Summer Linguistics School
held in Narva-Jõesuu every year since 2001
*excluding 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
*excluding 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
About us
The school is organized in collaboration with the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) and national school linguistics competitions in various countries.
The regular audience of the school are high school and early University students at the approximate age range between 14 and 20 but we tend to accept as listeners everyone with a true passion for linguistics. We’re especially aiming at participants of national olympiads in linguistics but of course not disregarding the kids who just have natural interest in languages and science.
The regular audience of the school are high school and early University students at the approximate age range between 14 and 20 but we tend to accept as listeners everyone with a true passion for linguistics. We’re especially aiming at participants of national olympiads in linguistics but of course not disregarding the kids who just have natural interest in languages and science.
Next up: 2026
We’re happy to announce that the 25th Traditional Summer Linguistics School for high school students this year will be held with approximate dates scheduled as July 13–24, 2026.
- dates: 13.07.2026 – 24.07.2026
- price: 850€ (incl. accomodation, meals, excursion, transfer to and from Tallinn airport)
- language: English
- application deadline: 30.04.2026
- apply in a free format: olevi26@gmail.com
- In your application please write a few words about yourself, your record in linguistics competitions (if any), generally write why you decided to apply, and anything else you find appropriate.
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Previously: 2025
On the second and third weeks of July, 2025, we had a third in row record-breaking, in terms of participants' number, summer school with 39 young people from 15 countries taking part!
Traditionally, there were numerous classes on various fields of theoretical and applied linguistics, this time focusing more on pragmatics and experiments, oral speech analysis, statistical methods in linguistic research, and more. Courses on particular languages were represented by Romanian, Serbian and an intro to Anatolian languages this time.
Traditionally, there were numerous classes on various fields of theoretical and applied linguistics, this time focusing more on pragmatics and experiments, oral speech analysis, statistical methods in linguistic research, and more. Courses on particular languages were represented by Romanian, Serbian and an intro to Anatolian languages this time.
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Previously: 2024
In July 2024 we had a record-breaking summer school with 38 participants from 14 countries taking part alongside with 16 lecturers from 9 countries, impressive!
The students were introduced into various fields of modern linguistic knowledge, such as phonetics and phonology, general syntax, etymology, various layers of pragmatics, basics of field work, status of endangered languages, language spread and diversity, different aspects of applied linguistics, etc. Traditionally, courses on several languages of the world were given in the afternoon, this time including Karaim, Polish, Estonian and Basque.
Additionally, every day the students had a chance to practice their skills in solving linguistic problems. 6 of our participants travelled further on to Brazil after the School to take part in the International Linguistics Olympiad, three of them winning prizes:
Olga Besova (Israel): 🥉 bronze medal
Ignacy Jackl (Poland): 🥉 bronze medal
Mikhail Iomdin (Germany): 🥈 silver medal
Halfway through the school we also had a very interesting and informative excursion to Narva guided by the quite famous local guide Alexander Openko, many thanks to him for being with us on that day!
As it happens every year, everyone also had a lot of fun in the evenings playing various language games, practising historical dances in the parking lot, which has also already become a tradition, and sometimes simply gazing at the breathtaking Baltic Sea sunsets.
We also plan to publish presentations of some courses with general permission of the teachers, stay tuned!
The students were introduced into various fields of modern linguistic knowledge, such as phonetics and phonology, general syntax, etymology, various layers of pragmatics, basics of field work, status of endangered languages, language spread and diversity, different aspects of applied linguistics, etc. Traditionally, courses on several languages of the world were given in the afternoon, this time including Karaim, Polish, Estonian and Basque.
Additionally, every day the students had a chance to practice their skills in solving linguistic problems. 6 of our participants travelled further on to Brazil after the School to take part in the International Linguistics Olympiad, three of them winning prizes:
Olga Besova (Israel): 🥉 bronze medal
Ignacy Jackl (Poland): 🥉 bronze medal
Mikhail Iomdin (Germany): 🥈 silver medal
Halfway through the school we also had a very interesting and informative excursion to Narva guided by the quite famous local guide Alexander Openko, many thanks to him for being with us on that day!
As it happens every year, everyone also had a lot of fun in the evenings playing various language games, practising historical dances in the parking lot, which has also already become a tradition, and sometimes simply gazing at the breathtaking Baltic Sea sunsets.
We also plan to publish presentations of some courses with general permission of the teachers, stay tuned!
