Welcome to NACLO at Northeastern!

What is NACLO?

NACLO, the North American Computational Linguistics Open, is a competition where pre-university students solve linguistic puzzles. Participation is free and does NOT require having any prior knowledge in linguistics, foreign languages, coding or computers – all of the puzzles can be solved through analytical reasoning!

If you want to learn more about linguistics, foreign languages, writing systems, etc., then NACLO could be the competition for you! NACLO winners are eligible to compete in the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL).

Dates and Times

The Open Round will take place on January 23, 2025, from 10:00am-1:00pm at 440 Egan Research Center.

If you advance, the Invitational Round will take place on March 13, 2025, from 9:00am-1:00pm.

Please arrive 30-45 minutes early so that you can start exactly on time. Extra time is NOT allowed, and instructions CANNOT be read for late participants.

Eligibility

To participate in NACLO, you must . . .

be younger than 20 as of July 2025
not have been enrolled as a full-time college or university student
be a citizen of the US or Canada, OR be a student at a secondary school in the US or Canada
be available during the competition times
fill out this consent form and email it to h.volchonok@northeastern.edu

Organizing Host

Henry Volchonok

Program Assistant, Linguistics

Henry Volchonok graduated from Northeastern University in 2022 with a BS in Linguistics.

Any questions regarding participation in NACLO or Northeastern University can be directed to h.volchonok@northeastern.edu.