NACLO 2019 -- North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad
Columbia University, Computer Science Department

Important Dates:

January 24, 2019 (Thursday)
10 AM – 1 PM
NACLO Open Competition (first round)

March 7, 2019 (Thursday)
9AM-1PM
NACLO Invitational (second round)

What is NACLO?

NACLO (the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad) is a contest in which high-school students, as well as middle-school students, solve problems relating to linguistics and computational linguistics. No prior knowledge of linguistics or second languages is required. Students may participate at their high school or at a nearby university site. This year, Columbia University will be the local site for the New York Metropolitan area. The open round of the contest will take place on Thursday, January 24, 2019. Well-performing students will be invited to the second (invitational) round, which is scheduled to take place on March 7, 2019. The top students in the second round will have a chance to participate in the 17th International Linguistics Olympiad.

More information about NACLO can be found at the official NACLO site, http://www.nacloweb.org.

How can I register for firsr round?

Students who are interested can register at the NACLO registration site. The regular registration deadline (recommended) is January 23, 2019, 3pm. Onsite registration will be available on the morning of January 24, 2019, space permitting. Participation in the event is free.

Where is the Columbia University site for first (open) round?

Columbia University will hold the NACLO Competition Open round in Davis Auditorium (room 412) on the fouth floor, Schapiro Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research , which is located at 530 West 120th St. The building is reachable from the north end of the main campus of Columbia through the 4th floor. You can find directions on this page and Map of Columbia Campus with Directions

When should I arrive for the first (open) round?

The contest begins promptly at 10:00 AM EST and runs thee hours until 1:00 PM EST on Thursday, Janury 24, 2019. Please arrive early, at about 9:30 AM in order to have the instructions read to you. Students who arrive late are not allowed to have extra time to have instructions/ announcements repeated for them.

Where is the Columbia University site for second (invitational) round?

Columbia University will hold the NACLO Competition second round (invitational round) in the Natural Language Processing Lab, which is on the 7th floor of the Schapiro Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research (530 West 120th St).It is in the same building as the open round, but on the 7th floor, room right next to the elevators.

When should I arrive for the second (invitational) round?

The contest begins promptly at 9:00 AM EST and runs for four hours until 1:00 PM EST on Thursday, March 7, 2019. Please arrive early, at about 8:45 AM in order to have the instructions read to you. Students who arrive late are not allowed to have extra time to have instructions/ announcements repeated for them.

What should I study?

Some sample questions for practice are available here.

Who should I contact?

Please ask us any questions you might have. To ensure you receive prompt reply please email all of us listed under administrative contact below

• Administrative contact (smara at columbia dot edu, kathy at cs dot columbia dot edu)