News and Updates
Special Rules and Procedures for the 2021 Remote Contest
Houstonfest Scholarships
Scholarships at State
Teacher-to-Teacher Tips
Tips for Pair Discussion
Photo Gallery
2014
Arrival at Heights High School
Lunch options
Plays will be performed at Houstonfest
Daily log of changes to
state-qualifier list
Important Dates
Sat., Jan. 16, 2021: Regular deadline to submit registration
spreadsheet in order to pay regular price of $10/student (payment does not have
to be mailed until 1/25).
Mon., Jan. 25, 2021: Final deadline to submit registration spreadsheet
for late price of $12/student and deadline to postmark payment.
Mon., Feb. 1, 2021: Proof sheet of entries sent to teachers for final
verification and changes.
Wed., Feb. 3, 2021,
8:00 p.m.: Deadline to submit changes (adds,
drops, substitutions). After this point, no more additions or
substitutions will be allowed.
Sat., Feb. 6, 2021:
Houstonfest (100% remote): some events conducted
"live" (online) that day, all others submitted digitally by 9:00 a.m.
Sat., Feb. 13, 2021:
Houstonfest online awards ceremony, time TBA.
Wed., Feb. 17, 2021:
State online registration due by 11:59 p.m.
for "early bird" price of
$10/student (payment does not have to be mailed yet). Also, deadline to apply for the
Mary El-Beheri Memorial Scholarship
and to submit entries for
promotional video contest
to State director Jennifer Christianson.
Mon., Feb. 22, 2021: State online registration due by 11:59 p.m. at
regular price of
$12/student.
Sat., Feb. 27, 2021: Texas State German
Contest (100% remote): some events conducted "live" (online) that day, all
others submitted digitally by 9:00 a.m.
Sat., Mar. 6, 2021:
State online awards ceremony, time TBA. Also,
Houstonfest Scholarship
applications due.
Fri., Mar. 12, 2021:
Gail Cope
Scholarship applications due.
Fri., April 30, 2021:
Gail Cope Teacher Grant applications due.
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Rules:
Written Testing
Events
Below are the "normal" rules
for Houstonfest in a non-pandemic year. To preserve a record of the normal
rules, alterations to the rules for the 2021 remote contest will not be
reflected here but rather documented at this link: Special
Rules and Procedures for the 2021 Remote Contest. In a nutshell,
however: Unfortunately, no written tests will be offered in 2021 except
Timed Writing (which HAS been permanently adopted statewide after we piloted it
last year!).
Notes 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 $.50. Scantron answer sheets will be used for
all tests except Spelling and Timed Writing.
-
The written tests (except the Advantaged Speaker Test
and the new event Timed Writing) will all be given
during 9 testing windows: 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, 1:00, 1:30.
Thus, the written tests start one hour after the rest of the competition and continue after all other events have finished.
Students who are signed up for a lot of events can get their non-testing
events done in the morning and take advantage of the four post-noon testing
sessions to wrap up their testing events.
-
Tips on preparing for the written tests
(revised on January 26, 2015)
Advantaged Speaker Test:
3 entries per school (Advantaged
Speakers only). Multiple-choice, scantron test (100 questions, 20 each
in the areas of culture, grammar, listening comprehension, reading
comprehension, and vocabulary) plus spelling test (20 questions). The test will be given ONE time
on the day of contest and will take approximately 90 minutes. It must be
completed in one sitting.
Culture:
3 entries per
school per level (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4). Multiple-choice, scantron test. The level
3 and 4 tests will be in German.
Grammar:
3 entries
per school per
level (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4). Multiple-choice, scantron test.
Listening Comprehension:
3 entries
per school per
level (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4). Multiple-choice, scantron test. Listen to recorded items in German and answer questions about
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:
3 entries
per school per
level (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4). Multiple-choice, scantron test. The test will consist of questions about a series of short
readings. Questions will generally be in German.
Spelling:
2 entries
per school per
level (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4). 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. 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.
Timed Writing (piloted at Houstonfest
in 2020, added at the other regional contests and at State
starting in 2021):
1 contestant per
school per level (Levels 1 & 2 only). The contestants will have 25 minutes
to write a response to a prompt that is appropriate for their level of German.
All contestants in each level will have the same prompt, but the prompts will
change from year to year. The contestants may not use any print or electronic
aids (phones, dictionaries, etc.). Either one or two writing sessions will be
offered early in the day to allow sufficient time for judging. (In 2020,
two sessions were offered: 8:30-9:00 and 9:00-9:30.)
Download critique sheet.
Vocabulary:
3 entries
per school per
level (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4). Multiple-choice, scantron test. The test will consist of items in which you choose the
English equivalent for a given German word, choose the German equivalent for a
given English word, choose the German opposite of a given German word, choose
the German synonym of a given German word, determine which item does not belong
in a group, determine which item fits into a given category, and choose the word
that best completes a sentence. Other formats are possible
as well.
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When is the next Houstonfest?
Saturday,
February 6, 2021 Where
is Houstonfest?
Due to COVID-19, the 2021 contest will be conducted entirely REMOTELY.
Link to Texas
State German Contest
Texas
State German Contest on Facebook |