News and Updates

Daily log of changes to state-qualifier list

Houstonfest Scholarships

Gail Cope Scholarships at State

Scholarships for winning research papers at State

Changes taking effect in 2012

New venue for 2012 - Clements HS

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Concession stand at Houstonfest

Plays will be performed at Houstonfest

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:  Written Testing Events

Note for all contestants in written testing:

You are responsible for bringing as many No. 2 pencils as you may need to take these tests.  If you forget to bring your own pencils, you may buy one at the contest for $.25. Scantron answer sheets will be used for all tests except Spelling.

Tips on preparing for the written tests

Culture:

Three entries per school per level:  Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4.  Multiple-choice, scantron test.  All materials will be taken from AMSCO: Level One (Erstes Buch); AMSCO: Level Two (1985); Komm mit! (I, II, and III) and any or all sources listed under the Pass auf! category. The level 3 and 4 tests will be in German.

Grammar:

Three entries per school per level:  Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4.  Multiple-choice, scantron test.  See description of Culture test for the sources to be used.  Add:  Any texts or books you may have.

Listening Comprehension:

Two entries per school per level:  Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4.  Multiple-choice, scantron test.  Listen to recorded items in German and answer questions about the content of the information you heard.  Levels 1 and 2 take the same test and Levels 3 and 4 take the same test, but they are ranked separately for each level.

Reading Comprehension:

Three entries per school per level:  Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4.  Multiple-choice, scantron test.  The test will consist of questions about a series of short readings.  Questions will generally be in German.
 

Spelling:

Two entries per school per level:  Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4.  Levels 1 and 2 take the same test and Levels 3 and 4 take the same test, but they are ranked separately for each level.  A series of words will be called out in German (the speaker will say the word, its part of speech, a sentence using the word, and the word again).  The words will probably be recorded, not called live.  Contestants write the called words on their answer sheets.  Spelling (including umlauts) and capitalization (nouns capitalized, other parts of speech not capitalized) must be perfect in order to receive credit for a given item.  Spelling lists are based on the glossaries in the back of all German textbooks.

Vocabulary:

Three entries per school per level:  Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4.  Multiple-choice, scantron test.  Vocabulary will be taken from approved textbooks on the appropriate level. The test will consist mostly of items in which you choose the correct English meaning for a given German word, but other formats are possible as well.