Bodiford has excellent communication skills. His lectures are very easy to understand, and as long as you\305fre listening as well as taking notes, exams will be fine. As others have said, he speaks rapidly, but his words and ideas are very basic, so there shouldn\305ft be any worries about becoming confused. Start on the research paper the very day he assigns it. He tells you to start on it early because you need to locate tangible sources. He also gives you advice on what to write about and more advice on what exact resources to refer to, so ask him anything. Bodiford is also devoted to a martial art practiced at UCLA called, Kashima Shinryu, so you know that he himself is interested in Japanese culture (and it shows in his lectures, too). If you are interested in Japanese culture, take any class you can with him, and join UCLA Kashima Shinryu.