Summer Institute for the Languages of the Muslim World
Learn a Less Commonly Taught Language Over the Summer!
The Summer Institute for Languages of the Muslim World (SILMW) is an annual intensive language institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that focuses specifically on teaching critical languages spoken in the Muslim World.
The program offers intensive courses in a variety of Muslim world languages. Past languages have included: Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, Uzbek, and Wolof.
They also open their doors to motivated high school students for a 2-week intensive Elementary Arabic course. This is an introductory course in Modern Standard Arabic for high school students with limited or no prior knowledge of the Arabic language.
SILMW is open to University of Illinois students and students from other universities and/or high schools. Their goal is to provide students with the opportunity to learn the diverse languages of the Muslim World to set them apart in the international work force. They recognize the strategic and ethical importance of learning less commonly taught languages in an increasingly globalized world. Many of the languages taught at SILMW have been designated as Critical Languages by the US Government.