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he's a funny man

very enjoyable course if taken with this guy...but relatively much memory work invovled...

Not an easy course, good prof but is just very hard

I'm surprised at the number of people in other courses who say he's hard. His lectures are..kinda interesting, tries to be funny, and his exams are pretty easy. Just follow his notes and go to lectures.

nice prof, explains stuff quite well, knows his stuff, very enthusiastic, tries to entertain the students, but not very good at it. Makes hard tests though, but easy if you study and go to lectures and pay attention. don't take his class if u want marks.

Tries to be funny in class.It helps to keep you awake at 830 in the morning. Helpful ONLY when it's not near an assignment... he won't say anything (nothing close) about anything on the assignment.If you study and read in advance, then you should do ok.

He cracks too many stupid jokes, and hes usually the only one laughing. He's got great notes, very good/clear weekly summary notes that he posts on his webpage. He knows his stuff really well. Not an easy marker though, his questions are demanding.

Clear prof with decent notes. Quizzes fair, but on final some really tricky stuff we barely glanced at in class. He thinks he's always right, so if you disagree, it's VERY hard to get him to change his mind (or your mark!)

Hard material, but he is so helpful. Very student-friendly teaching style. Remembers faces from a lecture hall of 100's.

provides detailed (but poorly formatted) notes, cracks lame jokes that aren't funny or endearing, easy exams provided you study his notes, but don't waste your time and money on the "required" texts

Very good use of media in his course. Usage of website, tape recordings, and such are very helpful for 1st-year students. Enjoyable and interesting material. I personally am delighted with his effort to make light of his course.

don't waste $ on the required text books. he's usually pretty clear when going over his notes in class.

He is an interesting prodfessor, but be aware of the exams. Interesting lecture doesn't mean you have easy papers!!

Great teaching.Good professor.It will be easier if he put up a lot of practice on the web.If u pay attention to everything he says,u r in good shape.

i think he's a funny prof, sometimes will joke. his midterms and final exam are ok, not too difficult, i think. he reviews and does lots of applications to get u to know the material. not a bad prof.

no curbed marks. hard tests. fun class. If you dont care about marks take this class. If you do dont

Very Articulated, tests are STRAIGHT out from notes.. Dont even bother with the readings

Fantastic prof! Goes out of his way to help keen students, is very motivated & really loves what he teaches. Great course! I got an A on my first midterm, but I studied hard. Midterms straight out of the notes. He's funny & engaging & makes lectures interesting. Notes available on net before class!

Well, seeing as this is a requirement for me, he's making the course BEARABLE. He's funny at times and really not at others. His tests are ruthless and complete "fluff": rather than testing our knowledge, he tests us on little irrelevant details.

He is very dynamic, class is always interesting

best prof. ever! well-organized. easy to follow. but little hard on quiz though... very helpful. interesting lecture. not boring even though three hours night class~

Professor B. really helps you out if you show some initiative. And vervets really are important!

good prof quiz is a little bit hard ,but lecture is good.

Nice Prof. funny guy...the midterms are fair, Textbooks are useless in this class= =!His notes are good enough to get a B+ on the tests, as long as you memorize thoes stuff on the notes..anyway, He's not bad!!

He is a really interesting prof. His tests are not way to specific. The readings are kind of dry, but you can get away without reading them and still do well.

Good Teaching style, clear, makes the course interesting to listen to. Most of the stuff on the tests are on the notes, but the tests are hard. The readings are unnecessary and very boring (dry).

funny and cute:), makes u laugh through the lecture, and he`s the best in LING DEPT,. Lectures are clear and well-organized,nice guy!

Exams were tough, but I still think the guy is an awesome prof and great person. I love his evil little jokes! Those that say he's not funny just aren't smart enough to get the jokes. He's really nice,got a great sense of humor, good teaching ability, and is now one of my favorite profs.

total right! tries to b funny but not at all, quizzes/exams are completely diff. than what we did in class. final was brutal, i recommend NOT to take ANY courses with him, u'll regret, people!

um...he is very responsible and serious for his teaching...so just be quiet in his class and do whatever he said to u~besides, dont try to argue with him...his tests r kinda fair...i got pretty high markd on MTs but Final~he really puts too much on final~so work hard!

Great prof!

Very entertaining to listen to.

dr. burgess is a really responsible prof. he expects you to work hard, because he puts the same amount of time in terms of preparing for each class. his exams are fairly harder compare to exercises on the text book. he spends extra time going over problems with his students, very rare to find a prof. like that=)

awesome, funny, and very interesting makes the students work hard for their grades

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Great Prof, kept the class interesting. He's really good at explaining the material and does a lot of review so you know what's likely to end up on the exam. He made the class really enjoyable.

He might be clear in his teaching and can communicate well but the exam is tough though and also he is not really friendly.

the best prof i've had at sfu. probably the best prof i've ever had in my post-secondary education. excellent lecturer, his notes are very helpful, and he's well-prepared for class.

Great prof. He might seem a little stand-offish in class, but is very approachable and gives so much help if you go and talk to him. Tests are difficult, but fair. He gave study guides for all his lectures, so if you devote enough time to studying them, you'll be fine.

nice + funi guy...well prepared + organized...will help sort out any problems w/ the materials as long as u'll willing to ask...he's a tough, but fair marker...if u've been to his lectures then u'r already bound to pass...good teaching style...won't put u to sleep for sure~

well... Just don't be sad guys... Linguistics is not as easy as you think...

GOOD Prof...but it seems he taught too much. he conducts the class not like a 100 level course...students must think and think, then do better on his exam...the final is really hard though

I've taken LING100 and 220 with him also. He's very easy to understand and he keeps you entertained in class. His exams aren't easy, but he's fair and only tests you on material that's covered in class. A fairly easy marker too. You should have no problem getting a B, B+, A- or A if you do the readings, study the material, and attend class.

It was a fair course, and I found it pretty interesting. He is a fun prof!

Lectures can be quite boring. He sends you notes every week so all you have to do is sit there in class and make sure that you understand what he is talking about. If you can get someone from the previous semester to send you the questions from previous exams, that is the best, because they are pretty much all the same. Just memorize everything.

Burgess is an outstanding instructor. Two major components stand out. First, he has a background as an ESL instructor, which shines through in the clarity of his instruction. Second, he was once a lawyer, and his professionalism and high levels of organization are unlike anything I've encountered. If you take school seriously, take him.

He posts all of the notes online each week, and I honestly don`t find the point in going to class because all he does is go over his notes. You don`t even really need the textbook because his notes are very clear and concise. People complain that his midterms are hard, but I didn`t find them hard - they were fair, people just need to study better.

Great prof. He knows his stuff and teaches with a passion. I came into the course with 0 interest but he made it fun every day. Very clear, helpful, and funny. VERY easy Midterm and Final. GPA booster right here.

I like cliff a lot! Notes r very clear so that u dont need to attend the lecture at all. He posted sample exams for all midterms and final which is extremely helpful. Kinda fun 2! dont know the final yet.But I will take other courses with him definitely.

great prof, very professional, organized and funny, Tests are fair, but the fianl is bit tricky. NEGATIVE:answer your question in a round about way to let you think about it first. Do study hard! If you are good at grammar, you are taking advantages of taking this course. it's just like math, you either get it or you don't!

Took both LING 100 & 200 with him. Great Prof. Really passionate about what he is teaching. Love his lecture style, keeps me awake. Not so easy to get high marks though.

Those who are whining about test difficulty and not adjusting teaching methods to "100 level students" should get a clue. His classes are not a walk in the park, and they shouldn't be. I've learned a lot through this prof - took 3 courses with him (Ling 100, 220 and 295). If you put in the effort to read and study, you'll do fine.

Like his lecture,but very difficult midterms and he said the final won't be easy.Not doing curve.

Super hard exam for both mid-term, and will be even harder on the final. Don't know if I could pass it or not. Interesting teaching skill, but he makes 100 level course like 400 one. Not a GPA booster. Don't take his course if you want to get a higher GPA.

very entertaining lectures but extremely difficult exams!2 midterms M/C and final M/C and definitions and short essay.not gpa booster for sure!

Awesome prof! I took Linguistics as an elective out of curiosity and I totally do not regret it! Interesting lectures and lots of practice before exams. If you do your readings on time definitely an easy A!

His lectures are pretty interesting, however his exams are really hard. Be VERY prepared and study hard... otherwise, avoid this class.

Like other said, you do want to attend the lectures because he prepares really well and he is humurous! But exams are really demanding! Don't ever take it as an elective, cause you have to study it as a core course! Generally a really nice guy.

Excellent prof. Straightforward, clear, and obviously interested in what he is teaching, but this course is VERY challenging. Between lectures and the textbook you should have a good understanding of the material but expect the exams to still be difficult. TA Rima's tutorials were not especially useful but the exercises required were.

neat and useful slides.

He is a helpful prof but not an easy course.

I would recommend the teacher but not the specific class. The textbook was extremely useful. Burgess is really good for having extra office hours before midterms and finals.

85% spent going over homework, 10% waiting for people to answer homework questions, only 5% of the time spent actually teaching us the course material.

He is passionate about what he is teaching. Tutorials r useful. But his course is wayyyyyyyyy to hard. He assumes that Everyone loves linguistics as much as he does. Wake up! That is not possible.he is good, i personally like him. But i won't recommand my firends to take his course.unless you really llloooovveee linguistics.

He is a great professor for this course. I'd recommend him to teach LING 200. But I have heard he makes LING 110 really hard. He is passionate about this material, so it's good! He has a lot of office hours, and if you've taken grammar in high school, the level of difficulty isn't too hard. Just read the book, do the practices!

One of the easiest electives I have taken @ SFU. Buy the textbook for practices, don't really have to read it because his notes already includes all the main points you'll need. The rest is just practice. You don't really have to study for final if you are on track throughout the semester. Easy A, hard to A+.

very helpful prof，clear contents during the lecture，however the final is hard.

disagree with the previous comment, his final was fair,attend lectures&review the midterms, final is not that hard.you can tell he is really knowledgeable and passionate about what he's teaching. very helpful at office hour, doesn't just tell you the answer but rather teach you the process of solving it.has a different sense of humor, i like him.

Lectures are essential! Lectures are recorded and slides are posted. Cliff is very informative and interesting, but his assessment is difficult. Helpful to have a good TA, but you can also see Cliff for help too.

Only take his classes if you are taking school seriously. He is a tough prof and marks are not easy to get. Attending class is a MUST to get a decent mark. 3 hour lecture but he tries to break it up for you with group discussions and administrative stuff to mix it up. I took Ling 200 with him before.

His class is easy....if you do the work. He is pleasant....if you pay attention and show respect. Basically, you get from it what you put into it, simple as that. He is definitely one of my favourite professors!

His lecture notes were difficult to understand, but the contents were not that hard. If you read the textbooks you will be fine. HOWEVER I do not recommend anyone to take this class with him.

good prof.. very funny... quizzes are okay.. hard exams though, but he does do review.. not a bad prof, you can tell he cares

He is the hardest prof ever in linguistics department. His exams were really hard, you must understand all the materials prior to class, otherwise, you will have no ideas what hes talking about in class.

There is no problem with the prof, its the content of this course may be very dry and tricky for people with out any knowledge of how words are formed. Not a GPA booster definitely, but if you have a high level of attention to detail, than go for it

Good sense of humour even if not all of his jokes fly. Took LING 110 with him as well, got a fantastic grade but his exams are very difficult. His classes are not easy but if you do the work, you should do fine. No cakewalk. On the upside, he always offers extra office hours and is very approachable during that time.

Attend Lectures/Listen. Read Notes and use textbook where the lecture notes cover. You will do fine. People who complain obviously do not study. Overall, this class is not too bad

Although the class is whooping 3-hours long is an really easy credit. It requires memorization but everything that he tests you on exams are basically similar questions from the weekly quizzes. It can be boring, but he does try his best to make the class interesting. My savior for the class was my merriam-webster's dictionary app! invest in it!

This prof loves the material. His multiple choice questions are very hard and you have to study a lot for this class. If you do not want to go on with linguistics I wouldnt recommend this class. There are other ones which are easier...

He was simply fantastic. He was engaging with the class, deeply interested in the material and offered continual help. The subject matter wasn't for everyone but I have taken what he taught into real life context. It's a hard class and there is a lot of material but i thoroughly valued my experience with him.

Really great- he explained everything clearly, was very helpful answering questions, and made some of the more boring material interesting.

Really good at getting the material across. Just don't take if you're looking for an easy credit. For LING362 he expects a lot out of you.

He is really a good professor, but his exams are not easy. You don't need to attend his class every time cause he posted videos on canvas. Try to organize his notes and ask him when you get confused, you can get good marks.

Really recommend this class. Wish I'd taken the grammar class with him too. He records lectures so it's really helpful for review. Also gives midterms back; great for review. Best prof I had this semester. Makes the long lectures less boring too. Also has a lot of office hours for help. Will make sure everything is fair for his students.

He seems tough and unfriendly but if you are willing to stop by his office hours often, you will find him helpful. This course does not require too much of work in general. English is not my first language and I did not study much for the MT, still I got a B-. Now I am able to speak in front of the class. I love it!

Was not looking forward to this class since it was 3 hours but he has made things so interesting right from the beginning! Lectures are super clear and slides are easy to understand. Quizzes are reasonable, tests are a bit tough but nothing out of the ordinary. His review assignments and slides are great. Overall, will do his best to help you pass

Engaging, funny and caring. He gives you everything you need to pass, responds to e-mails and will always help you in office hours. He gives you everything you need to get a good grade but you have to work for it

Cliff is a great prof! His passion for linguistics is clear in his interactive lectures. He is very caring and he makes each class interesting. However, this is not a "gpa booster" class. He is a fair but tough marker - you need a thorough understanding of the material to do well. Would recommend if you're passionate about linguistics.

Lectures were long but he's super engaging. Quizzes were pretty nasty, but tests were WAY worse, like they really did batter me. Online quizzes were decent but super specific. He does a great job of explaining thing, is very passionate about ling, and goes over quizzes/tests well. Overall decent class, just pls pls pls be prepared for testing.

This is a great class that teaches valuable public speaking, and presentation skills. Professor gives specific feedback, marks harshly. Do something wrong and will be penalized. Sometimes intimidating. His lecture slides are basically his speech ( good/ bad?). But each presentation is 2030% of your grade. DO NOT go over time. PRACTICE A LOT.

Cliff is a great professor. He's organized on canvas, records all of his lectures incase you miss one, and is readily accessible for help outside of class. I do think that visiting him in his office hours are extremely beneficial, especially for a writing class.

Cliff is a tough grader but it is evident he really cares about his students. Make sure you pay attention and ask questions! He is very friendly one-on-one so don't be afraid to see him during his office hours.

Great professor but really makes you work for a good mark. Prepare to practice IPA symbols and syntax trees until you've drilled them into your brain device