Yusuf Saadi

2023 WISLI Bengali Student

Why did you choose to study at WISLI? What motivated you to choose our program?

As a poet and student whose parents are from Bangladesh, I’ve wanted to improve my Bengali for personal, artistic, and academic reasons for quite some time. Unfortunately, there aren’t as many opportunities to study non-Western languages as Western languages in academia, and especially in Canada, and SASLI was one of the few places that offered a higher-level Bengali course that was accessible to me as a Canadian.

How has learning a less commonly taught languages enriched your personal and professional life?

It has improved my confidence to speak Bengali with others, has exposed to me to new Bengali artists, and has provided me the foundations to continue studying Bengali literature at higher levels.

What about WISLI/UW-Madison stands out to you?

The intensive course structure allows students to learn quite a bit in a short time, and takes place in the summer when students tend to have some downtime.

How do you plan to apply proficiency of your target language and cultural skills to your personal/professional journey?

I hope to read Bengali literature for my PhD and for my personal artistic development.

What were some of the highlights of your program? What events did you particularly enjoy?

I enjoyed being in class with my peers on a day-to-day basis and learning about their academic and personal interests all while talking in Bengali.

What role did the WISLI Tuition Scholarship play when you were making decisions? How would you encourage other students who might be interested in the scholarship to apply?

I simply would not have been able to do the program without the Scholarship. As a Canadian, the program was still expensive even with the scholarship, which was a challenge for me as I don’t come from wealth.

What advice would you give to students who want to study the same language as you?

Try to read a newspaper every day to gain exposure to more formal registers of Bengali.

What is your favorite expression in the language you studied this summer?

নরক— meaning hell—is my favourite word as it the sound-qualities of the word sound, well, hellish. My favourite expression is আমি তোমাকে উপরে পাঠাবো, which literally means I will send you upstairs, but has the connotation of “I will send you to the afterlife,” which I find hilarious.