Bulletins from the club.
IOLC Junior or Senior? Choosing the Right 2027 Entry Level on the China Route
The IOLC offers Junior and Senior levels with no grade restriction, but only Senior can advance to the IOL international stage. This article explains what each level demands, how to decide using past-paper performance, and why the choice is a preparation decision rather than a permanent label.
Linguistics Olympiad Alongside IB, A-Level or AP (2026-27): A Transfer Map for International-School Students
Where linguistics olympiad skills show up in IB, A-Level and AP work, how a result and your coursework corroborate each other, and a 2026-27 calendar that fits school.
Using AI for Linguistics Olympiad Prep in 2026-27: A Solve-First Protocol That Keeps the Skill Yours
Chatbots now solve many olympiad-style puzzles, yet no device is allowed in the IOL room. What the research shows, and a solve-first protocol for 2026-27 prep.
IOL 2026 Problems Without Spoilers: What the Five Bucharest Problems Demand and How to Sit Them as a 2027 Mock
Central Yup’ik, Yélî Dnye, Iquito, Sakurabiat and Komnzo: what each IOL 2026 problem demands, with no rules given away, and how to sit the set as a timed mock.
When Two Analyses Both Fit the Data: How to Choose, Test and Hedge at a Linguistics Olympiad (2026)
When two rules both fit the data, you are not stuck. Four tests, a worked vowel-harmony case and a hedge template that still earns marks at a linguistics olympiad.
Glossing, Tables and Legible Rules: The Answer-Sheet Habits That Protect Your Marks (2026)
Your marker only sees the page. Three-line glosses, checkable rule statements and a clean paradigm table are how a correct analysis actually turns into marks.
Sound-Change and Reconstruction Problems at the Linguistics Olympiad: How to Work Backwards from Cognate Sets (2026)
Reconstruction problems hand you related words in two languages and ask what changed. Here is the correspondence-set method, worked step by step on a small invented family.
From Three Hours to Six: What Actually Changes Between a National Round Paper and an IOL Paper
A national open round gives you roughly 25 minutes a problem; the IOL gives you over an hour. Four things that change when the clock triples, and what to train differently.