ADAPT’s All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad awarded 2020 European Language Label by Léargas

Posted on: 15 October 2020

ADAPT’s All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO) has been awarded the prestigious European Language Label (ELL) for the “AILO at Home” programme, which was initiated in response to the pandemic. The team accepted the award virtually this morning from Léargas.

“AILO at Home” presents information on lesser-known languages through social media and links to various related linguistic problem-solving puzzles. The project was created when secondary schools closed in March to maintain a channel of communication with AILO students, teachers, parents, and the general public.

The judges praised the programme as being “in a class of its own” and highlighted the “quantum leap” the “AILO at Home” project was able to achieve in the past few months. The “very successful transition to online AILO” recognises the team’s ability to successfully pivot to a remote setting during the difficult lockdown period.

The ADAPT Centre team will continue to develop AILO Online through free online problem-solving workshops that will run from November to January. They will help prepare students and teachers with strategies to get them ready for the AILO 2021 competition.

The next season will be able to be run completely online if it proves necessary, with students completing all parts of the competition from their own classrooms.