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

The following rules apply to ONiMa games at various levels:

  • Prelims — see below
  • Finals: Details will be shared at the appropriate time

ONiMa Prelims: Rules & Guidelines

Setup

At the Prelims level, ONiMa will be conducted as follows:

  • All Players of a particular age group at a Prelims Center will assemble in a room (in person) or join a Zoom session (Online) at the designated time.
  • Players will be given a chance to speak for one minute, uninterrupted. The turn of each player is chosen at random.
  • When a Player's turn comes up, the player will be asked to pick a topic at random from a set of topics.
  • 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.
  • While the player is speaking, the designated judge(s) will independently assess and score each player based on the parameters outlined below.
  • Once all the players complete their speeches, their average scores are calculated, and the players are ranked based on their scores.

Determining the Winners

  • The top scorers of the initial rounds will be selected to go to the Center Finals.
  • A maximum of 6 players will advance to the Center Finals from the pool of Players in the initial rounds.
  • Another round of ONiMa is held among the selected top scorers. The game follows the same rules and process as above; that is, each player gets 1 minute to speak on their chosen topic.
  • The topics for this stage will be different from the topics in the Initial stage.
  • The Winner and Runner-up are determined based on their cumulative score from the two rounds.

Parameters for Evaluation

The following parameters are used to score players based on their one-minute speech:

  • Language (30 points): Marks will be cut for use of non-Telugu words
  • Staying within Time (30 points): Marks will be cut for ending too early or crossing the time limit.
  • Grammar and Pronunciation (20 points): Marks will be cut for vocabulary mistakes in gender, tense, singular/plural etc., mispronunciation of letters etc.
  • Staying On Topic (10 points): Marks will be cut for deviating from the given topic.
  • Body Language and Confidence (10 points): Marks can be granted for Good facial expressions, hand gestures, eye contact, vocal pitch, pace etc.

ONiMa Scoring

Players must avoid the following aspects of speech for scoring high:

  • Use of Non-Telugu words: Players should only use Telugu words unless Telugu equivalent do not exist. 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 Errors:
    • "వాల్లు" instead of "వాళ్ళు"
    • "వీన" instead of "వీణ"
    • "కాసి" instead of "కాశి"
    • "బారత" instead of "భారత"
  • Pause for a noticeable period of time (e.g. 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.
  • Errors in Telugu Grammar: 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)"

Additional Information

  • This video provides some tips and guidance to players, parents and teachers on some of the more complex aspects of Telugu pronunciation. (Video links available on the main site.)
  • These videos are good samples of how ONiMa is played. (Video links available on the main site.)
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