Vocab Express opens enrolment for National Language Championship 2013

Vocab Express, the online language vocabulary learning application, has opened enrolment for the Vocab Express National Championship 2013. In the search for the UK’s best young linguists, the free, week-long championship for all secondary schools in the UK and Ireland will take place 6 March to 12 March 2013.

More than 14,000 young people took part in the 2012 championship that inspired and motivated them in learning another language. Students from participating schools can test their vocabulary online, scoring points for correct answers towards their own individual and their school’s position on real-time leaderboards.

Schools and individuals taking part in the National Championship can engage with a range of languages including French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Arabic, Urdu, Latin and new for 2013, Japanese and Russian.

A tiered system of awards will celebrate the achievements of schools, and cash prizes sponsored by Oxford University Press will be awarded to the winning students. Awards to be won include the following:

• The Challenge Cup: divided into three leagues based on the student numbers registered at each school, with a small, medium and large category. The award will be presented to the school that has the highest cumulative score of all students taking part.
• The Genius Cup: awarded to the school with the overall highest cumulative score of its top 25 students.
• Championship Gold, Silver and Bronze level student awards: issued for the top-placed individual students overall and in each language.

Winners of the 2012 Vocab Express European Day of Languages Championship, Dartford Grammar School for Girls commented: “The Championship appealed to a competitive side for languages we didn’t know (students) had! Everyone was talking about it, which helped increase awareness of languages across the school and gave a real sense of community spirit. We will without doubt be competing next year and would definitely recommend it to other schools.”

Justin Sycamore, managing director, Vocab Express adds: “The Vocab Express National Championship is designed to be an exciting, innovative way to help young people learn to love languages! Students nationwide can demonstrate, and simultaneously improve, their knowledge of a foreign language. We are very pleased that we will be able to reward students for their achievements with prizes thanks to the support of Oxford University Press. Now we are just excited to see what the results will be!”

The Vocab Express National Championship is free to enter for all secondary schools in the UK and Ireland. Current Vocab Express subscribers will be automatically enrolled.

January 2013