first homework genuinely took 10+ hours, participation is mandatory via pop quizzes, and you have a final project paper on a language however the professor will not let you use most mainstream languages but also wants you to have a source that speaks the language. Homework is intense/research heavy and you will spend hours looking through academic resources for samples of languages. no zoom options

This class isn't terribly difficult, and you can learn some interesting stuff. Lecture attendance is mandatory because there are pop quizzes that make up a fair amount of your grade. Homework assignments can be very time-consuming as you need to do research on sometimes obscure languages. Throughout the class you will have assignments on a language of your choice (many languages are banned for being too common -- most western European languages, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.) so be sure to choose a language with plenty of information on grammar available online. Lectures can be quite dry but Prof. Mahajan is nice enough and cares about what he teaches.

Dear brethren,

Prepare yourselves for a journey into the abyss of academic absurdity, for I have a cautionary tale to share about Professor Mahajan’s linguistic escapades.

Attendance, my dear sisters, was not just mandatory; it was akin to a sentence in purgatory. Picture yourself trapped for two agonizing hours, twice a week, in the desert of monotony, with the occasional surprise quiz lurking in the shadows like a stealthy ninja ready to strike at any moment. Oh, and don't even think about escaping during the mid-lecture break – that's when the real fun begins.

Homework, if one dare call it that, was a soul-crushing endeavor, consuming at least hours upon hours per assignment. And heaven forbid you chose a language with less online presence than a hermit crab in a desert – you might as well be searching for the Holy Grail.

Lectures, my fellow seekers of linguistic enlightenment, were a spectacle of triviality. Professor Mahajan delighted in tossing around fun facts about language commonalities as if they were confetti at a dismal party. Yes, this was the very essence of the class – drowning in a sea of linguistic minutiae that could sustain several lifetimes of cocktail party banter.

So, my sisters, tread with the utmost caution if you dare to venture into the realm of Professor Mahajan’s linguistic labyrinth. For what awaits you is not just a class, but a test of endurance, a battle of wits against the forces of linguistic ennui.

Yours in scholarly skepticism,

I'm a CS major taking a Linguistics Sci-Tech and this class was a great decision to take. He's pretty slow in his teaching, so it can get easy to get bored in class. But the content is pretty easy to understand and the homework is very straightforward. The exams are the same as the homework except easier. And the final paper is a piece of cake you can just copy and paste your answers from the homework.

SISTERS, I WAS FOOLED-- DO NOT LISTEN TO THE OTHER REVIEWERS!

Attendance was mandatory: 2 hours of the most bone-dry lectures imaginable, twice a week, with the occasional pop quizzes that can happen anytime during lecture (yes, even after the mid-lecture break)

Homework was dismal, taking at least 5 hours / assignment. Possibly more if the language you chose for your project does not have much data online.

Lectures consists of the professor tossing around fun facts about language commonalities (this is the premise of the entire class). This was enough trivia for several lifetimes.

If you dont believe me, look at the grade distribution of spring 2023: 25% with a C- or below. Tread with the utmost caution.

sisters this is the best class i have taken at this dumbass university. sisters none of you are ready for the immense and overwhelming beauty that is anoop mahajan. this class was a breeze while not being like dumb busywork or dry lectures. some other reviewer said that his lectures were boring. mmmm i guess i could see where that person is coming from but i still think theyre wrong tbh. mahajan could make the most boring syntax topic into an in depth and LONG but engaging tangent it was very interesting taking this class.

"English is the most language." -Anoop Mahajan

First of all, his lectures are incredibly boring. INCREDIBLY boring. All he really does is read straight from the course reader for 2 hours, so lecture is kind of pointless, but you have to go to get your hw assignments and for pop quizzes. He emails you a PDF of the course reader for free though, so this class is cost-free which is a major plus. As a person, Mahajan was kind of rude - never to me, but sometimes I would get uncomfortable at how he spoke to other students in class for minor things that interrupted his lecture (like when someone sneezed). He REALLY hates cell phones and will scream at you if you pull one out or if it buzzes. Also try to not fall asleep in class, one time he threw chalk at a guy who was sleeping.

Our breakdown was:
Pop quizzes: 5%
HW: 35%
Midterm: 25%
Final: 25%
Final project: 10%

The pop quizzes were super easy, you get to use your notes and they're basically just a way of taking attendance in lecture. Discussion is not mandatory, it's just helpful to go if you have questions about the homework. The main theme of this class was to pick a project language, one that you don't natively speak, and analyze its syntax in your HW assignments. Homework is a large packet of analyzing some sample data from a random language and then providing data about your project language. Stuff with your project language is easy, but analyzing the given data can be challenging. DON'T wait until the last minute to start the homeworks, they do take a while. The midterm was basically just the analysis part of a normal HW assignment, except 5000x easier. I finished the 2-hour test in 20 minutes and got a 100 on it. The final was slightly harder, but same idea. You get 2 pages front/back of notes for the midterm and 3 front/back for the final. The final project is just a final writeup of the data from your project language, which you should already have from the HW assignments throughout the quarter. Just combine all your past HWs into a formal paper and apply feedback from the TA and you'll do completely fine on the project.

As a south campus major (and Ling minor), I'm used to classes that have high-stress, no-notes tests. It was kind of stressful to have a decent amount of homework due every week, but it made up for it midterm and finals week when I didn't have to study for this class at all! - just had to copy some stuff from the course reader onto my cheat sheet. Overall, it was a pretty easy A+ that just took some time set aside each week to do well on the HWs. Would recommend / take again!

First of all, if you're a ling major at UCLA, TAKE 127! Regardless of the professor, take it! It's such a fantastic class.

Professor Mahajan teaches the material in an extremely understandable, clear manner. I think some students thought his teaching style to be a bit dull or slow-paced, but the topics each week make up for that imo. He's a really knowledgable, approachable guy. The homework assignments take quite a while, so start early. He refuses to post any homework or handouts online, so make sure to attend class (he won't give you an extra copy for a friend). If you do well on the assignments, you'll do great on the midterm and final. They were challenging as hell, but I felt truly prepared for them due to the work given throughout the quarter.

Take him!