LING 2430

If you read only one thing about this class, then let it be this: Don't take this if you have no interest in linguistics whatsoever. I highly suggest taking a more linguistic-anthropology-ish class instead of this if you would like a more general intro to linguistics (ANTH 2400, ANTH 2415, EDHS 4310, even ANTH 3541). Those are also probably easier than this (not that this is particularly hard - easy A for sure).

Languages of the World (previously ANTH 2430) is a more theoretical introduction to linguistics than an overview of the languages of the world. You go over the language families of the world for like two weeks at the end of the semester, so the name of the class does feel a bit misleading. You can tell Armik is very passionate about the subject, and he really wants that to translate to the students, but it just didn't happen. The homeworks were medium/hard difficulty and never truly aligned with the lectures, as they were far more theoretical than what we were taught. Office hours (TA and professor office hours) and discussion section were a godsend for the weeks when we had homework. TA Karolina was a lifesaver sometimes. The exams felt like the homeworks (so they were hard), but with a tiny bit more content from the reading. It's definitely doable to get higher than an 85 on the hws and exams, but not easy certainly.

There were 3 hws, 2 midterm exams, and 3 flash-presentations that were a part of our grade. Extensions are granted generously, and tonssss extra credit is awarded to those who show up to lecture and discussion. I think I had like 15 points of extra credit added to my grade, but I'm not sure. (Armik is aware that this extra credit is the reason most people end with an A.) The flash-presentations were also super easy, so that was great.

While you are bound to end with an A in this class, it just isn't worth it for getting a gen ed requirement out of the way (there are much easier classes). Even for the cog sci major, you'll probably be better off taking another class instead of this for the linguistics requirement. You have to be genuinely interested in linguistics. This class is great to take before LNGS 3250 if you are a linguistics major/minor, though, so I do recommend this for those people.