Objective
Telugu Maatlaata ® is a program of SiliconAndhra ManaBadi which aims to promote interest in and love for Telugu language among children of the diaspora by sparking their spirit of friendly competition through exciting, fun, popular games with a Telugu language twist!
We strongly believe that multiple co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, along with classroom teaching, will improve the love for a language among students. Telugu Maatlaata has established itself as one of the most successful extra-curricular activities for Telugu children. A quick look at Telugu Maatlaata over the years (see: History) shows its popularity!
We all know that, given a choice between learning a lessons and playing a game, kids will always choose a game! Telugu Maatlaata is our way of incorporating learning in the form of a game contest. We are confident that, just by participating in Telugu Maatlaata games, kids will improve their Telugu vocabulary and knowledge. We are convinced that kids who prepare for the games contest will develop a love for the language and improve their skill levels in reading, writing, speaking and understanding.
Eligibility
The following are the eligibility criteria for Telugu Maatlaata for the current year, 2024.
- Telugu Maatlaata ® is open to all children from Telugu-speaking families who are currently enrolled in schools in North America during the 2023-2024 academic year.
- Registrants don't need to be students of SiliconAndhra ManaBadi.
- Registering children must fall into the two age categories explained below, based on the child’s age as of January 1st, 2024:
- Budatalu: 5-9 yrs
- Sisindrilu: 10-14 yrs.
- Winners from previous years' Finals in a given game category are NOT eligible to participate again in any age group in that game category. Internationals Runners-up and other Internationals participants are eligible to participate again in that game category.
- Contestants and their parents MUST accept the Technology Rules and General Rules of the games when they register. These rules are meant to ensure that the games are held in the spirit of friendly fairness and friendly competition.
Register and Play
- Registration is FREE for Telugu Maatlaata 2024!
- However, all participants MUST register at https://telugumaatlaata.com/register/. No WALK-INS allowed!
- During registration, players may choose which games they would like to play.
- Players are expected to sign up for the Center closest to them while registering for the Games
- Players can register and play at only one Center. If a player does not advance to the International Finals at one Center, they are not eligible to participate in the same year at a different Center.
- Contestants and their parents must accept the General Rules and Technology Rules of the games when they register. These rules are meant to ensure that the games are held in the spirit of friendly fairness and friendly competition.
Games
Program
The following games are part of Telugu Maatlaata program.- Padarangam: In this game, players hear a pre-recorded word and have to write it in Telugu on a board. For full details about Padarangam, please visit Padarangam: Rules and Guidelines.
- Tirakaatam: This is a quiz game, with questions and answers in Telugu language on a variety of topics. For full details about Tirakaatam, please visit Tirakaatam: Rules and Guidelines.
- ONiMa: In this game, players are expected to speak exclusively in Telugu on a given topic. For full details about ONiMa (ఒక్క నిమిషం మాత్రమే), please visit ONiMa: Rules and Guidelines.
Format
Telugu Maatlaata 2024 will have three levels:- Prelims
- This level is conducted only if the number of registrations at a center far exceeds the capacity of a center to conduct in-person Semi-Finals. As a rule of thumb, if the registrations at a center cross 120, then the Maatlaata coordinators at the Center may conduct the Prelims level.
- Registrants from each age group within the same Center will play in qualifying games against each other.
- Top 50% of all Prelims Players for each Age Group at a Center will advance to the Semi-Finals.
- In case of a tie among the qualifiers, all Players involved in the border-case tie will advance to the Semi-Finals. There will be no tie-breaker at this level of the game.
- Semi-Finals
- Prelims Qualifiers from each age group within the same Center will play against each other.
- For any Center where Semi-Finals are conducted, the number of International Finalists per game, per age group will be as follows:
- 0 - 9 Semi-Finalists: Number of Finalists = 0
- 10 - 24 Semi-Finalists: Number of Finalists = 1
- 25 - 49 Semi-Finalists: Number of Finalists = 2
- 50 and above Semi-Finalists: Number of Finalists = 3
- In case of a tie for International Finalists from a Center, there will be a tie-breaker at this level of the game.
- If the Winner at a Center is unable to attend the International Finals for any reason, then the opportunity goes to the Runner-up. If the Runner-up also cannot attend, then the opportunity goes to the Second Runner-up. If the Second Runner-up also cannot attend, then the Center will not be represented in that particular age group.
- International Finals
- Semi-Finalists from each age group from various Center will play against each other in the International Finals.
- There will be 1 Winner and 1 Runner-up for each game per age group.
- In case of a tie for a Winner or Runner-up, there will be a tie-breaker at this level of the game.
Dates
- Prelims (if needed) as well as Semi-Finals will be held during the months of March - June, 2024.
- International Finals are tentatively planned for the Labor Day weekend in 2024 (August 31 & September 1, 2024). Venue for the International Finals is Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Prizes
- All players receive certificates of participation!
- Regional winners get Certificates of Achievement!
- The best reward will be the Entry to the International Finals, a phenomenal opportunity to play against the best across all participating regions, and possibility of creating history!
- Win or not, every participant will find a huge improvement in vocabulary and reading/writing/speaking/comprehension skills in Telugu!
- We strongly encourage all eligible participants to come forward and register for playing Telugu Maatlaata games! It is a fun way to learn Telugu!
Locations
Telugu Maatlaata Locations - 2024 (Work in Progress)
Question Bank & Practice
Philosophy
Telugu Maatlaata's primary purpose is to promote the learning of Telugu language and vocabulary! To encourage kids to learn the language through this process, we have published the FULL SET of topics and questions that will be used within the initial rounds of Telugu Maatlaata in the Prelims stage of the game. In other words, if players are well-versed with the content published below, they would have mastered 80% of the questions/words/topics used in the game. The remaining 20% would be unpublished content that will be used in the deciding rounds of the Prelims stages.Published Content
The following is the content that will be used for Telugu Maatlaata Prelims this year.- Tirakaatam - full list of questions (తిరకాటం ప్రశ్నలు మొత్తం)
- Padarangam - full list of words (పదరంగం పదాలు మొత్తం)
- ONiMa - full list of topics (ఒనిమా విషయాలు మొత్తం)
Practice
Would you like to discover a fun way to learn Telugu? Would you like to get familiar with the games that will be played in Telugu Maatlaata? Would you like to practice and get a head start towards winning the games? Telugu lovers of all ages can use this site to learn the topics, words, questions that will be in the Prelims stage of Telugu Maatlaata games.
Please visit MaayaaDarpanam, the software that is used in Telugu Maatlaata games. You will get a chance to play the games using content from previous years.
Please visit MaayaaDarpanam, the software that is used in Telugu Maatlaata games. You will get a chance to play the games using content from previous years.
History
Year | Finals Venue | Winners & Media | # of Participants | Program Director | Finals Coordinator |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | San Jose, CA, USA | 650 | Danji Thotapalli | Danji Thotapalli | |
2014 | Santa Clara, CA, USA | 720 | Danji Thotapalli | Danji Thotapalli | |
2015 | Irving, TX, USA | Details | 850 | Danji Thotapalli | Gautam Kasturi |
2016 | Irving, TX, USA | Details | 1210 | Srinivas Nidamarthi | Ramesh Narani |
2017 | Chicago, IL, USA | 1750 | Srinivas Nidamarthi | Sujatha Appalaneni | |
2018 | Chicago, IL, USA | 1200 | Srinivas Nidamarthi | Sujatha Appalaneni | |
2019 | Detroit, MI, USA | Details | 820 | Srini Thonta | Raviraju Kalidindi |
2020 | N/A | N/A | N/A (COVID-19) | N/A | N/A |
2021 | N/A | N/A | N/A (COVID-19) | N/A | N/A |
2022 | Milpitas, CA | Prelims Winners | Gautam Kasturi | ||
2023 | Dallas, TX | Prelims Winners | 695 | Gautam Kasturi |
Padarangam Game - Rules & Guidelines
The Objective of Padarangam is to improve the Telugu vocabulary of students learning Telugu. Just by practicing and playing this game, students will be able to read, write and pronounce better in Telugu. The game is also an excellent tool for students to gauge their current skill level in Telugu writing, as well as demonstrate improvement in a scaled manner through regular practice.
Padarangam Rules by Level
In order to scale the game for a large number of players, Padarangam will be played differently at various Levels of the game. The following rules apply to Padarangam games at various levels:- Prelims (only in case of very high number of registrations)
- Semi-Finals
- Finals: Details will be shared at the appropriate time
Padarangam Prelims: Rules & Guidelines
At the Prelims level, Padarangam will be played via Zoom, as follows:
- All Players of a particular age group at a center will join a Zoom session. Multiple Zoom sessions may be used as needed, depending on the number of layers registered at a center.
- Each Player needs to have a ruled sheet of paper ready, with numbered spaces for writing 25 words.
- Players can have a pencil and an eraser with them. No other tools, books etc. will be allowed.
- Once all the players settle down, the organizers will play a set of words via Zoom. a total of 30 words will be played. The words will be of different levels of complexity, to test the competency of the players.
- Each word will be played for 90 seconds. A Player can write, erase and re-write each word as many times as they choose while the word is played. Once the allotted time for the word is done, the word will not be played again.
- Please see the section Semi-Finals for details about the scope of words in the Prelims stage.
- Once all the words are played, the player must stop making any further changes to their written papers.
- Players must scan and send their papers with their parents' help, using their phone cameras.
- Images can be sent using PDF or JPG format only. Other formats will not be accepted. The File name can be anything; it does not matter.
- Scanned images must be sent to the following email address: maatlaata@manabadi.siliconandhra.org, with the Subject as "Padarangam Prelims 2024" along with the Player's First Name and Last Name.
- Images must be scanned and sent within 10 minutes of the end of the game. No exceptions!
- The uploaded Padarangam Prelims papers will be corrected and scored by ManaBadi team.
Padarangam Semi-Finals: Rules & Guidelines
At this level of the game, players will play one or more practice rounds for familiarity. Then, players will play against each other in multiple rounds. Players will advance if they write the given word correctly; otherwise, they will be eliminated. International Finalists will be determined based on their position relative to others.
Overview
- In Padarangam, pre-recorded audio of a word will be played using an audio system and contestant needs to write it on the white board. All words will be in Telugu only.
- There will be three Rounds in the game: Green, Orange and Red.
- Green
- Simple words.
- No గుణింతాలు except అం.
- No ఒత్తులు.
- E.g. కమల, జలజ, సంపద, భయంకరం, మంగళం.
- 2 Minutes (120 seconds) time allotted for writing words.
- No Elimination. Players will continue to the next Level even if they write their given word incorrectly.
- Orange
- Slightly Complex words.
- Will have గుణింతాలు & a few ఒత్తులు.
- E.g. అడవి, దేవత, ముద్రణ, పుస్తకము, చంద్రుడు, అంతః పురము.
- 1.5 Minutes (90 seconds) time allotted for writing words.
- Players will be eliminated from the game if they write their word incorrectly.
- Red
- Complex words.
- Unrestricted.
- E.g. అక్కయ్య, బొమ్మరిల్లు, గ్రామలక్ష్మి, శాస్త్రవేత్త, భర్తృహరి, ధృతరాష్ట్రుడు.
- 1 Minute (60 seconds) time allotted for writing words.
- Players will be eliminated from the game if they write their word incorrectly.
- Each Round will have multiple Levels.
- All words within a particular Level will be of similar degree of difficulty.
- Words in Level 1 will be more difficult than words in Level 2 and so on.
- The Game will be played in Cycle. Each Cycle is identified by the Round and Level. E.g. Green Level 2, Orange Level 5 and so on.
- The process for picking words in a Level is automated. That is, words are played one after the other in random order.
Game Flow
- Players will be called to play in random order.
- During a Player’s turn, they will hear a word through the audio system. The objective of the Player is to write the word they hear correctly on the White Board.
- Each Player gets a fixed amount of time to write their word. The allotted time is shown on a screen at the beginning of their turn, and counts down to zero.
- Judges / anchors will prompt the remaining time in the Player’s turn as the remaining time gets close to zero.
- A Player’s turn ends in one of two ways, whichever happens earlier:
- Player puts their pen down, indicating that they don’t intend to make any further changes to the word as written by them on the White Board.
- The time remaining is zero. No changes are allowed to the word as written by them on the White Board after this point. Whatever remains on the White Board at this point of time will be considered by the Judges.
- During their remaining time, Players can:
- Write, erase, and re-write as many times as they choose.
- Ask for the word audio clip to be stopped or started as many times as they choose.
- Ask for the word audio clip to be changed from male voice to female voice or vice-versa, as many times as they choose.
- After a Player’s turn ends, the Judge will determine if the word is written correctly or not. If the word is written correctly, the Player moves to the next Level. Otherwise, the Player is eliminated.
- To encourage beginner players to warm-up and familiarize themselves with the games, there will be 1 Green Round played in each Center. At the discretion of the Center coordinators, additional Green rounds may be held, depending on the situation at the center.
Determining Winners
- At the end of a Cycle, all remaining Players will continue to the next Cycle.
- If there are enough words for ALL remaining players in a particular Level, then the next Cycle will continue in the current Level. Otherwise, the Game advances to the next Level (1,2,3 etc.) and/or the next Round (Green, Orange, Red) and so on.
- If ALL Players in a particular Cycle are eliminated in that Cycle, then ALL those players will play again in the next Cycle. For example, if a Cycle starts with 4 Players, and ALL 4 Players write their word incorrectly, then they will ALL play the next Cycle (that is, no one will be eliminated).
- If only one Player advances to the next Cycle, that Player will be declared Winner.
- If exactly two Players advance to the next Cycle, then the Winner will be determined when one of the write their word incorrectly AND the other writes their word correctly.
- The Game will continue in this manner until only 1 Player remains, who will be declared Winner from that Center for that age group.
- After the Winner is determined, the game continues if needed until players are ranked relative to the other players, depending on when they were eliminated from the game.
- Organizers reserve the right to declare Joint Winners after a certain number of Cycles.
- Winner and Runners-up of Padarangam from a particular center at the Semi-Finals level will advance to the International Finals ONLY IF they have advanced past Orange Level 5. This is to ensure a minimum standard of competition at the International Finals. Therefore, it is not to be misunderstood that the Winner at a Center will automatically qualify for the International Finals.
Additional Information
- Play the game on the Telugu Matlaata Padarangam Practice Site to gain experience as well as improve your Telugu writing skills.
- This video provides some tips and guidance to players, parents and teachers on some of the more complex aspects of Telugu pronunciation: .
- These videos are good samples of how Padarangam is played in the International Finals: .
Tirakaatam Game - Rules & Guidelines
The Objective of Tirakaatam is to improve general knowledge, familiarity, fluency and vocabulary of students learning Telugu. Just by practicing and playing this game, students will vastly improve their general knowledge about all-things related to Telugu language, Telugu history, prominent Telugu personalities. Telugu regions etc.
Tirakaatam Rules by Level
In order to scale the game for a large number of players, Tirakaatam will be played differently at various Levels of the game. The following rules apply to Tirakaatam games at various levels:- Prelims (only in case of very high number of registrations)
- Semi-Finals
- Finals: Details will be shared at the appropriate time
Tirakaatam Prelims: Rules & Guidelines
At the Prelims level Tirakaatam will be played via Zoom. The game will be conducted as follows:
- All Players of a particular age group at a center will join a Zoom session. Players will directly go into a "Waiting Room" when they join the session.
- Players will be asked to join the Main Zoom session one after the other. The turn of each player is chosen at random.
- When a Player joins the Main Zoom session, they will be shown a Grid with 2 rows and 5 columns - a total of 10 questions, each with a different marks value from 100 through 500. Then, they will be asked these questions one after the other.
- For each question, the anchor will read the question fully. Then, the Player must give an answer within 5 seconds of the question being read completely.
- For each question, players get marks as follows:
- For a correct Answer, the participant will get plus points equal to the face value of the question.
- For an incorrect Answer, the participant will get minus points equal to the face value of the question.
- For a Pass Answer, the participant will get neither plus nor minus points. Their score will remain the same as before.
- In general, players must only answer questions that they are confident about; otherwise, they risk losing marks!
- Once a player answers all their questions, their score will be revealed to them.
- The entire Zoom session will be recorded.
- Once all the players finish their turn, their scores are tallied, and the players are ranked based on their scores.
Scope of questions
- Questions will be in Telugu language. Some questions may use pictures or other visual clues.
- Examples of subject topics are literature, vocabulary, grammar, poetry, stories, history, current events, places of interest etc., related to Telugu, including Telugu language, Telugu states, Telugu people and so on.
- ALL questions for these games will be taken from the content published at this website. https://www.telugumaatlaata.com/practice. These are questions that have been created and used in previous instances of Telugu Maatlaata.
Tirakaatam Semi-Finals: Rules & Guidelines
Tirakaatam Semi-Finals will be played in-person. Players will be allocated to games boards with other Semi-Finalists within their center, based on their age group.
Setup
- The Game Board consists of a board with a Grid of Boxes, arranged as Columns and Rows.
- Each Column pertains to a Category/topic (e.g. Telugu authors, Tourist places in Telugu states etc.)
- Each Row has a certain number of Points associated with it, starting from Row 1 = 100 Points, up to Row 5 = 500 Points.
- Each game can be played with 3 to 6 Players, as determined by the Organizers.
- Participants will be randomly pre-assigned a sequence number, from 1 to the max number of participants.
- Starting with #1, each Player will pick a Box (referenced by its Column + Row numbers, or by its Category + Points) from among any of the Boxes that have not been answered yet.
- The Anchor will read out the question/clue on that Box, and display the question on the screen. In general, the question on a Box with higher number of points will have a higher level of difficulty than a Box in the same Category with lower Points.
- Players can choose to Answer the Question or Pass.
- Answer should be in Telugu language only!!
- The Judge’s will rule whether the given answer(s) are correct.
- Depending on the Player’s response, the following Points will be awarded:
- For correct Answer(s), the participant will get the Points on the Box. Note: for multi-part questions, all parts of the question must be answered correctly. No partial Points.
- For incorrect Answer(s), the participant will get negative Points equal to the Points on the Box. Note: for multi-part questions, if any of the parts is answered wrongly, it will lead to negative Points. No partial Points.
- For a Pass: No Points. Players score will not change.
- Scores will be updated on the screen as the Game progresses.
- If a Player does a “Pass”, the Player with the next # in sequence will get the Question, until all Players get a chance for that question, or someone gets the right answer.
- This process continues until all the questions on the Game Board have been completed.
- Once the Game Board is completed, the scores of each player will be announced.
- In case of a Tie, all the Players involved in the Tie will be asked to play one row in a fresh Game Board; and the Player with the highest points is declared winner. If a tie still exists, we will go to a "Sudden Death" round where the player who answers the first question is declared Winner of the tie.
- Depending on their scores, players will be ranked as 1, 2, 3 etc.
ONiMa Game - Rules & Guidelines
The purpose of ONiMa (Okka Nimisham Maatrame) game is to encourage kids to speak well and improve their fluency and vocabulary, while also developing keen listening and comprehension skills in Telugu.
ONiMa Rules by Level
In order to scale the game for a large number of players, ONiMa will be played differently at various Levels of the game. The following rules apply to ONiMa games at various levels:- Prelims (only in case of very high number of registrations)
- Semi-Finals
- Finals: Details will be shared at the appropriate time
ONiMa Prelims: Rules & Guidelines
Setup
At the Prelims level ONiMa will be played via Zoom. The game will be conducted as follows:- All Players of a particular age group at a center will join a Zoom session. Players will directly go into a "Waiting Room" when they join the session.
- Players will be asked to join the Main Zoom session one after the other. The turn of each player is chosen at random.
- When a Player joins the Main Zoom session, they will be asked to choose a random number. Depending on the number chosen, they will be assigned a topic to speak on.
- Each player will be given about 30 seconds to gather their thoughts on the given topic. Then, players will be asked to speak on their given topic for 1 minute.
- The Main Zoom session will have 3 judges listening to the players as they speak. The entire Zoom session will be recorded.
- Each judge will independently assess and score each player based on the parameters outlined in the next section.
- Once all the players complete their speeches, their average scores are calculated, and the players are ranked based on their scores.
Parameters for Evaluation
The following parameters are used to score players based on their one-minute speech:- Language: Telugu words only, grammar (gender, tense, singular/plural etc.), pronunciation, vocabulary etc.
- Body Language and Confidence: Good facial expressions, hand gestures, eye contact, vocal pitch, pace etc.
- Staying On Topic: Not deviating from the given topic.
- Staying within Time: Ending too early or crossing the time limit will be penalized.
- Well Organized: Logical beginning, middle and conclusion.
ONiMa Semi-Finals: Rules & Guidelines
ONiMa (Okka Nimisham Maatrame) at the Semi-Finals level will be played in person. At the Semi-Finals level, ONiMa will have 2 Stages: Individual and Competitive.
Individual
In this stage, the game will be played exactly like in the ONiMa Prelims, except that it will be played in person. Based on the scores in this stage, the top 6 players will advance to the Competitive stage.Competitive
- There will be 6 Players in this stage, and they play against each other.
- Players are given buzzer pods.
- Players are seated in a random order.
- Each Player gets to start to speak on a topic chosen at random. After looking at their topics, players get about 30 seconds to gather their thoughts and compose their speech.
- Each Speaker gets points based on the duration (seconds) s/he can speaks.
- The allotted time for each topic is Okka Nimisham (One Minute; that is 60 seconds); hence the name Okka Nimisham Maatrame!
- Other Players should pay attention while Speaker is speaking on the topic. If the listeners find an “objection”, they should press buzzer to raise their objections to the Judge.
- At this point the Speaker stops speaking. Judge will then either “sustain” if it is valid objection, or “overrule” if it is not.
- If the Judge “sustains” an objection:
- The Player who pressed the buzzer (and thereby won the objection), becomes the new Speaker; that is, they get the chance to continue speaking on the same topic for the remainder of the One Minute.
- The previous Speaker is given the number of points corresponding to the duration in seconds that they spoke for until they were objected.
- In case of over-ruled objection:
- The Speaker will continue to speak on the same topic for the remainder of the One Minute.
- Multiple objections can be raised by multiple Players at the same time. The same process will be followed by the Judge to evaluate each objection sequentially.
- Each invalid objection will incur a score of negative 3 marks! This rule is meant to prevent frivolous objections. Players should object only if they are confident that a mistake has happened.
- The Judge reserves the right to step in even without an objection from other players if a Player is repeating the same words, phrases, sentences or ideas. This particular option will be used sparingly; however, it is necessary to make sure the game remains interesting.
- A bonus of 20 points will be awarded to the Speaker who takes any topic to the end of the One minute.
- A bonus of 60 points will be awarded to a Speaker if they can speak on their topic for the full 60 seconds without valid objections.
- The above process will continue until all Players get to start speaking on their randomly chosen topic.
Valid Objections
- Non-Telugu Words: Use of Non-telugu words if Telugu equivalent exists. For example, “daddy” is used for “నాన్న”. However, English proper nouns, such as names of cities, people, things etc. are allowed (example: Chicago, Obama, Halloween).
Note:- Dialects (మాండలీకాలు) and accents (యాసలు) are perfectly acceptable.
- Commonly-used Telugu words borrowed from other languages (e.g. రోడ్డు, నకిలీ, ఖర్చు, పైసలు, ఓటు, కబురు, పేకాలు) are perfectly acceptable.
- Pronunciation/ఉచ్చారణ: Wrong pronunciation. E.g:
- “వాల్లు” instead of “వాళ్ళు”
- “వీన” instead of “వీణ”
- “కాసి” instead of “కాశి”
- “బారత” instead of “భారత”
- Pause: 3 seconds or more.
- Wasting time: If speaker tries to speak off-topic for 3 or more sentences to fill his/her time to score points. For example, if the topic is about a festival and speaker brings up a concept of how s/he celebrated festival with her/his brother but then continue to detail & describe his brother rather than speak on the topic.
- Reciting Prepared Content: If speaker simply recites prepared content. E.g. పద్యాలు, ఏకపాత్రాభినయాలు, సినిమా dialogues, పాటలు సంస్కృత శ్లోకాలు etc. These are just examples; any similar prepared content can be considered a valid objection. If the players are not aware of such content, the Judge/Anchor may step in and call it out as a technical objection. At the same time, players can use సామెతలు, జాతీయాలు as long as they are relevant to the topic. E.g. "కాకి పిల్ల కాకికి ముద్దు" (సామెత) or "చెప్పులోన రాయి" (జాతీయము). These will NOT be considered valid objections.
- Repetition: If speaker repeats same theme again and again, or repeats the idea of an earlier speaker without adding any new information related to the topic. For example: A Speaker talking about an animal continues to repeat that the same sentence or concept that the animal has four legs. Similarly, a subsequent speaker repeats the same sentence or concept.
- Telugu Grammar: Improper use of Telugu grammar in the following areas are valid to raise objections. Grammatical flaws beyond the areas listed below are not considered at this stage of the competition:
- Gender / లింగాలు: E.g.; “కమల పాట పాడాడు".
- Singular-Plural / వచనాలు: E.g.; “చాలా తేనెటీగ ఉన్నాయి"
- Tenses / కాలాలు: E.g.; “మేము నిన్న ఆడుకుంటున్నాము"
- Prepositions/విభక్తులు: “నేను ఆదివారం మీద వచ్చాను (I came on Sunday)”
Technical Objection (Judge/Anchor Steps in)
There may be some situations where the Judge/Anchor has to step in and call an objection. Examples may be where a player is wasting time by repeating the same idea or simply reciting prepared content (e.g. movie songs). In such cases, if the other players are NOT raising an objection, then the Judge/Anchor will step in, so that the game continues to be interesting, and is fair to all players. Under such circumstances, the Judge/Anchor will call an objection on that player. Then, the Judge/Anchor will ask for a buzzer press among the other players to determine who gets the chance to speak for the remaining time in the current topic.Determining the Winner
- The score obtained by each Player on each topic is added up to give their final score for the game.
- The Winner is the Player with the most number of points at the end of the Game.
- The Winners of initial rounds will play a Center-level Final round to determine the Winner for the Center for their age group.
- The Runner-up and Second Runner-up are also determined based on their scores.
- If the Winner at a Center is unable to attend the International Finals for any reason, then the opportunity goes to the Runner-up. If the Runner-up also cannot attend, then the opportunity goes to the Second Runner-up. If the Second Runner-up also cannot attend, then the Center will not be represented in that particular age group.
Additional Information
- This video provides some tips and guidance to players, parents and teachers on some of the more complex aspects of Telugu pronunciation: .
- These videos are good samples of how ONiMa is played:
Rules & Guidelines
All Parents and Players registering to participate in Telugu Maatlaata agree to these Rules and Guidelines.
General Rules & Guidelines
Players and their Parents
- Game will not stop if the Player takes a break during the Game! So, water, restroom and other needs should be addressed before the start of the game.
- We encourage parents to teach the right lessons to their children by avoiding cheating and malpractice during the games! Remember, you will be doing permanent damage to the self-confidence of your children by pushing them to short-cuts. Moreover, children who cheat at the Prelims stage will have a tough time in the Semi-Finals! Dishonesty/Cheating will lead to immediate disqualification and elimination from the Game. Dishonesty can include (but not limited to):
- Prompting, hand gestures and other forms of hints and clues by parents or other persons during the game.
- Using books, digital devices or any other source of information for obtaining answers during the game.
- Other creative forms of cheating (Believe me, we have seen it all!)
- Don’t answer questions out of turn! Players may end up helping (or hurting, in case of a wrong answer) the Player who has the current Question.
- If you ask any questions, it will count against your time. The Anchor or Host may not answer it, unless it helps clarify for all other Players.
Spectators/Audience/All
- Cheering, clapping or any other expressions are allowed only after the judge declares whether any answer is right or wrong. Otherwise, audience should remain silent during other times throughout the game.
- The decision of the Judge is final and binding. Please do not contest the decision during the game. You can register your complaint with the ManaBadi team by sending an email to maatlaata@manabadi.siliconandhra.org
Technology Rules & Guidelines
Technology Requirements for Players
- Zoom account
- PC/Laptop with a big screen (at least 13 inch)
- Integrated video camera
- Integrated microphone and speakers (no headsets)
- Dedicated internet connection (50 Mbps or higher)
- Bright Light focused on the participant’s face and surroundings
Game Rules for Players and their Parents
- Player Video on at all times.
- Player microphone unmuted at all times.
- Should be in a quiet room with sufficient light to show the Player’s face as well as surroundings.
- No headphones, mobile devices, books or any other reference material.
- Game will not stop if the Player takes a break during the Game! So, water, bathroom and other needs should be addressed before the start of the game.
- Parents can help with technology setup but should leave the area before the Game can start.
About Us
Telugu Maatlaata is a program of SiliconAndhra ManaBadi, the premier Telugu language program for children of the global Telugu diaspora. For further details about SiliconAndhra ManaBadi, please visit: https://manabadi.siliconandhra.org/