LNGS 3250

This class was certainly interesting. Coming into the class with absolutely no experience in anything even remotely related to linguistics did put me at a minor disadvantage, but it didn't hurt too much. The content itself wasn't too bad, I think that if you put at least a little time and effort into learning it you'd be fine.

The class period itself was not my favorite. I've never really enjoyed lecture based classes, so if you don't do well with them this class might not be for you. Each class the professor will give you a few papers on a topic that you're supposed to be talking about, but more often than not most of the class is not going to be about what is on those sheets. Classes mostly consist of the professor talking about... something. He'll get sidetracked often, but those conversations are pretty interesting. You basically need to be good at staying attentive when what you thought was going to happen doesn't.

I think my least favorite part of the class was the fact that we barely had any work at all. Don't get me wrong, a lack of work is always great, but after only four assignments throughout the entire semester, the final exam where we didn't receive any help was certainly a challenge. The final exam was nice, it was take home and most of it was open note. After going through all of my notes multiple times I actually felt really confident with the final exam and that I actually learned something so it made me feel good.

Professor Elson is great though. He's very helpful when you come to his office hours, especially on the homework. He can be pretty engaging at times, so it was nice to have him teaching the class. He seems very knowledgeable on the subject too, so I felt reassured that I was learning genuine material.

So yeah, overall it was an okay class. I feel like the content is actually pretty interesting, but the delivery isn't the best. Not entirely my favorite, but I am glad I took it. If you are interested in linguistics at all it is definitely worth your time.

Course- Lecture based, Elson has handouts that he publishes before class, 4 Homework assignments that you usually have 1-2 weeks to complete, Final Exam was 2 analysis problems and a short answer section. No daily homework.
Professor- so boring, and I actually adore linguistics. He gets on tangents all the time about various things that have nothing to do with linguistics. Honestly, I recommend taking other linguistics classes first (specifically ANTH 2430 - Languages of the World) and coming back to this one. Having background knowledge is invaluable to succeeding in this class.
#tCF2020

If you're a first year interested in Linguistics I wouldn't recommend you take this class first. I mean I did it and I am kind of thankful because I learned a lot of theoretical things that gave me the basis for all the other linguistics class, like I think about the deep concepts he talked about and I kind of felt better prepared for other linguistics classes??? but it was harddd. Many people saying it's not bad are probably those who had experience in linguistics before and knew the terms because he would mention some terms and i would be LOSTTTT. That being said I did go to office hours and he was helpful but it to be honest I would leave his office hours still confused and I didn't even know how to explain my confusion at times. I wasn't the only one others were confused too but I ended up with a B (which was to my surprise). I learned a ton and it was very theoretical but I will say I was pretty miserable because I felt so dumb lol. I don't wanna say take it but I don't wanna say don't take it either.

Definitely worth taking! It's very interesting even if you aren't in linguistics. He is a great teacher, too! Although he might appear very intimidating at the beginning he greatly cares about his students.

Although I love Professor Elson, I probably wouldn't recommend taking this class just for fun. Elson really wants his students to deeply think about/understand the material. This results in his lectures becoming repetitive, which is useful (to some extent) but also tedious. The workload isn't bad, since he doesn't assign reading. There are only four assignments and a take-home final. These aren't meant to trick you. In fact, Elson will basically give you the answers if you go to his office hours. You're just supposed to demonstrate *why* they're right in a concise, logical manner. Definitely take the discussion section. The T.A. has access to the rubric and can make sure you know what's expected for each assignment.

This class is really not that bad, especially if you take the discussion with the lecture. Discussion is only 1 credit, and it's so helpful to get to know your TA who will be able to better help you understand what you're doing. Each of the assignments take a long time to do, but after a while they become kind of fun. Elson is also really cute, in a nerdy and dorky way, which for me was entertaining. With some effort, it's a more than doable to get an A. I should also point out that I was taking orgo and orgo lab with this class. If I can do it, you can do it.

Elson is not bad at all, don't believe the reviews! Turning off your phone isn't that hard, and Elson is extremely helpful on every homework assignment -- and there are only four, with no midterm and a take home final. Easy A if you're willing to go to office hours.

Pretty easy class. Elson is kind of eccentric--don't leave your phone on in class, or he'll be very mad. Other than that, the homework assignments are pretty easy, and Elson is fairly entertaining if you ignore the cell phone thing, where you lose a whole letter grade on the course if he becomes aware of yours.

Elson can be funny but his lectures are dry. There are some funny moments (mainly the beginning of class when he complains about things happening in the world). NO CELL PHONES! Not even on vibrate/silent. You can kiss your grade goodbye if you have it on and it goes off during lecture. This is not an easy class (problem sets are not clear and make you frustrated); if you are not a linguistics/cog sci major don't take this class.

This class does not go like an intro course. Elson is funny and I respect his old-fashioned attitude, but it got old. The thing is, the info is weirdly presented and so dull that I was lost half the time--and I have experience in linguistics! Do not take this if you have no experience in linguistics. There are few assignments and almost no reading, so you can feel a little at sea sometimes. Also, it is not about historical linguistics, so (for me) it is pretty uninteresting.

Elson loves what he does and it makes you excited as well. If you're not into linguistics you might find yourself questioning, "who cares?" but you'll enjoy it as time goes on. Also, remember to turn your phone off or on silent when you walk in to class, because if your phone goes off he will flip.

AVOID AVOID AVOID. I thought I wanted to major in Linguistics and thought this would be an interesting class. It was a nightmare. Elson is a nice guy, but the class is hard to follow /confusing and boring. Let's be honest. There are some students who sit in the front and live in Brown and all think Elson is a God. But unless that describes you, AVOID THIS CLASS.

The class is interesting and necessary for linguistics majors, but probably not for others. Elson is a very good professor, but a little persnickity (sp?), and very particular about the way things are done. The class is very helpful for those that are linguistics majors (obviously, it's a requirement), and it was not particularly difficult. I was doing really well in the class but did not do as well on the final so I ended up with an A- instead of the A that I think I deserved.

Never thought about so many abstract concepts pertaining to language. He definitely knows his stuff. This isn't really a practical class unless you are planning to go into linguistic field research, but it helps you think about language on an abstract plane. Erin is a HUGE help because she makes sure you understand the material.

Not my cup of tea exactly, but somewhat interesting. MAKE SURE TO TURN YOUR CELL PHONES OFF BECAUSE HE WILL DROP YOU LETTER GRADES. Sit up front, go to his office hours, and take notes. He repeats everything many times. Corpi might look simple but are hard, BE DETAILED AND CAREFUL

Oh my god, what a nightmare of a course. Whatever you go into thinking the course will be about, it will likely be wrong. Probably one of the most confusing courses I have ever taken. Read the packet of handouts- it has some really good things in there. There was a page in there that suggested what to do on a homework assignment and that saved my butt. The homework assignments are few and far between so make sure to work hard on them and do well. The final counts as a a total of -six- assignments as each of the three sections is counted twice, so study hard and do well on that too. I would not recommend taking this course unless you already know some concepts in linguistics (ironic, considering it is an introductory course).

Despite his tough cell phone policy and intimidating attitude, Elson is actually quite funny. He is extremely nit-picky with words and paying rapt attention to how people use them, but I suppose that's something normal for a Linguistics professor. His lectures were generally easy for me to understand, but the material was sometimes difficult to analyze on your own. The TA, Blake Galbreath, was also very helpful since he's pretty approachable. However, if you don't really care about writing on comparing phonemes and morphemes and phonetic segments, you probably shouldn't take this class...you find yourself just kinda b.s.ing your explanations.

I really enjoyed this class. Professor Elson is kind of crazy and would bring examples of errors in newspaper articles to show us before class, but it was a good kind of crazy and he obviously cares about this approach to linguistics. The assignments were challenging but not impossible and the grading was fair. Blake was great!

The best way to characterize Professor Elson is that he is very old-fashioned. All that means is that he expects you to respect his strict rules, and he will respect you in return. The strict rules, however, are only created to create a positive learning environment and he is extremely helpful and responsive to questions. He also tells hilarious stories, and it is clear that he truly cares about his students. All in all, very good introduction to analytical linguistics--but like somebody else said, maybe take another linguistics class first before you take this one.

Not recommended at at for non-majors!

Elson is a very redundant lecturer. I'm a linguistics major, and I still had to get motivated to go to lecture. Don't make this your first linguistics course: instead look for something in the Anthropology department first and then move into this. It'll make linguistics more interesting and more fun.

Prof. Elson is much nicer and much more helpful in person, so if you need help, definitely go see him outside of class. He comes across as very severe when he lectures and is very picky, but he is willing to help. The class overall was much harder than I expected, so be prepared.

A prerequisite for any major. I personally enjoyed the class. The subject material is interesting and the class isn't too hard if you pay attention and participate in class. I disagree with other reviews in that this class is a waste of time.

Don't bother. You'll work hard just to do well on the assignments and then the final will be nothing like what you've done. If you're not a major, AVOID THIS CLASS!

Don't do it! There are WAY better intro linguistics classes.

The trifling minutia you learn in this class is almost worthless to the curious layman. I do not recommend this class.