Entering its 15th year, the Russian and East European Summer Language Institute (SLI) at the University of Pittsburgh offers comprehensive introductory and advanced instruction in eleven major languages. All courses are intensive (meeting five hours a day, five days a week) and proficiency-oriented (emphasizing maximum communicative ability by developing all four basic skills - speaking, reading, writing, and listening comprehension). Participants, who come from all over the United States and Canada, include graduate students whose research requires advanced linguistic competence, undergraduates continuing or getting a headstart on language acquisition, and non-traditional students interested in reclaiming their heritage. Many of our students have immediate or long-range plans for traveling to the country of their target language upon completion of the SLI. The diversity of student interests provides a rich basis for lively and productive classroom interaction.
All classes are taught by native-speakers with extensive pedagogical experience in the United States. Energetic and enthusiastic, our instructors make use of a wide variety of supplemental instructional material, including films, cartoons, music videos, audio tapes, and prose and poetry.
Participants also have access to the University's collection of Russian and Eastern European films and videos, one of the largest such collections in the country. Additionally, the Pittsburgh area is home to a large Slavic and Eastern European population. The cultural program includes activities that take advantage of the proximity of these rich communities, including field trips to local churches, ethnic festivals, and the ever-popular "nationality days" at Kennywood amusement park.