Viglo's Competitive Structure

In my post about the first competition, I shared only the excitement I felt but never gave you a description of how the calls actually worked.

The image above illustrates one round of a Viglo competition, out of two. Let me break down the image above:

-1st Call (“Role Play Call #1”): The Competitors connects with a native Spanish speaker (in Viglo, called Guides) and conducts a 10-minute Role Play Call, taking on made-up roles and acting them out in Spanish.

-2nd Call (“Exercise Call”): During the previous 10 minutes of role-playing, the Guide will have noted the errors that the Competitor made in their Spanish. During this part of the call, the Guide goes over those errors with the Competitor, using Viglo's embedded AI tools to create mini-lessons to help the Competitor overcome their errors.

-3rd Call (“Role Play Call #2”): After the Exercise Call, the Guide and Competitors disconnect. Then, the Competitors reconnects with a different Guide for the final role-playing call. They roleplay the same situation as in the first Role Play Call, but this time the roles are reversed (e.g., if the Competitors was a waiter the first time, he or she will be a customer in the second Role Play Call).

The Guides award points for how well the Competitors performed in the Role Play Calls, and after all Competitors have finished their round, their points are totaled, and the top scorers move on to round two. The format for round two is exactly the same as round one, except the call parameters are different.

But what do I mean by call parameters?

The Role Playing Calls have a specific structure, which I call "call parameters.” Here's how they are structured:

1. Competitor's Role: The specific character the Spanish learner will portray for the conversation (e.g., customer, tourist, patient).

2. Guide's Role: The specific character the native Spanish speaker will portray during the conversation (e.g., shopkeeper, tour guide, doctor).

3. Situation: The context or scenario in which the interaction between the Guide and the Competitors takes place (e.g., buying clothes for a friend, paying a medical bill, returning a faulty product).

4. Tasks: Specific, concrete, and actionable objectives for the Guide and the Competitors to accomplish during their interaction. These tasks are designed to add complexity to the conversation and help keep it going.

Here’s an example of parameters used in a Viglo competition in February:

- Situation: Trying to convince your pirate captain not to bury the treasure.

- Competitor's Role: Crewmember.

- Guide's Role: Pirate Captain.

- Competitor's Task: Ask the captain what he would buy with the treasure.

- Guide's Task: Remind the crew that you lost a leg for the treasure.

These parameters structure the Role Playing Call for both participants. But why change Guides in the middle of a round? Each Role Playing Call is judged by the Guide and awarded points. Our point system, currently very vague, allows for biases. The reason that the Competitors switch Guides in the 2nd Role Play Call is to minimize the effects on their total score of certain Guides who are too generous or too strict with awarding points.

These points decide which Competitors advance to the second round, which follows the same format as the first, but with changed parameters and only the top scorers invited. The highest score in the second round determines the winner (in case of a tie, total points from both rounds are added).

This is the format of the Viglo Spanish competition: a 10 minute role-playing call, followed by a 10 minute Exercise Call to overcome errors, and finished by another 10 minute role-playing call with the roles reversed. Points are awarded for role-playing calls, with the highest scores advancing to round two to determine a final winner. It's a solid starting format, but it will evolve, and you'll be updated through these posts.