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The date for the ninth Olympiads has been confirmed, and three new competition categories have been opened. While 750 students from 120 countries participated in the Olympiads last year, 1,000 finalists from 130 countries will participate this year. Generally held between the end of May and the beginning of June, the event will fall on June 15-30 this year, due to the general elections on June 12.
Last year’s slogan, “We are speaking the same language,” will be replaced with “One language, 7 billion people,” signifying the world uniting under one common language, while this year’s competitions will be held in Ankara, İstanbul, Konya and Bursa. Moreover, large-scale regional events will be organized in nearly 20 cities throughout Turkey. Turkey’s Kızılcahamam Asya Thermal Complex will again host the Turkish-speaking children of the world for the duration of their two-week stay.
Categories added to the Olympiads this year include picture and sound as well as an essay competition for foreign students studying in Turkey, raising the number of categories to 20. The theme for the picture competition will be “respecting sacred values.”
The difference between the new sound category and the singing competition is language. The songs in the singing competition will be in Turkish, while those in the sound category will be sung in students’ native tongues.
10,000 students prepare each year
Noting that preparations for the Olympiads take a year worldwide, Secretary-General of the International Turkish Language Olympiads Tuncay Öztürk said that “approximately 10,000 students train for the Turkish Olympiads -- which attract increasing attention and recognition each year -- all learning Turkish under the supervision of teachers.”
“Students, feeling the excitement of the Olympiads well before they reach Turkey, participate in closely contested qualifying rounds in order to make the finals,” he said. “Each student can only participate in the Olympiads once. Consequently, thousands of different students learn Turkish every year and gain a deeper understanding of our culture. A large number of participants watch these national finals from Turkey.”
The Turkish Olympiads in Turkey are the finals. By organizing their own national competitions, each country selects its finalists and sends them to Turkey. Students who competed in Olympiads in the past cannot participate a second time. The website www.turkceolimpiyatlari.org provides detailed information about the Olympiads
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