Israeli Linguistics Olympiad

18/08/2026

In the coming school year, we are planning to offer linguistics classes for three age groups: 10–11, 12–13, and 14–18. The classes are planned to be online, but if there is enough interest, we may also be able to form an in-person group in Jerusalem.

If you are interested in principle, please sign up using the link in the comments — signing up does not commit you to anything, it will help us understand how many people would like to take part.

We are planning to start classes right after Sukkot, on October 9. The price is 80 NIS per hour per participant: in case of financial difficulties, let us know. In September, we would like to speak with each participant on Zoom so that we could match the children by level and interests.

By the way, on October 9 (God willing!), as part of the new Linguistics Club project at MBHS International (Mae Boyar IB) in Jerusalem, we will hold our first free introductory lecture on linguistics, including some simple problem-solving. The lecture will be in English.

Save the date and come join us!

Photo (c) Maria Molina, an inscription in Luwian in Central Anatolia, Turkiye

18/08/2026

I’ve been looking through the numbers for the Israeli linguistics team. And the first thing that needs to be said, of course, is this: we were there. The Israeli flag was on the international stage, our students became part of this wonderfully crazy, high-energy event, and they did very well. Much better, in fact, than one might have expected from a team some of whose members only found out what linguistics problems were last autumn.

That means our training strategy made sense and produced results. We need to keep going!

For those interested, I’ll post links to the official results page in the comments. For now, I’ll just note that Israel ranked 35th out of 65 teams participating in the 2026 International Linguistics Olympiad in Bucharest.

Olga Besova, with a score of 60.7, won a silver medal in the individual contest. Maayan, Marta, and Seva fell just short of Honourable Mentions, and it is worth stressing that they were very close. As a reminder, this year Olya won gold, and Marta bronze, at the Asia Pacific Linguistics Olympiad, while Marta and Olya shared gold at the Israeli national round. So the team certainly has plenty to be proud of.

It is also worth pointing out that winning a medal at the International Linguistics Olympiad is noticeably harder than at many other international school Olympiads. At the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), for example, medals are awarded to about half of the participants (2024 data), while at the Biology and Chemistry Olympiads the proportion is even higher. The IOL awards medals to only about one third of the participants.

And the new season is already just around the corner.

As usual, we will hold the selection round in late October or early November, so keep an eye out for announcements.

In the photo: the whole team together with team leader Julia Panchenko and observers Lev Svetlakov and Leonid Maslennikov.

14/08/2026

For those who would like to attend our linguistic classes in the academic year 2026-2027 -- please fill out the form in the comments.
It is a general interest form, so that we could inform you about all the details without necessity of following this page.

01/08/2026

Olga Besova - silver medal at the International Linguistics Olympiad!

First time that the Israeli Linguistics team goes home with silver.

We are so proud of you guys!

01/08/2026

🔴 Watch the IOL 2026 Awards Ceremony live! 🏆🌍

The Awards Ceremony of the International Linguistics Olympiad 2026 will be streamed live today from the Bucharest National Opera.

🕑 14:00–17:00 (Bucharest time)
📺 Watch the livestream on the page of the “Iorgu Iordan – Alexandru Rosetti” Institute of Linguistics:

👉 https://www.facebook.com/iordan.rosetti

Join us as we celebrate the outstanding achievements of the world’s young linguists! 🎉

English
Reseach Institute of Linguistics
Romanian Academy

Română
Institut de cercetare, lingvisti

31/07/2026

This is the problem our guys got for the team contest.
The Teotitlan del Valle Zapotec language that belongs to the Western Tlacolula Valley dialect chain in the Oto-Manguean family.

31/07/2026

Today the Israeli team is participating in the team contest. The team got their problem and is working on it together.
Let them win!
Am Israel Hai!

30/07/2026

Between the contests, the IOL participants went to explore Romania.

29/07/2026

By the way, did you know that this is the first year ever when Hebrew is one of the languages of the International Linguistics Olympiad?
Last year, in Taiwan, the only Hebrew native speaker from the Israeli team, Tamar Haleva, chose English as a language of contest. And all the two years before, in Brazil and in Bansko, the Israeli team was Russian-speaking.

Maayan Bar-Helmer is the first person to get the problems in Hebrew in the history of the IOL! The translations were made by Tamar Haleva — our team member from last year, now graduated and actively helping with Hebrew translations for IOL and APLO.

The Israeli Linguistics Olympiad is an educational initiative that involves Israeli high-school students who are interested in linguistics.