Vocab Express, the online vocabulary learning application dedicated to making language learning a highly motivating and rewarding experience for students, has announced the winners of its inaugural League of Champions 2014.
From 25 September to 1 October, secondary school students across the UK, and as far as the Caribbean, Oman, India and Brunei, put their linguistic skills to the test as they battled it out to score points in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Mandarin, Japanese, Russian, Urdu, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin. A staggering 34 million points were scored in the free language championship by almost 33,000 students from more than 200 schools, making it the largest Vocab Express championship ever.
Through a real-time school league table and individual student scoreboard, young linguists across the world were able to track their position, spurred on as they saw their points rack up. The main awards won were the Genius Cup, an award based on the top 25 student scores at each school so that different size schools were able to compete equally; and the Challenge Cups, based on all student scores at each school.
The awards won were as follows:
| Award | Winning School |
| Overall Genius Cup1 | Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School |
| Overall Challenge Cup Piccolo2 | Wallington High School for Girls |
| Overall Challenge Cup Medio3 | Streatham and Clapham High School |
| Overall Challenge Cup Grande4 | Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School |
| The Genius Cup: French | Belper School and Sixth Form Centre |
| The Genius Cup: Spanish | Nonsuch High School for Girls |
| The Genius Cup: German | Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School |
| The Genius Cup: Italian | Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School |
| The Genius Cup: Portuguese | Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School |
| The Genius Cup: Polish | Rugby High School |
| The Genius Cup: Mandarin | Manchester Grammar School |
| The Genius Cup: Japanese | Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School |
| The Genius Cup: Russian | Manchester Grammar School |
| The Genius Cup: Urdu | Jack Hunt School |
| The Genius Cup: Arabic | Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School |
| The Genius Cup: Hebrew | Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School |
| The Genius Cup: Latin | Streatham and Clapham High School |
1 awarded to the school with the highest cumulative score of its top 25 students
2 all student scores – up to 150 registered students
3 all student scores – between 151 and 500 registered students
4 all student scores – more than 501 registered students
Having won the overall Genius Cup, the Challenge Cup Grande as well as Genius Cups in German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic and Hebrew, Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar School was the runaway winner this year.
Gillian Cowie, head of modern foreign languages and assistant head of sixth form at Littleover Community School in Derby, said: “As a new recruit to Vocab Express, I’m so impressed with how fantastic the League of Champions was. Our students really embraced it and some of the least likely individuals became truly obsessed with moving up the league table, as well as contributing to the school’s position. What a great way to learn key vocabulary! It was a great motivator for learning languages and we look forward to distributing certificates when we get them in next week's assembly!”
Justin Sycamore, managing director of Vocab Express adds: “We are thrilled by the international appeal that this year’s League of Champions 2014 has had. At Vocab Express, we share the tremendous enthusiasm for languages that we have seen during the championship and aim to make language learning exciting and relevant for young people, equipping them with the right skills to live and work in a global society. We'll soon be announcing the dates for our next championship, the Global Challenge 2015 which will take place in March and we hope to see even more schools taking part worldwide!”
October 2014
