Summer Language Institute

Program Details

Current UChicago Students
Current UChicago undergraduate students must request term activation prior to self-registration.  Self-registration for Summer Quarter occurs through My UChicago and opens on February 14. 

For Summer Language Institute, current UChicago MA or PhD students may self-enroll beginning March 28. Prior to this date, MA and PhD students will be enrolled through their home departments or divisions - contact your Dean of Students office for more information.

See the Current UChicago Students page for more information on Summer Quarter registration.

Visiting Undergraduate and Graduate Students
The application for Summer Language Institute is now open. See the Visiting Students page for more information or go here to continue your application.

Pre College Students
See the Pre-College Student How to Apply page for more information or go here to continue your application.

These online, remote courses are only open to UChicago students who identify as heritage learners of the language (i.e., a person who was raised in a home where a language other than English was spoken, and/or has a personal, family, or community connection to the language but received the majority of their formal education in English).

Incoming UChicago students
Incoming UChicago students can apply and find detailed information on the Incoming Students page. 

UChicago rising second, third, or fourth years
Requests to register for September Heritage Language courses are currently being accepted from current College students only. Instructors from each language will use information from the Summer Placement tests to identify heritage learners and reach out to those who are eligible. For language-specific proficiency requirements for enrollment and course equivalents, click the language above.

College students have continual access to the Canvas sites where the placement tests are located for the duration of their time at UChicago. If you have not taken a placement test, can’t find your results, or have other questions, contact Lidwina van den Hout (lmvdhout@uchicago.edu).

If you are a graduate student, contact Lidwina van den Hout (lmvdhout@uchicago.edu) to be added to the Canvas site where you can take a placement test.

Placement tests must be completed before requesting enrollment. 

For all September Heritage Courses: Students must submit their most recent transcript from either UChicago (current students) or their most recent school/university (incoming students). 

UChicago Students
If the SLI course that you are interested in is full, you may request to be placed on a waitlist.

• Current Undergraduate Student Waitlist
• Current or incoming Graduate Student Waitlist

Visiting or Pre-College Students
External students who apply for a class that is full will be managed by the Summer Session Office.

Bills for Summer Session courses will be posted at the end of July for all students and are posted separately from Autumn Quarter for UChicago students. The costs are as follows:

• Intensive 300-unit courses: $7,725
• 100-unit Reading courses: $4,500

For details on financial aid, and refund or withdrawal deadlines, visting and current UChicago students should review the Undergraduate Summer Quarter page.

For Heritage Courses, limited financial aid in the form of partial tuition awards is available to incoming and current College students and incoming or current students in the MAPH, MAPSS, CIR, CMES, and CLAS programs enrolling in the Autumn Heritage Language courses. Because these are pilot courses, financial aid funds come from a different source than academic year awards, and will not affect your academic year award eligibility.  If you would like to request undergraduate tuition assistance, include that in your enrollment request.   

A Note for UChicago Graduate Students

Current University of Chicago MA students in the MAPH, MAPSS, CIR, CMES, and CLAS programs, as well as students entering those MA programs in Autumn 2023, are eligible for the MA Scholarship to help defray the cost of tuition for summer language study at the University of Chicago. Summer Language Institute courses will be taken in addition to the students’ regular programs of study and will not count towards degree requirements. As such, they are not eligible for federal student aid.

For Summer 2023, those receiving the MA Scholarship had final out-of-pocket tuition costs of $3,865 for 300-unit intensives and $2,250 for 100-unit courses.  For information about additional aid through your department, contact your Dean of Students office. 

There is no application for the MA Scholarship; all current and entering MA students in the MAPH, MAPSS, CIR, CMES, and CLAS programs will receive the scholarship upon enrollment. 

Graduate students applying for certain programs may also be eligible to apply for a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship program is administered by the federal government for American graduate students who are concentrating in a modern foreign language and a program that includes international or area studies. University of Chicago students apply for these fellowships through UChicagoGrad and their area Dean of Students offices. Priority for FLAS fellowships is given to UChicago students, but applications from visiting graduate students are considered carefully. The deadline to apply for a 2023 FLAS award from the University of Chicago will be in early February 2023. Details on the application process can be found on the UChicagoGrad website.

Summer Quarter
All Summer Quarter SLI courses will be remotely taught, so on-campus dining and housing are not available for Visiting SLI students in Summer 2023. More information about housing for UChicago students will be available shortly.

September Term
Students enrolled in an in-person September Term course who have also signed a contract with Housing & Residence Life for the 2023-2024 academic year are eligible to apply for on-campus housing and dining during the three weeks of September Term. (Students who have arranged to live off-campus will not be eligible for on-campus housing and dining during this time.) The September Term dining plan will begin with dinner on Sunday, August 27 and end with breakfast on Saturday, September 16. There will be dedicated RAs and activities for students in residence.

See the September Term page for full details.

Summer Quarter SLI

Summer Quarter SLI courses will be taught via remote instruction, have varying lengths, and occur between June 12 and August 11:

• Beginning and intermediate intensive modern language courses are designed for students wishing to develop proficiency across all four language skills—speaking, listening, reading, and writing—at a speed that is the equivalent of a year or more of instruction during the regular academic year.
• Beginning and intermediate ancient language courses guide students in building and honing their reading abilities and their familiarity with ancient texts and culture.
• Academic Reading courses focus on the skills graduate students need to access scholarly texts in other languages.

Full course descriptions can be found on the UChicago Course Search- click the drop-down where the term (Autumn 2022 or Winter 2023) is listed and change it to Summer 2023, then search by course number or title.  See the "How to Register or Apply" sections above once you are ready to begin enrolling.

Introductory Intensive SLI courses are all remote, 300 units, and cover a year's work of language in 7 or 8 weeks.

See the UChicago Course Search for additional details- click the drop-down where the term (Autumn 2022 or Winter 2023) is listed and change it to Summer 2023, then search by course number or title.  See the "How to Register or Apply" sections above once you are ready to begin enrolling.

Modern Languages
Introductory and intermediate intensive modern language courses:

• Develop proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and listening
• Equivalent to a year of instruction
• Culminate in assessments that award foreign language proficiency certifications

Language	Course Number	Title	Start Date	End Date
Arabic	ARAB 10123 91	Summer Intensive Arabic Level 1	6/12	8/4
American Sign Language	ASLG 10123 91	Intensive Elementary American Sign Language	6/12	8/4
Chinese	CHIN 10123 91	Summer Intensive Introductory Chinese	6/12	8/4
French	FREN 10123 91	Summer Intensive Elementary French	6/12	8/4
German	GRMN 10123 91	Summer Intensive Introductory German	6/12	7/28
Japanese	JAPN 10123 91	Summer Intensive Elementary Japanese	6/12	8/4
Korean	KORE 10123 91	Summer Intensive Introductory Korean	6/12	8/4
Spanish	SPAN 10123 91	Summer Intensive Elementary Spanish	6/12	8/4

Ancient Languages
Introductory and intermediate ancient language courses:

• Build and hone reading and comprehension of ancient languages
• Gain familiarity with ancient texts and cultures

Language	Course Number	Title	Start Date	End Date
Ancient Greek	GREK 10123 91	Summer Intensive Introductory Ancient Greek	6/12	8/4
Latin	LATN 10123 91	Summer Intensive Introductory Latin	6/12	8/4

 

Intensive Intermediate SLI courses are for those who have completed a full year of an introductory course. All intermediate courses listed below are remote, 300-unit offerings that provide the equivalent of one year's language instruction.

See the UChicago Course Search for additional details- click the drop-down where the term (Autumn 2022 or Winter 2023) is listed and change it to Summer 2023, then search by course number or title.  See the "How to Register or Apply" sections above once you are ready to begin enrolling.

Modern Languages
Introductory and intermediate intensive modern language courses:

• Develop proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and listening
• Equivalent to a year of instruction
• Culminate in assessments that award foreign language proficiency certifications

Language	Course Number	Title	Start Date	End Date
Arabic	ARAB 20123 91	Summer Intensive Arabic Level 2	6/12	8/4
Chinese	CHIN 20123 91	Summer Intensive Intermediate Chinese	6/12	8/4

 

Ancient Languages
Introductory and intermediate ancient language courses:

• Build and hone reading and comprehension of ancient languages
• Gain familiarity with ancient texts and cultures

Language	Course Number	Title	Start Date	End Date
Ancient Greek	GREK 20123 91	Summer Intensive Intermediate Ancient Greek	6/12	7/21
Latin	LATN 20123 91	Summer Intensive Intermediate Latin	6/12	7/21

For graduate and undergraduate students only. Academic Reading courses are remote, 100 units, and prepare students to read and do research using scholarly texts in the target language. Students will build on their fundamental knowledge of grammar and the most common vocabulary terms used in scholarly writing, while developing reading comprehension skills and working intensively with academic texts in their areas of research specialty.

Academic Reading courses:

• Achieve the skills necessary to analytically read discipline-specific secondary literature
• Develop knowledge of key journals and other sources in your field
• Culminate in the Academic Reading Comprehension Assessment and documentation of reading skills to meet academic or professional needs

There are two levels of reading courses available: Reading for Research Purposes courses help students who already have basic knowledge of the language (i.e., at least one year of university-level study and the ability to read simple paragraphs) develop the ability to read advanced, scholarly texts within their discipline.  Their  foundational prerequisite courses help beginners develop that basic language knowledge and reading skills in preparation. Both courses can be completed in the same summer.

Visit the Summer Academic Reading Offerings page on the UChicago Language Center site to learn more about these courses.

See the UChicago Course Search for additional details- click the drop-down where the term (Autumn 2022 or Winter 2023) is listed and change it to Summer 2023, then search by course number or title.  See the "How to Register or Apply" sections above once you are ready to begin enrolling. 

The Chicago Language Center website has additional details about the Academic Reading courses.

Language	Course Number	Title	Start Date	End Date
French	FREN 13333 91	Reading French for Research Purposes Prerequisite Course	6/12	6/30
French	FREN 33333 91	Reading French for Research Purposes	7/3	8/11
German	GRMN 13333 91	Reading German for Research Purposes Prerequisite Course	6/12	6/30
German	GRMN 33300 91	Reading German for Research Purposes	7/3	8/11
Italian	ITAL 13333 91	Reading Italian for Research Purposes Prerequisite Course	6/12	6/30
Italian	ITAL 33333 91	Reading Italian for Research Purposes	7/3	8/11
Spanish	SPAN 13333 91	Reading Spanish for Research Purposes Prerequisite Course	6/12	6/30
Spanish	SPAN 33333 91	Reading Spanish for Research Purposes	7/3	8/11

September Term SLI

September Term is only open to UChicago students enrolled in the 2023-2024 academic year.  All courses are 100 units, run for 3 weeks from August 28 to September 15, and contains a mixture of in-person and remotely taught courses. 

See the September Term page for program details and the UChicago Course Search for individual course details- click the drop-down where the term (Autumn 2022 or Winter 2023) is listed and change it to Summer 2023, then search by course number or title.  See the "How to Register or Apply" sections above once you are ready to begin enrolling. 

September Term SLI courses include:

• Heritage Language Courses that provide heritage speakers of selected languages the opportunity to strengthen their reading and writing skills, and jump-start their readiness for further coursework.  These courses are open to incoming first years, plus second, third, or fourth years.
• Intensive Introductory French or Spanish III for students who placed into FREN or SPAN 10300, but want to begin Language, History, and Culture I (FREN or SPAN 20100) in Autumn Quarter. These courses are only open to UChicago second, third, or fourth years.

These remote courses are only open to UChicago students who will be going into their first, second, third, or fourth years in 2023-2024.

See the UChicago Course Search for additional details- click the drop-down where the term (Autumn 2022 or Winter 2023) is listed and change it to Summer 2023, then search by course number or title.  See the "How to Register or Apply" sections above once you are ready to begin enrolling. 

Language	Course Number	Title	Start Date	End Date
Spanish	SPAN 10402 91	Heritage Spanish: Developing Foundational Skills	8/28	9/15
Chinese	CHIN 11400 91	Heritage Chinese: Developing Foundational Skills	8/28	9/15

These in-person courses are only open to UChicago students who will be going into their second, third, or fourth years in 2023-2024 and will include enhanced cultural opportunities compared to other quarters.

See the UChicago Course Search for additional details- click the drop-down where the term (Autumn 2022 or Winter 2023) is listed and change it to Summer 2023, then search by course number or title.  See the "How to Register or Apply" sections above once you are ready to begin enrolling. 

Language	Course Number	Title	Start Date	End Date
French	FREN 10300 91	Beginning Elementary French III	8/28	9/15
Spanish	SPAN 10305 91	Intensive Elementary Spanish 3: Exploring Pilsen	8/28	9/15