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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics by Universiteit Leiden

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2,356 ratings

About the Course

Everywhere, every day, everybody uses language. There is no human society, no matter how small or how isolated, which does not employ a language that is rich and diverse. This course introduces you to linguistics, featuring interviews with well-known linguists and with speakers of many different languages. Join us to explore the miracles of human language! The Miracles of Human Language introduces you to the many-faceted study of languages, which has amazed humans since the beginning of history. Together with speakers of many other languages around the world, as well as with famous linguists such as Noam Chomsky and Adele Goldberg, you will learn to understand and analyse how your native tongue is at the same time similar and different from many other languages. You will learn the basic concepts of linguistics, get to know some of the key features of big and small languages and get insight into what linguists do. This course gives an introduction into the study of languages, the field of linguistics. With the support of the basic linguistic terminology that is offered in the course, you will soon be able to comment both on variety between languages, as well as on a single language’s internal structure. Anyone who wishes to understand how languages work, and how they can give us insight into the human mind is very welcome to join. The course is useful if you want to get a fairly quick introduction into linguistics, for instance because you are considering studying it further, or because you are interested in a neighbouring discipline such as psychology, computer science or anthropology. Furthermore, the course will help you develop analytical skills. If you are curious to understand how language works and how it gives insight into the human mind, this course is definitely for you!...

Top reviews

DC

Sep 23, 2017

Extremely informational, well presented, with questions that stimulate reflection. The optional reading material is food for thought. I hope to see more courses from the same professor and University.

NI

Mar 10, 2021

The course was well-organised and very interesting. It covered the different aspects of linguistics wonderfully and prompted me to delve further into specific fields of linguistics such as phonetics.

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126 - 150 of 716 Reviews for Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics

By Leen A A

Apr 9, 2022

As Martin said: "Everyone wants to study Linguistics after this course."

Well-prepared and explained. Effort is obvious, especially in the lastly added module 'Language in the Brain.'

Topics are nicely simplified to everyone interested in the field regardless of their level of knowledge.

Really appreciated and recommended.

By Daria Z

Oct 25, 2020

The course is very concise, but informative. The professor structures his lectures in a very enthusiastic way, providing a lot of examples, illustrations and reading materials. I really liked the idea of combining lectures with discussions, mini quizzes and interviews with specialists from various fields of linguistics.

By Alison S

Jan 2, 2018

Great variety of topics, perfect if you have no background in linguistics. Very impressed with the explanations of theory which were balanced with plenty of relevant examples. Some assignments seemed daunting at first, but the reading material provided was usually enough to pass the quizzes. Thanks for this course!

By firdaus

Mar 31, 2018

In everyday life we don't even think about our privilege in communicating with each other as human beings and what a complex mechanism it is. From finite quantity of words we can build infinite number of meaningful sentences. Isn't that a miracle? The course was very interesting and useful. I am very thankful.

By Felipe S

Jun 11, 2020

Quite complete, you can study many fields of linguistics and go deep into them by the readings and the special guests the course include within your weeks. It really helped me to decide what to study now and become a specialist in the field. I would recommend it completely. I'd love to see the second part of it.

By Arina R

Jul 2, 2017

Great course, very interesting. The level is quite high compared to other courses. The quizzes really do test you knowledge very thoroughly. The teacher's enthusiasm is contagious, and the video's with the two students are a nice change of pace from watching just one person talk. All in all an excellent course.

By Annick K

Oct 24, 2022

This course was very insightful and a great introduction to linguistics. When I signed up for it six weeks ago, I didn't know what to expect, and now I'm fascinated by the subject and want to explore more language related courses. Truly one of the miracles! Thank you for offering such in-depth studies online.

By Mari C

Mar 22, 2021

Extremely interesting subject. The discussions were somewhat helpful as was the recommended/required reading. The professor presented the material in an easy to understand format. I am very happy to have taken this course. Looking forward to learning more about language acquisition, social language, etc.

By Alfonso H M

May 20, 2019

I just simply loved this course. The best MOOC I have ever taken. Very well and easily explained with extremely engaging topics.

The only thing I would change would be to lower the percentage pass of the exams. Some of them are very difficult, especially the questions about the informants.

Thank you so much!

By Gracie C

Jan 30, 2021

This was an absolutely stellar course. It was a nice overview of linguistics, and you guys even talked about different opinions in the field. I really hope you guys make more linguistics courses! Perhaps consider making ones that go into more depth about certain subfields, like phonology or morphology.

By Laura C

Sep 6, 2017

This was my first course on Coursera! Really enjoyable and challenging as well. It reactivated my thirst for knowledge and made me feel like taking more courses. Many thanks to the professors and the students who participated in the videos and helped putting together such a wonderful series of lessons.

By Smira D

Jun 26, 2020

The Course has been extremely helpful for my introduction to linguistics. As an ameture, I was reluctant if i'll be able to understand the course, but Prof and his students Marten and Inge made everything so easy and fun to learn. I have gained a lot of knowledge and it has been an amazing experience!

By Colleen S

Jul 17, 2017

Highly recommended! This was my first Coursera course and I will never forget it. I took it before taking Linguistics at UMass. It helped me immensely and really got me interested in the subject. Now I am taking a TESOL certification course. To say this course opened doors for me is an understatement.

By Шушарина Д Ю

Feb 10, 2021

Loved it. The course helped me understand what the science of languages is about a bit deeper. Which has helped me a lot to gain more knowledge at my own University. Thank you for the most interesting representation of such a difficult material. And special thanks for the interview with Noam Chomsky!

By Apoorva R B

Oct 11, 2020

This course covers a lot of topics in Linguistics. The level of detail is just enough such that it remains continuously challenging and interesting, but not so deep that one can get lost in the details. I highly recommend taking this course if you're looking for a broad introduction to the subject.

By Roberta R

Nov 3, 2018

The lectures are extremely easy to follow even for somebody who has never heard of linguistics before. The required readings and suggested bibliography were extremely interesting and will give me something to work on even now that I have completed the course. Thanks for creating this great course!

By Dilan K

Oct 12, 2021

with Prof. Marc van Oostendorp and his team, it has been incredibly efficient and useful course. We were never bored following the lessons and learned all the details of the language science in a summary way in 6 weeks. In addition, quizzes also became part of the teaching process. Thank you...

By Cecilia A

Jun 20, 2020

Really interesting material! Sometimes i found the quiz questions about the language informants really difficult to answer, likely because I didn't speak any of those languages. But the professor and his assistants were really great-- knowledgeable and easy to listen to. I really enjoyed this!

By Maerfuha

Oct 31, 2020

I like this course very much. This course is very interesting. The examples given are also very detailed. In the examples, the speakers are native speakers, which makes me feel very good. The content of the lecture is very substantial, the course schedule is very compact but very interesting.

By Adam F

Jun 15, 2018

I though that the lay out of the course was engaging and interesting. Though, it wasn't easy at the same time and really challenged me to think in a completely different manner to the way that I usually do. Thank you very much for the assistance I needed to find something I want to pursue.

By Fawad K

Jun 17, 2022

The course was completed successfully. It was an enthralling course in which I learned a lot. The course covers almost every aspect of linguistics. I highly suggest it to everyone interested in linguistics, especially multidisciplinary persons who want to learn more about the subject.

By Vishruti D

Jul 29, 2020

SPLENDID JOB! Great course, gives the sound knowledge about Introduction to Linguistics and about many different languages in the world! Really enjoyed every bit of it and gained so much knowledge out of it! The way of teaching is very easygoing and fun, Kudos to the Prof and team!

By Yang W

May 17, 2019

Good organization; Detailed analysis; Well-designed assignments and reasonable methodology for teaching, which is easy to follow, made This course an excellent one for beginners in linguistics. Thanks to Professor and All the volunteers' help offered in This course. Great Thanks!

By MIGUEL M

Jan 1, 2019

This Course is a real Miracle. The way is conducted, the material that is assigned could not be better. The inclusion of Native Speakers of different languages, as well as the participation of the Students : Inge and Marten made me feel as one more of them. Thank You very Much

By Yuliia H

Oct 18, 2022

I am grateful for this opportunity to participate in this course. Especially I want to tell thank you to professor and Martin and Inge and everyone who spent his/her time for us to know more and to revise old information in sphere of linguistics. Thank you! May God bless you!