Each summer, undergraduate students, graduate students, professionals, and other non-traditional students from across the country come to UW-Madison to study a language at the Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes (WISLI). WISLI offers high-quality language courses in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs). WISLI courses are intensive, condensing an entire year of language study in the 8-week summer session that combines classroom learning with robust co-curricular programming. WISLI language courses are cost-effective and increasingly accessible with distance and online learning options.
WISLI is sponsored by:
- The Language Program Office
- Title VI National Resource Centers
- Language Departments in the College of Letters & Science
- Partner institutions and consortia
See the individual institute websites for additional information about sponsors and partnerships.
Central Eurasian Studies Summer Institute
CESSI offers eight-week summer intensive language programs for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and professionals. Language courses are supplemented by a rich program of cultural events, excursions, and a weekly academic lecture series. CESSI currently offers courses in:
- Kazakh
- Tajik
- Uyghur
- Uzbek
Supported by: Center for Russian, East Asian and Central Europe and CESSI Consortium (13 members)
Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Language Institute
MEDLI (formerly APTLI) is a summer intensive language program for undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals. Each 8-week language class is equivalent to two semesters of study, with full academic year credit. Instruction is given in small groups taught by experienced language teachers. The combination of formal classes and a robust co-curricular program provides students with opportunities to expand their vocabulary and practice using the language in different settings. MEDLI currently offers courses in:
- Arabic
- Hebrew
- Persian
- Turkish
Supported by: IRIS NRC, European Studies, African Studies, African Cultural Studies, German, Nordic, and Slavic +, Middle East Studies, Jewish Studies, and Asian Languages and Cultures at UW-Madison
South Asia Summer Language Institute
SASLI offers the first and second year study of modern South Asian languages. It prepares students for subsequent training domestically and abroad. SASLI is currently held on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. SASLI currently offers courses in:
- Bengali
- Dari
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Marathi
- Nepali
- Pashto
- Punjabi
- Sanskrit
- Sinhala
- Tamil
- Tibetan
- Urdu
Supported by: Center for South Asia, Center for East Asian Studies, Asian Languages and Cultures, IRIS NRC at UW-Madison
Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute
SEASSI offers language courses that are equivalent to two semesters of study, with full academic year credit. Instruction is given in small individualized groups taught by a team consisting of a coordinator (usually a linguist specializing in Southeast Asian language pedagogy) and teachers who are native speakers of that language. SEASSI currently offers courses in:
- Burmese
- Hmong
- Indonesian
- Khmer
- Lao
- Filipino (Tagalog)
- Thai
- Vietnamese
Supported by: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, IRIS NRC, Southeast Asian Language Council, and Asian Languages and Cultures at UW-Madison
Summer Intensive Portuguese Institute
SIPI is a special eight-week course designed for people wishing to study beginning Brazilian Portuguese intensively. SIPI currently offers courses in:
- Portuguese
Supported by: Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies at UW-Madison
Intensive Summer Multilanguage Seminar
In addition to its five summer language institutes, the Wisconsin Intensive Summer Languages Institutes (WISLI) is proud to be hosting an online program this Summer 2023: the Intensive Summer Multilanguage Seminar.
A PROGRAM FOR ADVANCED LANGUAGE LEARNERS & THE STUDY OF RARE LANGUAGESThe Intensive Summer Multilanguage Seminar supports students to engage in online, performance-based self-instructional language study of a less commonly taught language (LCTL). The target audience for this program includes:
- Students who have achieved such an advanced language proficiency that traditional programs no longer serve their learning needs, or
- Students who are studying extremely rare languages that are otherwise not offered in the classroom
This program is intended to complement existing summer language programs; as such, students who are eligible to enroll in a traditional language program are not competitive candidates for the Intensive Summer Multilanguage Seminar.
Interested students should contact the Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes program office (multilanguage@lpo.wisc.edu) as soon as possible to determine their eligibility. The 8-credit course will run from June 19 through August 11, 2023 and will be taught by Dr. Adeola Agoke.
Supported by: IRIS NRC and the African Studies Program at UW-Madison
NORD Scandinavian Summer Language Institute
NORD is a special eight-week course designed for people wishing to study beginning Scandinavian languages intensively. Instruction is given in small groups taught by experienced language teachers. The combination of formal classes and a robust co-curricular program provides students with opportunities to expand their vocabulary and practice using the language in different settings. NORD currently offers courses in:
- Danish
- Swedish
Supported by: Supported by: GNS+ and European Studies