<p>Has anyone taken this class? I tried looking for previous and helpful threads about this but I couldn't find any. There is a limit of 18 but there are only 11 people signed up. I have no background in Russian or Slavic, but am fluent in a few Romance languages. I'm very interested in learning languages but I'm not sure about the 5 units. Is it hard?</p>
<p>I’ve taken a few language classes at Berkeley, and while the difficulty of the class depends on what kind of language it is, all the courses are the same in that they involve A LOT of work. Daily homework assignments, weekly tests, sometimes weekly quizzes, oral exams/presentations, hours spent in the language lab–not to mention the extra time you take on your own to learn the langugage, such as memorizing vocab. Also, isn’t Russian a particularly difficult language to learn? That’s what I’ve heard, anyway. I’m not saying any of this to discourage you, but just be prepared to do a lot of work if you want to end up with an A AND learn the language well. If you’re really determined to learn Russian and will put in the effort to learn the language everyday, on your own and outside of class, then go for it.</p>
<p>Can I ask what languages you took at Berkeley? :)</p>
<p>Sure. I’ve taken Mandarin (only one semester, lol, was too much work for me though I really wanted to continue–I probably would have if I was better at memorizing the characters) and Hindi (up through Intermediate). I definitely enjoyed both classes, though they’ve been a lot of work. Another plus that I forgot to mention about language classes is that since they’re small and you do a lot of group work, you get to know your classmates better and they’re a good way to make friends.</p>
<p>My daughter just finished the first semester and is going on to the second. I know there were only 12 in her class and it seemed like an interesting group with some grad students; students with different majors, etc. She did really well and had never taken Russian (or anything like it before). I’ll send you a pm if I can get more info in the next few days.</p>