Language Puzzles

Kristin Taveira
Can you use this hint…


...to solve this language puzzle?


FlexSchool kids did!
There was instant rapport between FlexSchool students and visiting Yale University linguistics student Evan Hochstein, who joined us virtually from Austin, Texas on April 24, 2020. 
Evan challenged the kids with several puzzles of the sort one might encounter at NACLO (North American Computational Linguistics Open competition) -- an Olympiad-style contest for high schoolers -- and our kids were up to the task!

In fact, some students dove into the puzzles before they’d even received full instructions! 

When Evan, who studies the ancient language of Egyptian, asked if anyone else had a favorite foreign language, he found a room full of kindred spirits:  Our virtual classroom just bubbled over with enthusiasm for an astonishing array of languages, including Japanese, Gaelic, Norwegian, ASL (American Sign Language), Spanish, Indonesian, Mandarin, French, German, Swedish and Latin!

After several highly engaging language puzzles, one student loved the session so much that he spent the afternoon creating his own language! 

Many thanks to Evan for this inspiring and memorable event.
If you'd like to give it a try and see how you did, the answer key is here.
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