. This is a unique opportunity for young people to experience a taste of natural-language processing in the 21st century and will help build logic skills and creativity!
The Olympiad was last hosted at William & Mary on January 26, 2025. Practice test problems, readings, registration information, and the Handbook can be found here.
- Registration deadline: TBA
- Event date: January 26, 2025
- Event location: William & Mary, Building/room TBA
- Event time: 10:00 AM sharp. Participants are asked to arrive 15 minutes before the start of the event. They will have 3 hours to complete as much as they can.
For more information, please contact Professor [[ahogoboom, Anya Hogoboom]].
