2.3
Quality3.5
Difficulty47%
Would Retake140
Reviews47%
Would Retake
140
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
32
4
13
3
5
2
14
1
76
What Students Say
“I hated her ,i hated to go to school because of her annoying confused style ,she came late to the final test without the test”
ESL263 - 1.0 rating“Super boring and she is hopeless”
ESL253 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
86%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.14 avg changeRatings by Course
ESLD26205
5.0
(1)D005
5.0
(1)ESL15372
4.0
(1)ESL153
4.0
(3)ESL262
3.5
(15)Difficulty by Course
72
5.0
ENGLISH1A
5.0
EWRITE1A
5.0
ENGLISH
5.0
LART006
5.0
Reviews (140)
She is good. she doesn't give us too much homework. you can learn english skills from her class. she is really nice.
She is a very bad English teacher. She does not teach English at all but rather teaches a lot about Asian Americans descrimination. If you are not Asian, do not take her class!
She's nice and helpful!
I felt very discriminated against. If you are not Chinese, forget this class and take any one else.
don't waste your time and money
I totally don't recomend taking her classes. It was very desorganized. Plus I did not learn any things.
No Comments
Dumping time in class!! boring!! what did i learn????? i don't know...
always over time! learn nothing! stupid jokes! boring! hard jobs!
not organized: in her tests can be mistakes or material that she didn't give her students.
The teacher is too nice to teach. You can't learn anything from her. Not good!
she chose a boring novel for reading. she is too lazy, the students have to do a lot of extra wrok, but enough extra credit, so easy to pass.
she is the worst teacher i ever met. I'm telling you simply just dont take her class!!! like others saying, you will not learn anthing from her class. It's easy to pass but never take for getting A.
Worst thacher, do not take her class or drop the class.
Oh man, the worst teacher I've ever had at De Anza! No general education and no organization! It was time and money wasting! I'm wondering how she became a college professor!!! If you can avoid taking this class- then do so.
DON'T take her class if you wanna learn something...and get a good grade...
nice, strict but good ,helpful
Don't ever take this teacher. She is so strict in her grading. If she doesn't agree with you eventhough you wrote the essay very well, she will still give you a bad grade.
She's not that interesting, but I think she's not very hard if you have been in America for more than 4 years. She's acting like a Chinese teacher, who doesn't know how to please her students very well.
the nevol isnot interesting.
a lot of work and hard on grading. dont take here and her class is boring. trust me u never gona get an A in this class
Her grade is hard unless you are so good in grammer and love to work under rules. She will return your paper in very slow speed. which will make you do the same error twice. Always make you to write in her way. No freedom at all. Her english speaking is bad. I am an oversea student, I speak better than her.
She is actually very nice teacher. She tries to help students to improve their writing.Her grading rule is very strict though,but it keeps you learning and improving.
Don't take her class, she is so so so LAZY! She has lots of hw and reading. Also, she won't explain the material,she always wants students to explain them. If you explain something wrong, she will think about you don't understand this article...Don't take her class!
Don't take her class,she's a lazy teacher. Also,she doesn't know her attitude hurt the students' hearts.She'll say something bad at u in front everybody.Isn't it make u uncomfortable?And,I don't understand what she's talking about. She just ask students to the works for her,she doesn't even explain more about the aticles.
I can't believe that she is so lazy. She said she will post final grade after 1 week. Right now, it's second week, I don't even know where is our final grade? She is really lazy, lots hw and reading. Hard grading!! If you want to take Ewrt 1a for NNS. DON'T TAKE LAM'S CLASS. You won't learn NOTHING.
She always confused me...and self-contradicting!! I used to think that she's strict in grading...but I got an A even I didn't pay attention to this class
she's just a little bit strict in grading the assignment, but she still give us "A" grade after final. Novel is easy to read, not too much assignment, quiz are the easiest. later assignment is OK even you can talk with her with everything that bother you, shes easy to talk with.
Oh please don't take her because she is the most disorganized person. She gave us lots of work to do, but she wouldn't give us feed back. Also her grading wasn't fair because she never returned most of our papers.
No Comments
Lam is the most uncompetent, unqualified, unserious, lazy, unhelpful and impatient instructor i have ever had. Her english is poor and her grading is tough. She is cofusing and unclear. She demands a lot from her students but very little from herself. She is unintelligent. Don't take her class or you will be sorry.
No Comments
I went to De Anza improve my English writing and reading skill, but I gain nothing , nothing at all from the lazy professor I have ever seen. I better get some help from the tutor who is unpaid student at the College. On top of she expects you to do better than her, as if she teachs you. De Anza has to evaluate the quality of some of its professors
I took her class long time ago. ESL is a long boring course. Well, if you want to get good grade, you should work for it. I did hate her class materials, but I still studied hard. Guess what, you can learn lots of vocabury from the class.
Not as bad as you said
i took her class last winter queter...guesswhat happend?! i have done all my work, i went to class everyday and on the test i got 80%...but at the end she gave me an "F" how could u get "F" when u hab done all ur work??? this is BS please if u wants to pass ESL253 dont take her class.. she's unhelpful, lazy, and unfairful peofessor....
No Comments
she doessn't know how to teach. She will never explain the text. Don't take her class, if you are taking it, drop it.
That's true. She seldom explains the text, seldom gives feedback on the journals, (Only 4 out of my 14 journals have her feedback!) and seldom clarifies literary devices/phrases with examples or detailed explanation. Very often, she just disappears after she throws us a discussion or quiz! But I like the memoir she chooses.
We have to do journals every week, but the quizzs and test are very easy. I got an A, because I finished all my homeworks and listened to the class carefully. The presentation is very interesting. Though my speech is poor, I like it!
what a bad teacher i ever had...not organize...not enough explaination...too many assignments...the worst class i ever had...don't take her unless you are carzy...
The worst teacher I have ever had. Very poor English. Poor langauge skills. Some students had better English than her. Not inteligent. Does not understand the texts she asigns to read. Tough grader. Her grading is based on favouritism. Lazy. Does not prepare tp class. tired. Needs a very long vacation. Do not take her class no matter what.
Do not take her even if it is your last option. She screams and insult students. She is tired of teaching. She should have retired a long time ago. She hardly gives you feedback for the assignments. She demand a lot from the students, but hardly from herself.
well, i didn't understand some ppl who think she is a bad teacher. For me, Lam is a very nice person who is enthusiastic to help and teach students. I didn't like her class that much but to be honest that she isn't that bad. To get A or a good grade, u have to work for it. Her grading is not that bad either.
her class is really boring didnt learning anything at all. walks out the class almost every 10 mintues cant teach at all. dont really explain anything on the home work or the text book i highly dont recommand her as a teacher
the thing is teacher doesnt teach somethng, usually go out for some reasons !!! usually talks about anything except grammar !! she teaches writing in grammar class, grammar teacher should be native but she is not, she is nice if you are interested in class and if you do your homeworks , HWs are easy to do , just take 10 mins to do
She may not be the best teacher at De Anza, but compared to the first time I took her class, she is improving now. She still returns our assignments slowly, disapears in the middle of the class sometimes, gives little feedback on our essays; but, compared to the past, now she clarifies our questions more if asked via email or in person.
Never take her class if you want to learn "Englsh" ! She is never enthusiastic about teaching. She sometimes even dosn't have an idea about grammar. very slow and not helpful feedback about our assingments!! The worst teacher ever I got!
Teacher not very professional, makes a student feel low.Not at all helpful.Seems to jump back and forth between different assignments. Tells you to do homework but then doesnt collect it. Feels like you are wasting your morning in the class, when you could rather be in another class and actually learn something.
she has no respect for her students. she tells u that u didn't do the assignment right but does not have an explanation for u because she doesn't have enough knowledge. she is boring, mean and u will be wasting Ur time by taking her class. she has no clue What she is taking about. uses boring novels, and play favorites. DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS! She s
Clara Lam is the worst teacher ever! She wastes students time with her none-sense. Her class is boring and useless. you wont learn anything by taking her class. I think you're better off if u just ask a 3 years old teach u English lol.. bottom line she sucks! and you should be smart and listen to me! DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS I BEG U! CHAO
Never take this class. I can't believe she sometimes doesn't have idea about grammar. Time wasting. homework-helpless, sick of her not knowledgible knowledge... the worst teacher I've ever had in DeAnza...NEVER RECOMMEND!!!
Never even dream of taking her class. The worst teacher and lecture ever in De Anza. No respect, no knowledge, no sincerity. Some students are better in grammar than her. She seems not to know that we know her degree of knowledge. Sometimes, she even teaches us wrong things! If you don't want to waste your money and time, just don't take her class.
WORST TEACHER EVER. she is very rude and she doesn't respect her students. I think she is doing this job just for money and she doesn't have any passions about teaching.
Don't take her class, talks about her dogs and cats....she don't teach at all..talks only about her family..
if you are a chinese student(main lnad), you'll be fine. i feel that she favors chinese students over others who are not from china. i need to make a lot of efforts (maybe more than 100 times) if i wanna have the same grade as chinese students' grades. i have no doubt on it!
She is a great teacher and I like her because students are graded according her favoritism. You're able to become her favorite very easily. Follow these steps. 1)Just shut your mouth. 2)Say yes. 3)Treat her like a queen. 4)lower yourself. That's it. Forget western teaching style, become accustomed to Chinese way. You'll love her soon.
She had her education in a developing country One problem is she thinks here is China She can't teach, doesn't have ability to teac Feel sorry about her but we can't do anything We are in her wok She force us to learn Chinese culture but we ain't interested in mimic culture She speaks hysterically very rude arrogant CONTEMPYUOUS OF OTHER ASIANS
Terrible and boring you won't learn anything from her.
All I want to say is that never ever take this class!!! She will teach u nothing and lose every essays/assignments students give her!!
Not recommended at all!!
This is the worst ESL teacher of De Anza College. She was helpless, unclear, and useless. If you really want to learn English, consider other teachers at De Anza.
She is not helpful for you to learn English, if you take her class. Her grading is awful and overall it's not a good idea to take her class.
She didn't know how to teach like a professor, she acted as a babysitter, and her class was boring. I won't never take her class again.
this got to be a huge mistake to take her class. stupid vocab, boring article and stupid reading assignment. teach nothing. always check the exercise. do the assignments. tons of HW which is useless!
She isn't good a teacher. she haven't knowledge her favorite" isn't it or then....". She isn't allowed you giving comment. her accent is China.
She's easy and friendly teacher, that's all the good things about Lam. Beside that you don't learn anymore. Your writing assignments and tests depend on your previous studies only. She doesn't helpful for improving your skill. Just her accent is slow and easy listening for first new students. Not recommend at all.
Great teacher. She is very strict but you really know the material after her class. Also, she has nice sense of humor.
SUPER BORING
BAD ATTITUDE!!!!!!!! NOT FAIR… CHINESE TEACHING… TREAT YOU AS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT… ALWAYS KNOCK THE DESK THAT WILL SCARE YOU.. ADVISE…NOT TO REGISTER THIS CLASS EVEN IF THERE ISN'T HAVE ANY CLASSES.
I hated her ,i hated to go to school because of her annoying confused style ,she came late to the final test without the test .we had to wait 20 minutes for her until she went to her office and came back.
Please leave. Super boring and she is hopeless. Go away
she is a good teacher. she never give you stress, just try to help you learn. she loves novel and if you like reading novel, pick her class.
She is a great teacher. She care about student and their learning progress. I had two classes with her and learned many thing.
she likes ask students reading her course guide in class, one by one. I didn't get anything from it. And treat us like in China.( I am from China and I DON'T LIKE this style AT ALL! the reading material is boring boring and boring.
She come's late, doesn't update catalyst, rude, Chinese accent. Do not take her CLASS.
Do not take her.
So boring. Nothing to teach in her class. She doesn't know how to impart knowledge to students. No encourage, no direct, no method. Nothing to learn in her class except wasting time. She doesn't know respect students. No higher grade to give.
I will never take her class again!!!!!! Such a bad teacher ever!!! Not fair to everyone! and long page writing! She didn't teach anything in class. She never give students high grade!!!
She is generally okay at basic ESL programs, and will especially be helpful for Asian students. Her approach is creative and challenging, which eliminates routine boredom. A few things which may be considered as areas of improvement: Filler words (I've never heard so many from a professor); Uneven pace (students either do nothing or rush).
The professor explained meaning of the simplest words but expected to receive highly grammatically and structured essays. Even if you do the job, and get help from tutors, you will receive low grades. Got first grade on the 8th week of the quarter, so it wouldn't be worth to drop the class then. I had no chance because ESL6 is offered once a year.
Professor updated Catalyst in the middle of the week so it was often worthless. Throughout the quarter the class wasn't organised, due dates often were changed.
Very tough teacher. I would say she uses the classic old Chinese method which is not good for me.
Nah, dont take her class. She gives out bunch of useless assignment and doesnt help at all. Do not take her class!
Trust me, people. She is not good. She doesn't teach anything but she expect a lot. Terrible attitude. I'm doing a pretty good job, I've never skip her class, hand in homework on time, my works is pretty good quality too, But I always got an C (not even an B). She is not fair at all. Don't take her class!!!!
Do take her class. She gives out bunch of paper and lot of unexplained materials on Catalyst which makes us confused all the time. Even if you put effort, you still get bad grades.
this class will ruin your gpa, pretty biased teacher and very irresponsible because she lost almost every first draft of the 4th assignment. I took this class because there were only a few other ESL 5 classes and had to get done with the general ed or else I would have never made a mistake to take it.
A terrible professor. Her way of teaching doesn't suit us and she only likes those who are extremely good at English. Not going to take her again
I don't understand why she is still teaching!!! Doesn't she see students comment? just the thought of going to her class made me sick!!! ohhh Clara Lam, how much I hated your class!!!!!!
interesting class
Most of the time is for checking homework and talk about something not related to class material. If you want to study English, this class is not for you.
Interesting how one can become a teacher regardless of teaching ability.... Lam proved it. Not even close to be called a teacher, yet she is!!
I took this teacher in my first quarter. She really scared the hell out of me by the way she teach. I taught that American education was that hard. I actually planned to go back to my country after taking her class because I didn't realize that she is the worst teacher here. Please stay away from this specie if you want to avoid daily headaches.
Awful teacher, gave lots of non related homework and didn't even give feedback. I took her reading class bur all we did is just non stop writing summaries for those half A4 paragraph. The book she assigned us isn't even being discussed, instead she just put weekly quiz on it an call it reading class. Avoid her no matter what, she is really bad.
Here's my contribution for you. We read a book that is about Haiti's public health issue such as tuberculosis and AIDS in this class. Reading was a big point, and you will need to reponse to the reading, so READ READ READ! Be careful of the relationships between characters. She's going to test you every reading section.
This teacher first and foremost gives a LOT of homework. I have full understanding that the class I chose is 50% hybrid, but it's still too much homework and she grades everything. She requires you to follow each deadline but SHE gives you very late feedback. She rarely explains so that you actually learn and are very hard with her gradings.
I have never expereicne such a terrible profesor, didnt give feedback, her grading was not objectvie at all, and she yells if you ask questions regarding your grade or even when asking for the rubric. WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.
To be honest, this professor is not recommended at all. For those of you guys want to pass and not ruin your gpa, dont take her class. She makes quiz from a novel with unexpected questions, you have to read 3 chapters and expected to know everything from it just because its a reading class. No feedback, poor lecture, I wont take it anymore.
Do not take her class, The worst class that I ever take in my life as a ESL student. If you take her class you are going to wasted time.
Dont take her class! You will feel confusing about her, and so many homework at her class,and she dont respect for her student,when I do presentation,she didnt give many time as I can,she just ask me to stop my presentation,and for quizes,she didnt give any chances for take another quizzes when the student is absent and late! dnt take her clas
Give lots of difficult and wired homework! The quiz she gave is less than what you take in class! She didnt give much time before doing the test in class and do the essay assignment!!! Dont take her class !plzzzzz!!!
Always feel confused in her class. Don't waste your time for choosing her class. She seldom teach us the academic about reading, she seems more enjoying teaching your pronunciation. She seldom give you the feedback about your assignment. And She spends 2 weeks on one reading . She is a nice person, but not professional!!
I took her reading class. I learn a lot reading skill from her class. It easy to get passed in her class if you do the work (doing the reading assignment, reviewing test areas which are she gives, etc)
Personality outside class, professor Lam is a nice person. But, when it comes to teaching, she doesn't give a really good feedback to students. Do not try to argue with her or have your opinion because she won't listen or take your argument seriously. Reading materials are good, but 50% of the quiz is not connected to it at all.
Took 2 classes with her. I studied many reading skills through her classes. Be sure to do your homework before class.
I took her ESL 272. I learned a lot of reading skills from her. She is an excellent teacher and cares about her students. If you want to get a good grade, you have to finish all the homework that you need to do, which is very helpful for your reading ability. Anyway, believe me, she is a wonderful professor. You won't regret taking her class!!!
She is well organized in teaching chart . I liked her caring that she read details of our sentence structure and gave us the best simple writing techniques.
I took Professor Lam class in summer .Although we have a tight schedule, but l learned a lot form her. She is very helpful and nice. She explained our questions detailed and patiently. If you still confused about grammar, l high recommend her class! The best teacher lve met.
Professor Lam is an outstanding instructor! I did try so many different instructors before Professor Lam. I had to drop the classes because of the workload was insane. She designs the ESL 5 with Quality Vs. Quantity. She understands we have other courses and work. She wants the student to grow and succeed. Take her class! I highly recommend it.
I took her esl 262. I have learned a lot of reading skills through her class. She is very patient to answer all my questions. if you want to get a good grade, you should pay attention at class, and do your homework.
I took roughly 10 teachers' ESL classes, to be honest, she is definitely one of the great ones. In her class, she helped me to deeply understand the articles and gave me usefully feedback on my writing assignments. Especially, I learned a lot of annotation strategies from ESL 262. It helped that I ready to move to ESL272.
She is really caring and respects her students. She likes to help us, and gives a quick feedback via email. Professor Lam is very kind and motivates students to learn heartily. Also, she encourages classmates to help each other in discussion and assignments. I would like to take her class next quarter again.
Highly Recommend to All students. I love her way of teaching GW. She cares about our time because most of her students are taking two or more classes in the course. She gives us time-oriented guidance to improve our poor writing skills. To avoid repeating questions and save all people time, her advice is very simple and efficient.
I would take Clara Lam again. She correct your mistakes individually , and helps you in writing the summeries ,...
She cares about her students. She help you individually and give strong feedbacks. I will take her class again.
ESL 5 was my last class before my transfer and graduation. Professor Lam was the only English instructor that gave me the add code. Also, I was so scared not to pass the course because of my difficulties in writing papers. She is an excellent and caring professor that did help me with my anxiety and fear. She wants you to succeed! Highly Recommend
All the ESL courses I took a pass or not pass grade. However, ESL 5 to transfer, you must that a grade. Yes! I was worried about my GPA and my entry essay at San Jose State. Professor Lam's class was Incredible in preparing you for the next level writing that is pivotal for a University level. Your success is her priority! she is so caring to all.
She is caring and gives excellent feedback to make you grow. She is always available in or out of class to help. Your success is critical to her. If you do, the work is an "EASY. A" plus she gives extra credit. Her class is a GPA booster. She understands we have other courses, work, and life. I did appreciate her consideration of the workload.
I took her ESL252 and ESL272 Classes and increased my reading level a lot. She cares about her students and their progress. She always gives good and clear feedback, so you can learn from them. I can read comfortably and understand almost every text after I took her class. I definitely suggest taking her class who wants to improve their English.
You will learn a lot with her, just show up to her class and pay attention and that is it. She is an amazing professor, I would highly recommend her classes!
I really liked her class! Shes very friendly and tries to help you with everything you dont understand! You have the chance to do a presentation what gives you the opportunity to get easy points! Also the way we had to write essays helped me a lot to understand how its done. its a really good class for foreign students! Youll learn a lot!
Shes awesome teacher I have been taking.
Even though there are many hard topics and new information in this class, Professor Lam helped me understand and develop my knowledge of English. One story, One Hundred Years of Cinema especially progressed my reading comprehension skills. I was unable to understand the passages at first but began to understand with the guidance of Professor Lam.
Clara Lam is a very helpful professor. What I liked most was that she revised grammar from the lower level of ESL, while most professors refuse going back to basic grammar. Another positive point was that she was always available to help and had 101 feedback time to point out strengths and things to improve. If you take studying seriously take her
Her two required textbooks: "The Piano Lesson" and "The tea girl of Hummingbird Lane progressed my reading comprehension and writing skills. Doing the presentation you will have the opportunities to obtain easy points. She is an encouraging and conscientious professor. I would highly recommend her classes!
A conscientious and encouraging professor who will help you to acquire more reading comprehension and writing skills with her required textbook: "Mountains Beyond Mountains". Participating the presentations you will obtain easy points. I would favorably recommend her class!
Caring for your works, she is always here to clarify your confusions.
She guided me to finish the ESL 6 very well. I was not able to follow her direction, because I have hearing problem. She helped me to get over the problem by continuing the best guidance. Also she gave me extra credit for preparing other student's home work. I wish I have chance to enroll her class again if there is one for me.
I really recommend you taking her class!!!! if your dream is to become a writer :) Soooooo much HW, unnecessary materials she'll teach you (word study, prefixes, and stems, etc, and metaphor, etc...............), and summarizing including so much requirement, which would help your dream, should be!
I can she that she want to be friendly. However, she makes very offensive jokes that I can't laugh about. The most big problem is that she's not productive or helpful. I didn't learn anything from her, I think I just waste my time. She sometimes tries to humiliate students and it's very annoying. Also, there's too much HW and she doesn't care.
if you want to have good grade don't take her class she is the worst professor in De Anza.
I don't mind the reading part of this class. But the way she teaches is just insane. Too many unnecessary homework. There are way better ESL professors out there for sure.
I took Clara's class last quarter. Professor Lam is very kind to me and always there to be ready to help me. She responded to every email I sent to her ASAP and give me effective suggestions. If you don't forget what your responsibility is as a college student, you'll be fine, or you'll be a loser whoever becomes your professor. Anyway, I got an A.
I took many classes of Dr. Lam. She is very helpful, understanding and flexible. She is also patient to give me comments on my writing paper. ESL 5 is a higher level with lots of reading, research. You need to spend time to catch up to develop critical thinking and writing.
Great professor, definition are clear, will take her class again.
She is not a bad teacher. However, sometimes she was kinda rude and disrespectful. She made us write a lot and she only graded one during the whole quarter!!! In addition, I couldn't check the wrong answers in the exams! I feel like I learned a few things during her class but not worth the suffering. Think twice before register for her class!!
she isnt a bad teacher but she's rude in some way. she gave too much redundant n unnecessary work that I do not know what is the use of it. she doesn't grade the homework but she needs us to hand in. she made us reading a very boring book name 'hatchet' and quiz on it. i do not recommend taking her class tho.
She gives a LOT of writing that she doesn't grade. The quarter is finished for over a week now and she still haven't grade everything and still gave me a "final grade". She ask us to turn in a lot of work but never grade them. Also, she can be rude in some ways.
This class was really challenging because she gives a lot of homeworks within a week. It helped me in learning to manage my time better. Clara is really patient with her students. She replies to her email quickly and she gives good feedback. I don't recommend taking her class for those who are really busy and on a tight schedule.
The professor leaves tons of homework. She expects you to be in class at the exact tame the class starts if it is 5:30 she will constantly send you emails remind you of it. Something like you have to be in class at 5:30 sharp, but she also expects you to stay later than the end time of the class . She is super rude and does not grades on time
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
86%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.14 avg changeRatings by Course
ESLD26205
5.0
(1)D005
5.0
(1)ESL15372
4.0
(1)ESL153
4.0
(3)ESL262
3.5
(15)Difficulty by Course
72
5.0
ENGLISH1A
5.0
EWRITE1A
5.0
ENGLISH
5.0
LART006
5.0