News and Updates

Houstonfest Scholarships -  winners announced!

Changes and updates for 2022 including procedures for online contest

State Promo Video Contest

"Texas State German Contest at 40" newsletter series (full of tips for contest prep and Pass auf! study material)

"Leidenschaft der Aussprache" Pronunciation Contest

Scholarships at State

Contest Promo Video #1 (students from one school tell why they love contest)

Contest Promo Video #2 (one student tells why she loves contest)

Teacher-to-Teacher Tips

Tips for Pair Discussion

Photo Gallery

Arrival at Heights High School

Lunch options

Daily log of changes to state-qualifier list

Important Dates

Sat., Jan. 15, 2022, 11:59 p.m.:  Houstonfest registration spreadsheet due for regular price of $10/student (payment does not have to be mailed until 1/24).

Tue., Jan. 18, 2022, 4:00 p.m.:  Registration opens for pronunciation contest "Leidenschaft der Aussprache" (teachers who submit a Houstonfest registration by the regular deadline will receive a link to register for this special contest)

Mon., Jan. 24, 2022, 11:59 p.m.:  Houstonfest registration spreadsheet due for late price of $12/student. Deadline to postmark Houstonfest payment.

Wed., Feb. 2, 2022, 8:00 p.m.:  Houstonfest changes (adds, drops, substitutions) due. After this point, no more changes will be allowed.

Sat., Feb. 5, 2022:  Houstonfest (virtual) -  submissions of art and recordings due by 9:00 a.m., some events conducted live via Zoom

Tue., Feb. 8, 2022, 11:59 p.m.:  Remote Houstonfest judging ends

Fri., Feb. 11, 2022, 4:45 p.m.:  Houstonfest results announced via live-stream (see Results page for a recording of the awards show)

Wed., Feb. 16, 2022, 11:59 p.m.:  State online registration due for "early bird" price of $10/student (payment does not have to be mailed until 2/18).

Fri., Feb. 18, 2022, 11:59 p.m.:  State online registration due for regular price of $12/student. Also, Mary El-Beheri Memorial Scholarship applications due. Deadline to postmark State payment.

Wed., Feb. 23, 2022, 8:00 p.m.:  Deadline extended: Entries in promotional video contest due to State director Jennifer Christianson.

Sat., Feb. 26, 2022:  40th Annual Texas State German Contest (virtual) -submissions of art and recordings due by 9:00 a.m., some events conducted live via Zoom (ask your teacher for the sheet with all the links!)

Tue., Mar. 1, 2022, 11:59 p.m.:  Remote State judging ends

Sat., Mar. 5, 2022, 11:59 p.m.:  Houstonfest Scholarship applications due. State awards video released.

Fri., Mar. 11, 2022:  Gail Cope Scholarship applications due.

Sat., April 30, 2022:  Gail Cope Teacher Grant applications due.

The 2022 contest will be held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, most of the Written Tests will not be offered this year. The only Written Test that will be offered in 2022 is Timed Writing, and exceptionally, it will be offered at Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 instead of usually only at Levels 1 and 2. Tweaks to the rules for Timed Writing and additional procedures for the 2022 online contest environment can be found by clicking "Changes and updates for 2022" in the column to the left.

Rules:  Written Testing Events

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:

1 contestant per school per level (usually Levels 1 & 2 only, but exceptionally for 2022, Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4).  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.

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.