Uriel Weinreich Summer Program Testimonial: Nobuto Sato, Summer Program ‘17, ‘19, ‘20, &‘25

A Six-Week Life in Yiddish

by NOBUTO SATO, Summer Program ‘17, ‘19, ‘20, & ‘25
2025 Centennial Scholar

I participated in YIVO’s Summer Program for the fourth time to improve my skills in research, as I plan to complete a Ph.D. soon. After spending an intensive and rewarding six weeks, I once again realized how precious it was to have the opportunity to study Yiddish at YIVO.

Coming from a non-Jewish background, it is not easy for me to experience Yiddish as a living language. At YIVO, however, I could learn Yiddish in an immersive environment in which students from diverse backgrounds read, write, hear, speak (and even sing!) in Yiddish.

Adi Mahalel’s Literature course helped me familiarize myself with texts from different time periods, places, genres, and in different orthographies. Every session of Dovid Braun’s Language course was eye-opening because of his deep knowledge about the Yiddish language’s history, geographical variations, and etymological relations with other languages. It was a great honor to work on conversational skills in Shmues with Boris Sandler, who encouraged each of us to be a creative storyteller. Afternoon seminars taught by experts also helped me deepen my knowledge of Yiddish literature.

Participating in the Program in person, I could live a life in Yiddish for six weeks. It was not only attending classes and working on assignments, but also waking up every morning to say gutmorgn to my roommate, discussing weekend plans with other students at coffee breaks, coming across curious Hebrew letters on a signboard in the streets, accidentally talking to a waiter in Yiddish at a restaurant, and having a dream in Yiddish ...

I have just finished the Program, but I am already hoping to return to YIVO. I recommend it to anyone interested in experiencing a life in Yiddish.

Learn more about the Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.