Hippo Competition

Hippo

INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE OLYMPIAD COMPETITION

About

Hippo INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE OLYMPIAD

Hippo Competition

The Olympiad is an international event which promotes learning English language, challenges students around the globe to compete in English language knowledge and improves the co-operation between teachers. It is open to students 6 – 19 years old from the whole world. The Olympiad will be run in three rounds: preliminary round, semi-final round and final round.The first round and the second round (10% of the highest scores from each participating test center in the first round) will be held within the students’ country. Hippo Global Association will select the winners of the second round to participate in the final round in Lido di Jesolo (Venezia), Italy in May 2020.

	1 st Hippo 2013	2nd Hippo 2014	3rd Hippo 2015	4th Hippo 2016	5th Hippo 2017	6th Hippo 2018	7th Hippo 2019
preliminary round participants	5000 students	11000 students	11300 students	11500 students	15500 students	22155 students	36000 students
Semifinal participants				2000 students	2200 students	2500 students	6173 students
Finalists	44 students	64 students	68 students	77 students	85 students	99 students	165 students

You can click the link to watch Hippo 2019 Highlights:

The objectives of HIPPO 8th INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE Olympiad

• The main goal is to create and nourish friendly relations, international understanding and a spirit of sporting competitiveness between young people interested in English language from all around the world.

• Developing language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing.

• Qualifying students to participate in the HIPPO 8th INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE OLYMPIAD.

• The Olympiad encourages the development of a shared sense of identity and integration, serves as a role model for young people living together as one community .

• Developing students' ability to think and analyze information in English.

• Establishing the importance of the English language and its use in dealing in any country in the world and linking it to daily life.

• Discovering the outstanding students in the English language to join them in specialized training programs to develop their skills in the English language.

HIPPO 8th INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE Olympiad

Regular and Special Categories

The participants will compete in 8 categories (6 regular* and 2 special**) based on the Common European Framework ( CEFR ) and will be taking Gatehouse Awards exams.

Regular Categories

Level	Age	Preliminary Round Level	Semi-final & Final Round Level
LITTLE HIPPO	Grade 1 & Grade 2	CEFR Pre A 1 Young Learners	CEFR A 1 Young Learners
HIPPO 1	Grade 3 & Grade 4	CEFR A 1 Young Learners	CEFR A 2 Young Learners
HIPPO 2	Grade 5 & Grade 6	CEFR A 1	CEFR A 2
HIPPO 3	Grade 7 & Grade 8	CEFR A 2	CEFR B 1
HIPPO 4	Grade 9 & Grade 10	CEFR B 1	CEFR B 2
HIPPO 5	Grade 11 & Grade 12	CEFR B 2	CEFR c 1

NB : The students of lower grades than the ones in the table can also compete if they feel prepared for the level. The age limit for the Olympiad is 19.

Special categories

Special categories are aimed at students who are considered bilingual according to the Hippo Olympiad regulations as well as for English/American international schools and the schools where the majority or all subjects are taught in English.

Level	Age	Preliminary Round Level	Semi-final & Final Round Level
HIPPO S1	From Grade 1 to Grade 7	CEFR B 2	CEFR C 1
HIPPO S2	From Grade 8 to Grade 12	CEFR C 1	CEFR C 2

Instructions of

HIPPO 8th INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE Olympiad

• Students enrolled in pre-university education can be enrolled from 6 – 19 years old.

• Paying the participation fee of 300 LE.

• Participation in the name of the school where the student is enrolled.

• The student is committed to the place and date of the test to be nominated.

• Tests are held in the schools of the main participating governorates, Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, with the exception of the governorates, which will have the number of participants for at least 100 students as a full examination committee.

Schedule of

HIPPO 8th INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE Olympiad

On Saturday 21st of September,2019

Start of registration

On Tuesday 31st of December,2019

End of registration

At the last week of January,2020

Notifying participating schools of the date and test centers

On Saturday 8th of February,2020

The Preliminary Round test ( in Egypt and Arab countries )

On Friday 28th of February,2020

Announcing the preliminary round results

On Saturday 14th of March,2020

The Semi-Final Round test ( in Egypt and Arab countries )

On Monday 6th of April,2020

Announcing the Semi-Final round results

From 15th to 17th May,2020

The Final Round test will be held in Lido di Jesolo (Venezia), Italy

Prizes

HIPPO 8th INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE Olympiad

• Certificates of participation for all participants in HIPPO 8th INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE Olympiad competition.

• Schools and their coordinators will receive a Certificate of Appreciation.

• All candidates get discounted prices for the US High School Dual Diploma Program.

• The winners of each level in all test centers will be awarded a diploma certificate

• The International Company selects the students with the best marks in the semi-final round to attend the final round exam in Italy

• Final round in Italy! All finalists and accompanying teachers get three-day half-board accommodation FREE OF CHARGE. ( 15-17/5/2020)

• All successful finalists will receive a Gatehouse Awards certificate.

• Winners of each category will receive a Mizzou K-12 Online High School course.

• Hippo 5 winner will receive a 15-day stay at the University of Missouri (SELF-DISCOVERY & CAREER EXPLORATION).

Test Samples

Category	Preliminary Round	GSE PRELIMINARY	Semi-final Round	Final Round	GSE SF & FINAL
LITTLE HIPPO	Cadets Stage 1 Reading	10 - 21	Cadets Stage 2 Reading	Cadets Stage 2	22 - 29
LITTLE HIPPO	Cadets Stage 1 Listening	10 - 21	Little Hippo Writing	all 4 skills	22 - 29
HIPPO 1	Cadets Stage 2 Reading	22 - 29	Cadets Stage 3 Reading	Cadets Stage 3	30 - 42
HIPPO 1	Cadets Stage 2 Listening	22 - 29	Hippo 1 Writing	all 4 skills	30 - 42
HIPPO 2	Reading Junior Classic A1	22 - 29	Reading Junior Classic A2	Junior Classic A2	30 - 42
HIPPO 2	Listening Junior Classic A1	22 - 29	Hippo 2 Writing	all 4 skills	30 - 42
HIPPO 3	Reading Junior Classic A2	30 - 42	Reading Classic B1	Classic B1	43 - 58
HIPPO 3	Listening Junior Classic A2	30 - 42	Hippo 3 Writing	all 4 skills	43 - 58
HIPPO 4	Reading Classic B1	43 - 58	Reading Classic B2	Classic B2	59 - 75
HIPPO 4	Listening Classic B1	43 - 58	Hippo 4 Writing	all 4 skills	59 - 75
HIPPO 5	Reading Classic B2	59 - 75	Reading Classic C1	Classic C1	76 - 84
HIPPO 5	Listening Classic B2	59 - 75	Hippo 5 Writing	all 4 skills	76 - 84
SPECIAL HIPPO 1	Reading Classic B2	59 - 75	Reading Classic C1	Classic C1	76 - 84
SPECIAL HIPPO 1	Listening Classic B2	59 - 75	Special Hippo 1 Writing	all 4 skills	76 - 84
SPECIAL HIPPO 2	Reading Classic C1	76 - 84	Reading Classic C2	Classic C2	85 - 90
SPECIAL HIPPO 2	Listening Classic C1	76 - 84	Special Hippo 2 Writing	all 4 skills	85 - 90

Common Questions

of HIPPO Competition

A: EduMeter Egypt. You can communicate with us through the contact details on the website.

A: Yes. EduMeter Egypt is responsible for organizing the HIPPO 8th INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE OLYMPIAD in Jordan, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman.

A: No, when developing the exam globally, we have considered all the curricula that exist for all stages of education worldwide.

A: The competition is organized in three rounds : The first round is the Preliminary Round includes all students wishing to participate . The second round is the Semi-final Round. The third round is the Final Round.

A: The tests for the preliminary round of the Olympiad will consist of three parts: a test of reading comprehension (multiple choice questions), a test of listening comprehension and a Use of English test.

A: Yes. The reading and the listening test samples will be available on the Olympiad website.

A: Certainly, The tests for the preliminary round of the Olympiad will consist of three parts: a test of reading comprehension (multiple choice questions), a test of listening comprehension and a Use of English test. The tests are the same for all the participants of a category. There is only one correct answer to every question.

A: The number of questions are different according to the test level as shown in the table below,

Test type	LITTLE HIPPO	HIPPO 1	HIPPO 2	HIPPO 3	HIPPO 4	HIPPO 5 & SPECIAL 1	HIPPO SPECIAL 2
READING	30 questions (1 point each)	30 questions (1 point each)	34 questions (1 point each)	34 questions (1 point each)	34 questions (1 point each)	40 questions (1 point each)	40 questions (1 point each)
Allowed Time	20 minutes	30 minutes	30 minutes	35 minutes	40 minutes	45 minutes	45 minutes
Listening	20 questions (1 point each)	20 questions (1 point each)	22 questions (1 point each)	22 questions (1 point each)	22 questions (1 point each)	22 questions (1 point each)	22 questions (1 point each)
Allwowed Time	20 minutes	20 minutes	20 minutes	20 minutes	20 minutes	20 minutes	30 minutes
Use of English	20 questions (1.5 point each)	20 questions (1.5 point each)	20 questions (1.5 point each)	20 questions (1.5 point each)	20 questions (1.5 point each)	20 questions (1.5 point each)	20 questions (1.5 point each)
Allowed Time	20 minutes	20 minutes	20 minutes	20 minutes	30 minutes	30 minutes	30 minutes

A: After the preliminary round tests have been marked, the top 10% of participating students from each participating zone will be invited to the semi-final round. The list of semi-finalists will be expanded to include all the students whose number of points is the same as the number of points of the last students in the first 10%.

A: The exam level for the semi-final round will be one CEFR level higher than the one in the preliminary round. The tests for the semi-final round of the Olympiad will consist of: a reading test, a writing test (30 questions) and an essay (except for Little Hippo).

A: The number of questions are different according to the test level as shown in the table below,

Test type	LITTLE HIPPO	HIPPO 1	HIPPO 2	HIPPO 3	HIPPO 4	HIPPO 5 & SPECIAL 1	HIPPO SPECIAL 2
READING	30 questions (1 point each)	40 questions (1 point each)	34 questions (1 point each)	34 questions (1 point each)	40 questions (1 point each)	40 questions (1 point each)	40 questions (1 point each)
Allowed Time	20 minutes	30 minutes	30 minutes	35 minutes	40 minutes	45 minutes	45 minutes
Writing	30 questions (1.5 point each)	*free-writing task (essay) + 30 questions (1.5 point each)	*free-writing task (essay) + 30 questions (1.5 point each)	*free-writing task (essay) + 30 questions (1.5 point each)	*free-writing task (essay) + 30 questions (1.5 point each)	*free-writing task (essay) + 30 questions (1.5 point each)	*free-writing task (essay) + 30 questions (1.5 point each)
Allwowed Time	45 minutes	45 minutes	45 minutes	45 minutes	45 minutes	45 minutes	45 minutes

The essay will be assessed only in case two or more candidates have the same scores on both the reading and the writing test. The essay should be (100 – 200 words depending on the chosen category) .

A: In the final round of the Olympiad, the candidates will be taking a Gatehouse Awards exam, all 4 skills included ( Reading , Writing , Listening and Speaking ) . The test samples / past papers are available on The Website. The exam level for the final round will be one CEFR level higher than the one in the preliminary round that is the same as the semi-final round test.

A: No. There aren’t any negative marks.

A: No, this global contest is designed to consider all levels of students, by grading the difficulty of the questions, and considering the distribution of the number of questions to suit the levels of all students.

A: The tests are designed based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, and abbreviated in English as CEFR or CEFRL.

A: CEFRL is an abbreviation of the “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment”. In language teaching, different European countries used many different syllabuses. So, the Council of Europe decided to create a Framework, it describes how people can use the language.

A : The "Global Scales" in CEFRL have three levels, and each level is divided into two stages :-
1: Basic User ( A )
A1 : beginner
A2 : elementary
2: Independent User
B1 : intermediate ( B )
B2 : upper intermediate
3: Proficient User ( C )
C1 : Effective Operational Proficiency or advanced
C2 : Mastery or proficiency.
For each level, the CEFRL describes what a learner can do in the four skills : reading, listening, speaking and writing.

A: The special categories are aimed at students who are considered bilingual according to the Hippo Olympiad regulations (the ones who were born or have lived and attended school for at least 3 years in an English-speaking country as well as those who live in a non-English speaking country but attend English/American International school ) as well as the schools where all subjects are taught in English. These students can compete in one of the special two categories.

A: The test time is determined according to each task in each level.

A: No. The test is paper-based multiple choice.

A: Yes,he could. The students of lower grades than the ones in the table can also compete if they feel prepared for the level. The age limit for the Olympiad is 19 or as long as the students are in high school.

A: Upon enrollment, the schools that meet the governing criteria are identified.

A: The school will be notified of its selection as a test center by sending an email to the school.

A: There are many benefits:
• Honoring the best schools participating in the contest.
• Placing the school logo on the contest website.
• Recording the participation of the school in a global contest.
• Recoginising the school level compared to the level of other schools locally, and the level of students globally in English language.