DISCLAIMER! The title of this class is misleading AF. SpanM35 is a full-on linguistics course. There was hardly anything related to Spanish or Portuguese.

Now, this class was a nightmare for me. It was hard, boring, and abstract. Although professor Quicolli is very nice, he is a terrible lecturer. He goes on these tangents that are not related or beyond the scope of the class. The key to passing this course is to pay him a visit during office hours. I did exactly that every single week and managed to understand the homework assignments, which he assigns every week. The assignments start off relatively easy and progress in difficulty. The midterm and the final weren't too bad. Although, the final is definitely harder than the midterm. Get ready to learn about syntax trees and Noam Chomsky. Best of luck

I am a civil engineering major and I am really glad I took this class, since it made my first quarter at UCLA that much more enjoyable. This was a pretty easy class, but there are some things to keep in mind:

First thing's first: the name is misleading. This class is about 98% linguistics and only about 2% Spanish/Portuguese. Don't be fooled by the course description; you really will spend much more time learning about linguistic/grammatical/phonetic concepts than about applying Spanish and/or Portuguese on a higher level. However, I was totally cool with that because it was new material for me and also focused on the relationship between language and the brain, which I thought was fascinating.

The professor himself is very nice and lots of fun. He often laughs at a lot of his own jokes, which is something you don't see in very many professors here. As far as tardiness, he must have been okay with it because there have been many days where the class would fill up and wait until five minutes after the lecture was supposed to start for him to arrive. His lectures can be interesting but also kind of repetitive, so make sure you take notes anyway so that your mind doesn't wander.

Grading-wise, the homework is the most challenging/heavily-weighted part of the course (I believe it was 40%). This may sound intimidating, but you should have about a week to do each assignment (sometimes more, and maybe a little less), and the assignments themselves are pretty doable, just a few questions on language structures/language disorders with a little explanation involved. If you're unclear on how to do something on the homework, make use of the resources you have, like office hours (which can fill up pretty fast). The exams were a piece of cake; the midterm covered everything from the start of class, but the final was only on everything after the midterm (and by the way, he will drop your lowest homework score!)

Overall, I do recommend this class. Whether you're planning on a major or career in languages/linguistics or just want to knock out a GE, I would look into it.

- Please keep in mind that the majority of the reviews in this section belong to students in a GRADUATE program. I am writing this for the UNDERGRAD M35 CLASS-

I want to be really nice about this class, but with all honesty, this class was incredibly boring and soooo long... 2 hours that felt like an eternity each class.
In order to pass this class with an at least decent grade, you need to do the assignments and make sure to get an A in at least 5 of them (a B in on of them is acceptable and then he drops your worst grade so its technically 6 out of the 7 assignments that count) and basically do B average on the tests.
The tests are complex and basically, it's okay if you don't necessarily understand the concepts, just memorizing the steps or the definitions is basically where it's at.
Also, attending office hours is YOUR BEST FRIEND. I didn't go to OH until like half way to the quarter and they helped a ton. However, I wouldn't say that the professor is the one necessarily useful in the office hours (don't get me wrong, he does help but not in the best format) but your peers are really helpful too.
I wouldn't miss a single class if I were you because as it is, being in class itself can have you hella confused, now imagine missing 2 HOURS OF ONE CLASS. You will be HELLA X1000 confused.
You have weekly hw assignments due every week and maybe it sounds like a lot of time, but when they are really confusing, one week feels like 2 days.
He also mentions that he is going to give pop-quizes- also a lie. Dude only gave us like 1 QUIZ and it was the easiest thing ever.
Overall, I would give the class a 5/10 but the Professor a 8/10 because he was nice and patient with my slow ass. However, I would never take it again. EVERRRR.

A very boring class and lectures are way too long. Professor Quicoli knew what he was talking about and was really nice but repeated what he talked about the previous lecture for about an hour. The lectures are a pain to be in but it honestly makes sense to come in mid-lecture. If you can stand boring lectures, but want an easy A, take this class. Get Polina as a TA.

BORING. SO BORING. TWO HOURS OF PAINFUL, TORTUROUS BOREDOM.

That being said, Professor Quicoli is a nice guy who cares about his students and probably knows a lot about linguistics ... although his redundancy would make it seem like he only has a limited knowledge.

Seriously, he is not a good lecturer. He is extremely soft-spoken, which you would think could be remedied by a microphone, but every day, without fail, he and his TAs would say that the microphone wasn't working/didn't have batteries. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET BATTERIES/A FUNCTIONING MIC?

If you're looking for a rewarding and stimulating experience, don't take this class, but if you just want an easy philosophical/linguistic analysis GE that you'll most likely get an A in, go for Spanish 35. (P.S. If you can get POLINA VASILIEV as a TA, do so. She's really good/knows her stuff.)

Really nice guy and easy A but lectures are sooo boring!

This professor is EXCELLENT!!! Do not hesitate to to take this class. Although the concepts can be confusing and complex, the professor reviews the material carefully so everyone can understand it. He also holds office hours and the TAs are AWESOME! They explain everything clearly. The exams are fair and do not try to trick you. Just make sure to study the homeworks, which are graded carefully, but the TAs make sure to ask you in section if you are confused about certain parts. Read the book to get a general idea and help you on homework. But for exams, you can just study the homework assignments and perhaps consult the book if you need extra help with something. Go to lectures and pay attention. It truly will behoove you to do so. His lectures tend to be highly detailed and complicated but just scan over the notes before exams. Professor Quicoli is a warm, kind man and very intelligent. You will learn so much and it will change the way you look at language, mind, etc. EXCELLENT!

Classes taken: M35, M118A. So easy. I can't imagine anything easier than this. I took M35 and M118A in the summer and he went very slowly in both classes. Assignments were especially easy in the summer (I heard that during school year the TAs grade more harshly). Just do your homework (which he will give out most of the answers during class), study a little (don't overstudy) for the midterm and final. Final grade: A+ IN BOTH CLASSES!!!!! For some reason M118A is even easier than M35, and I thought M35 was one of the easiest classes I have taken already.

i just took it this past summer ('06). this class was pretty boring because he would go off on random tangents and stuff. i fell asleep in class a lot, but i really didnt miss much anyway. both my midterm and final were take home, so that was really cool of him. HW was woth 50%, final 30%, midterm 20%. easy class.. easy GE. he's a nice guy, even if he goes over everything like 10 times...

Professor Quicoli is one of the niceset professors at UCLA. He really makes sure students are able to understand the material. The lectures are really repetitive, and some periods will basically be a review of last time. The homeworks he gives out are pretty easy and at a real reasonable pace. 2 of the homework due dates got postponed because students said they were too hard (they weren't too bad though). The midterm and final were a piece of cake. A great, easy class.