Houstonfest

News and Updates

Important Dates

Feb. 10, 2012: State online registration due by 11:59 p.m. in order to qualify for regular price of $10 per student. Online registrations submitted after this point incur the late registration fee of $12 per student.

Feb. 16, 2012: State payment check must be postmarked

Feb. 25, 2012: Texas State German Contest, University of Texas at Austin

Mar. 2, 2012: Houstonfest Scholarship applications due

Mar. 9, 2012: Gail Cope Scholarship applications due

Jan. 14, 2013: Houstonfest e-mail registration due by 11:59 p.m. in order to qualify for regular price of $10 per student

Jan. 21, 2013: Last day to submit late registration ($12 per student) and last day to postmark payment check

Jan. 29, 2013: Proof sheet of entrants sent to teachers for final verification and changes

Jan. 31, 2013, 8:00 p.m.: Deadline to submit changes (adds, drops, substitutions). After this point, no more additions or substitutions will be allowed in individual events. Substitution of students in group events may continue in emergency situations.

Feb. 2, 2013: Houstonfest

Rules: Oral Testing Events

Directed Dialogue:

Two entries per school per level: Level 1, Level 2. The judges will ask the contestant questions on his/her level of understanding (things generally covered in first-year and second-year textbooks). Judges will grade on pronunciation, degree of fluency, knowledge of topic, and grammatical correctness. Download critique sheet.

Extemporaneous Speaking:

Two entries per school per level: Level 3, Level 4, Advantaged Level. The contestant will draw a topic at the beginning of his/her time slot. The topics will not be technical and will pertain to daily life. Different contestants will receive different topics, but the topics will be of approximately equal difficulty. After drawing a topic, the contestant will have a maximum of 10 minutes to prepare. He/she may write during this time, but no books or dictionaries may be used in preparation, and NO notes, even those made during the preparation period, may be used in the speech. Speech time: Level 3, 1-3 minutes; Level 4, 2-4 minutes; Advantaged Level, 3-5 minutes.

Download Level 3-4 critique sheet.

Download Advantaged critique sheet.

Sight Reading:

Two entries per school per level: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4. Contestants read aloud a prose selection that they have not seen before. The contestant may look at the prose for up to 1 minute before reading it for the judges. The judges will stop the contestant after 2 minutes, regardless of how far he/she has read into the selection. Download critique sheet.

When is the next Houstonfest?

Saturday,

February 2, 2013,

8:00 a.m.

Where is Houstonfest?

Probably back at its customary location at Lanier Middle School in Houston.

Link to Texas State German Contest