I was super nervous when I signed up for this class because of all the previous reviews. For context, I am a student minoring in asian languages and was one of the only students in the class that was not proficient in an asian language. This is not an issue at all. The course is entirely taught in english and meets once a week for three hours. THE PROFESSOR WANTS YOU TO SUCCEED. Genuinely, over 50% of the grading you will get an 100 on if you simply attend lecture, ask two questions there and complete a short summary once weekly on the readings. The only two things that can negatively impact your grade are three quizes and a research paper. The quizes are not that bad and for the research paper as long as you stay on track and meet with the professor can be an easy 90+ grade. I think the professor is a wonderful lecturer who truly cares about his students. Do not let the past grade curve scare you off — genuinely people skip the mandatory classses frequently and dont participate in class which is the bare minimum and then get a bad grade but if you just go and are attentive this is a very chill upper division course.