I found ling1 a very interesting class. Human language is a very interesting concept, and if you have the slightest bit of interest in language learning or linguistics, I highly recommend taking this class. If you already know you despise linguistics, you may want to not take this class.
I found Giuseppina's lectures interesting, but honestly For Ling1, the professor you have doesn't matter. Even though it's required to attend Zoom lectures live, (or to watch the lectures and take a quiz), none of the content discussed in the lectures is tested. Instead, material from prerecorded lectures by Harold and a few by Russel (R.i.p.) cover the course material. Harold gives very in depth coverage of the material, and pretty much verbatim of the textbook. Even though the lectures are long, I suggest watching them and paying attention. Russel covers the last two weeks, but his lectures are less in depth so you may want to read the textbook.
It's also required to attend a discussion section each week, but due to the distance learning, you were able to attend whichever you desire. Material in the discussion sections will be tested, so it's good to pay attention(Phillip Barnett covers the material well).
The analysis papers are relatively simply and easy to write. Just hit all the points on the rubric and you should be able to get an A. Though I have heard certain T.A's grade harder. Gabriel Teixeira graded my papers, and I think he's a pretty easy grader (my papers kind of sucked but I still got 100%).

I think the hardest part about this class is getting into it in the first place. This will be the easiest class you can get for the Linguistic analysis GE, and it is very well run. I took it when it was completely asynchronous, watching online pre-recorded lectures, but in person wouldn't be much different because most of the grade is made up of the 2 analysis papers, the mid-term and the final. And, having the midterm or final online doesn't really change a whole lot, you can't cheat your way to an A because of what this class really tests on. Furthermore, she gave us the phonetic and IPA charts for the final exam which was all you really need, plus it means you don't have to memorize the symbols. I definitely put off doing work in this class because it was asynchronous, and I think it is better taught in person. That being said, 25% of the grade is based off 6 homework assignments, all of which are on a quizlet somewhere. The 2 analysis papers, each worth 15% of the final grade, are very strait forward. They don't grade that hard, depending on your TA. The 2nd one does require some more thought, but she gives you example papers which helps a lot. For the first paper, I originally got an 84 but felt my TA graded to harsh, talked to him, and he changed it to a 98 (shoutout Zia I love you, you are a god). She is VERY understanding (won't move test dates but reach out to her for anything) and HAs make themselves available especially for clarifying sections of the essays which can be confusing. Also, you can get up to 3 EC points by being a test subject for the UCLA psychology pool and taking the Respondus test early. If you have a good enrollment time and need to fulfill this Ge USE IT.

Easiness – 4 It was fine, it wasn’t too bad, the only reason I didn’t give a 5 for the class is because of the stupid analysis papers. I got such low grades on them; this was partially because of the TA strike so I couldn’t talk to my TA about what they expected from the papers. They were such a pain to do and the absolute worst part of the class. Other than that the class was mostly fine.

Clarity – 5 You don’t ever get instruction from the professor and the professor making the lectures is someone else who is pretty clear, but all the directions should be there in the module for you to succeed.

Helpfulness – 3 I have never interacted with this professor hence why 3, neutral, so I couldn’t tell you how helpful she is, but based on the emails and reminders she sends about everything I think she is pretty helpful

Overall – 2 – The online lectures were kind of annoying despite it being the same as a regular lecture just having the freedom to do it whenever you want, I guess for me I didn’t really like it. The content was interesting, but It really was not presented in the most interesting way. Also the essays were the worst thing. Overall I wouldn’t say this class is “free” and didn't entirely enjoy the class.

Very manageable class. This GE has a slightly heavier workload compared to GEs ive taken in the past, but has definitely been one of the most interesting ones ive taken so far--highly recommend it. The asynchronous option is so nice as I'm able to fit it into my schedule however I like. The class itself is pretty easy as long as you watch the recorded lectures, work on homeworks with a friend, and put sufficient effort into the essays. There are 2-3 interesting lecture videos per week and can range from 1 to 3 hours of total watch time (I watched them all at 2x speed and took notes; no need to do the textbook readings). The tests are taken online using Respondus and they are much easier than the homeworks. Essays are also pretty easy as long as you cite sources and follow directions carefully. I didn't attend any discussion sections and I did fine. As long as you keep up with the course each week and spend adequate time watching/studying, you'll do fine. Highly recommend taking this class.

This is not an easy A class, but it is if you are good at staying on top of it. I found most of the other Bruinwalk reviews to be misleading, so here is my honest review. The professor made the course a little harder, but I didn't seem to struggle with it except for the analysis papers. Midterm and final followed conceptually from the lecture and were mostly on weeks 4-6 (phonetics, morphology, and syntax). Phonetics is pretty easy if you know how to use the consonant and vowel chart on the exams. IPA is very easy if you memorize the symbols and practice now and then. Morphology is pretty basic and common sense. Syntax is very hard, especially with syntax trees and phrase structure rules. All of these shouldn’t be a problem if you practice. The exams had no webcam but were administered via respondus, so you could easily look at your notes. Homework was pretty tough and were tougher than the exams. You can look for these answers on Quizlet or use chat GPT, but they aren’t usually correct since the professor is always changing them every quarter. I posted all the updated homework answers on Studocu in case they pop up for future Ling1 students who are reading this. Analysis papers are annoying and require deep research on YouTube. I’ve heard the TAs grade them strictly, so it’s important to hit all the points on the rubric. I may get a bad grade on my first one since I provided the wrong timestamps in my examples for one section but am feeling confident on my 2nd paper. [update] I got an A on my first analysis paper and B+ on the second one. Overall, review your notes every week and attend discussions for practice because it’s a lot of content. My best advice is to watch the lecture videos first and then watch it a second time and take notes. I did that and it helped me so much for exams and discussions. The class will be easy as long as you watch the lecture videos not at 2x speed and take 2-3 hours of notes per video. Doing this strategy, I got a (top 10%) 49/50 on the midterm and I just got my score back on the final and got a 57/59 (top 15%). If you do all of these, you will get an A. Also, the extra credit should get you to at least an A or A- if you do it. I finished the class with a 99.5 because of the extra credit fyi. Don’t let the grade distribution fool you though.

I loved the content of this class super fun and easy, and great if you need to fufill a GE or pre-req.

Take this class with Silvestri and bonus points if your TA is Hannah! They are both such wonderful Linguistics professors and I'm glad to have taken Morphology with these instructors :D. The class have 2 quizzes through canvas (not timed) and you have a whole week to do so. The main assignment in this class is a giant research project that's separated into 3 sections: Prospectus, mid development, and the final paper. Don't worry, these can seem like a lot of work and it is. But just put a decent amount of time and effort onto the paper and you'll do great.
Also don't be shy to ask the professor or the TA for help. They will be gladly to help you and Silvestri is just a wonderful professor! Many linguistics student will say so!

Anyways have fun in this class and don't give up!

Overall - this is an easier class to achieve an A. The papers were time consuming however there isn't much work other than that. Exams were conceptual and followed from lectures - I struggled a bit with the IPA/phonetics unit with translating audio to IPA and vice versa, but practicing problems in discussion and lecture helped a lot for this.

This class was extremely easy and was completely asynchronous. The analysis papers were a little annoying, but I think my TA just graded harsher than everyone else. Overall, this class is a really easy GE.

the class wasn't too bad, the final had difficult questions but u could prolly get away w forgetting abt this class all quarter and studying two weeks before the final/midterm. the homeworks r alr and the extra credit opportunities r nice. it kinda j depends on ur ta and how they grade ur essays cuz some r chill but ik some ppl got strict tas and their grades tanked cuz of their essay grades.