New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): A love for decoding rare languages and decrypting clues has led a team of four young boys from India to win one gold, one bronze medal, two individual honourable mentions, as well as an honorable mention for the entire team at the 22nd International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) held from July 20-July 27 in Taipei, Taiwan.
The Indian team was led by Prof. Parameswari Krishnamurthy of the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H). They were accompanied by an observer, Anshul Krishnadas Bhagwat, an undergraduate researcher at IIITH and a past IOL participant himself.
The youngsters in the team included 15-year-old Vaageesan Surendran (from Chennai), 12-year-old Advay Misra (from New Delhi), 18-year-old Nandagovind Anurag (from Bengaluru), and 15-year-old Siripurapu Bhuvan (from Hyderabad).
At the Olympiad, Vaageesan Surendran won the Gold medal, Advay Misra bagged the Bronze and Nandagovind Anurag and Siripurapu Bhuvan were both awarded Honourable Mentions.
The International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) is one of the twelve International Science Olympiads and brings together secondary school students and experts from various fields of linguistics. As per the website, the competition challenges participants to analyze the grammar, structure, culture, and history of different languages and to demonstrate their linguistic abilities through problem-solving challenges. Contrary to general perception, no prior knowledge of linguistics or languages is required, as even the most challenging problems only require logical ability, patient work, and a willingness to think outside the box.
This year, a total of 227 contestants from 57 teams representing 42 countries and territories competed in IOL 2025. The performance at Taipei has marked many firsts for Team India. It is the first time since India’s debut at the IOL in 2009 that each member of the team has won an award.
“All of them got some kind of recognition. It is also after a gap of a few years that we are winning a gold. The last time was in 2021 when the contest was held online,’ mentioned Prof. Krishnamurthy, adding that it is also the first time that the team as a whole has won an honourable mention too.
Vaageesan Surendran, who bagged the gold medal, is an 11th grader who is currently preparing for the JEE. His path to the IOL was paved with a passion for languages. Fluent in English, Mandarin, Spanish and Hindi, along with his mother tongue, Tamil, his linguistic prowess is accentuated by his ability to read the scripts of 34 different languages.
One of the goals of the competition is to promote awareness and understanding of the diverse cultures and histories of different languages. “We all got to meet new people from around the world and make new friends,” affirmed Vaageesan.
Twelve-year-old Advay was perhaps the youngest ever participant at the IOL. Hitting the headlines is not novel for this pre-teen who holds the unique distinction of being the Asian Science Bee champion three years in a row. He has also won the Academic Bee championship twice consecutively in 2023 and 2024. As an 8-year-old, the child prodigy was named one of the brightest kids in the world by Johns Hopkins University, USA and is a member of their Centre for Talented Youth. At the age of five, he could recognise the flags and maps of all the countries in the world.
“Participating in IOL meant an opportunity to represent India, one of the world’s most linguistically diverse countries, in an event that celebrates the science of language”, said Advay. One of the most exciting moments during their time in Taiwan was releasing sky lanterns in Shifen with messages. “We wrote those messages in our native languages, presenting breathtaking linguistic diversity,” he said.
Like a vast majority of the general public, Bhuvan said that while growing up, he assumed Linguistics was all about learning lots of languages and hence was never attracted to it. “This was all until I found out about the IOL. It opened my eyes to the wonders of language and how Linguistics transcends simply memorising languages. Even then, the IOL is so much more than just a contest; it’s an opportunity to meet incredible individuals and make lifelong friendships,” he stated.
Incoming freshman at St. John’s College, University of Oxford, Nandagovind couldn’t agree more. “While the IOL was an opportunity for me to represent India, it was also an opportunity to experience the world,” he declared, adding, “The interactions I had with the other teams were what really made IOL special to me.”
The contest is conducted in two formats: as an individual competition where each contestant is given a problem set comprising 5 separate problems that have to be solved over a period of 6 hours. Each answer needs to be supported by a detailed explanation, which in turn requires a systematic summary of the facts discovered by the contestants. The other category is the team competition, where contestants collaborate to solve a single problem that lasts over 4 hours.
The road to IOL begins with the Panini Linguistics Olympiad (PLO) in India, which serves as the national selection round for its international counterpart. The PLO which is open to all middle-school and high school students (up to grade 12) has 2 selection rounds. The first round is conducted across multiple cities of the country, and top participants of round 1 are eligible to participate in the Asia Pacific Linguistics Olympiad (APLO). Top participants of round 1 are also invited to attend a Linguistics camp in Hyderabad hosted by IIITH, where they get to learn key tips and tricks.
The four-member team for IOL is selected based on performance in the PLO and the camp. There was also a pre-departure training camp held for the final four at IIITH.
The four winners definitely agree on the “having fun” part of the advice they’d like to share with future participants. “You learn just so much during late nights with new friends from all around the world as you do during the contests, so cherish every moment of your journey irrespective of the outcome,” recommended Nandagovind. “The IOL is a close-knit, welcoming community that readily accepts newcomers into its fold,” observed Advay. (ANI)
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