Fairly easy class. The lectures were online and discussion was not mandatory. There were 2 papers, a midterm and final exam. The papers were not bad, the TAs give lots of support. The exams were very fair and not bad. The content gets more advanced week 6 and beyond and you do have to put effort into learning the material but not hard to do well. It's online which I really liked and overall enjoyed taking ling 1.

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.

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.

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.

Everyone wants to take Ling 1 because it's a pre-req for a lot of majors and counts as a science GE, so humanities majors are all over it. In terms of Silvestri herself, I couldn't tell you if she's good or not because I never interacted with her. She uses pre-recorded lectures of Professor Torrence, and her TAs lead the discussion and grade the papers. The midterm and final are online with a lockdown browser and webcam. I understand that this is a huge lecture course (500), but I wish there was a bit more flexibility, especially considering Silvestri is not super engaged with the content. For example, I had a near 100% in the class, but I got a really bad grade on the first analysis paper. Totally understand that this is entirely my fault, but when I went to the TA and asked if I could even get 5 points back, she said Silvestri would never allow it, and she discouraged me from even asking. There are lots of extra credit opportunities, and I'm not trying to avoid taking accountability, but I wish that if there was no involvement from the professor, she would be more accommodating to students who are trying to go above and beyond. I fear this is probably a departmental concern rather than a personal one. Regardless, this is one of the better professors to take this class, and I'm glad I took it.

PROS
-Straightforward
-Online

CONS
-Lots of busywork
-Not that interesting

I think this class was good. I expected to have my socks blown off, but hard to do that asynchronously. At the end of the day, I learned some interesting language facts and got to know the Ling field in a way I had no knowledge of previously. I just wish they weren't so repetitive in lectures, because there was a lot of fluff and repetition that made it difficult to sit through all the material. Elisa Migliaretti was a great TA, make sure you can attend her section. I would be still struggling with IPA had it not been for her.