Welcome to the Summer Language Institute

Welcome to the Summer Language Institute's website!

Please visit our program pages for the details, including dates, costs, scholarship opportunities in each of our ten languages. Prospective program participants are welcome to subscribe to our mailing list below or to email us directly at sliadmin@pitt.edu with your questions about the institute, our application process, or your individual situation and learning goals. If you are exploring funding options for prospective participation at SLI, you may wish to consult the list of scholarships on our Funding Your Study page.

SLI is currently making plans for a primarily in-person program in Pittsburgh and at four abroad sites for the 2023 institute. Certain languages and levels will accommodate online participants as student demand and instructional resources allow. Prospective participants will be asked to indicate the instructional format in which they wish to study on their SLI application.

SLI abroad programs are now being planned in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Montenegro for summer 2023! Applications are open for our signature Pitt+abroad programs at each of these destinations. Students with prior language study may be eligible for abroad-only programs in these four countries.

In the summer of 2022, SLI hosted a record-breaking cohort of language learners in three instructional formats and celebrated the reinstatement of abroad programming after a two-summer travel pause due to the pandemic. Students and faculty enjoyed the experience of delving into our languages and cultures in a shared physical space during the summer of 2022, while also bringing intensive online language experiences to learners in several languages. Through their passion, diligence, and love of language, our dedicated faculty and talented students have proven their ability to thrive in any classroom circumstance over the last three summers. We are excited to explore our languages with another talented and enthusiastic class of language learners in the 2023 institute.

Enjoy a glimpse into the SLI experience via our 2022 retrospective video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Y8feu8qwo

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us at sliadmin@pitt.edu with any questions you may have about our language programs, applications process, or scholarship programs!

About SLI

The University of Pittsburgh’s Slavic, East European, and Near Eastern Summer Language Institute celebrates a 34-year tradition of passionate teaching and proven results. With a focus on critical and less commonly taught languages and proficiency-based instruction, SLI offers courses in Arabic, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Bulgarian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Turkish, and Ukrainian. Whether students choose to study on Pitt’s campus or on one of the SLI’s many study abroad programs, they can expect to cover approximately one academic year’s worth of course work during a single summer.

Students who complete SLI programs rapidly acquire language proficiency and deepen their understanding of a foreign culture. Every day, students receive intensive language training in both spoken and written modes. Small class sizes ensure constant interaction with experienced instructors. A rich program of lectures, films, music, cooking, picnics, and excursions provides students the opportunity to explore the cultures they are studying while socializing in their target languages.

SLI is proud to support undergraduates, graduate students, non-traditional students, and motivated adult language learners with generous scholarships. All program applicants are eligible for scholarship funding, regardless of student status. Thanks to the scholarship program, SLI is one of the most affordable accredited programs for intensive language study in the US and attracts students from every region of the country.

Enjoy the diverse, urban environment of University of Pittsburgh’s main campus, the fully immersive experience of study abroad, or a combination of both. Learn a language – discover the world!