The fifth Lakota Summer Institute was completed June 6th-24th having seen 74 participants and 21 classes in three weeks. Sunshine Carlow, Education Manager for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said that she noticed a “more relaxed attitude” in general as learners and speakers found it easier to communicate with each other in Lakota. Students arrived from New Mexico, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Illinois, as well as from all across the Dakotas. Carlow also said that budget cuts at tribal schools meant that many teachers had to attend at their own expense, and many came for just one week instead of the full three-week schedule. The lower daytime attendance numbers were more than made up for by high enrollment in the new intensive Lakota courses in the evenings, led by LLC Linguistic Director Jan Ullrich. This immersive class was considered very successful, and contributed to a different atmosphere of learning that got students energetically engaged with speaking and listening.Classes to prepare teachers for immersion teaching were also well-received. This new course of study was led by Mr. Francois Fouquerel, an instructor with the Concordia Language Villages. Concordia is a language-immersion summer camp in Minnesota, which gathers youngsters in “villages” for extended immersion in a foreign language.LSI is always constructed in class schedules that serve different levels of experience in speaking and teaching. In 2011 there were four schedules that guided attendees through instruction appropriate for their needs. “These three weeks always deliver a transformative amount of information,” said LLC Executive Director Wil Meya. “Some participants have said this experience is like going through West Point, training for a language revitalization battle. Our intent is always to create positive attitude and hope in our teachers.”