2.8
Quality2.9
Difficulty29%
Would Retake86
Reviews29%
Would Retake
86
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
22
4
12
3
15
2
13
1
24
What Students Say
“Without question the most maddening professor I have had the displeasure of dealing with, whilst the class material may not be hard and is often quite interesting, her teaching style utterly ruined this class for me”
ITA2114 - 1.0 rating“Terrible, awful, just disappointing all around”
ITA1911 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
95%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.70 avg changeRatings by Course
ITA2113
5.0
(1)ITA3911
5.0
(1)ITA3912
4.8
(4)MDV2100
4.7
(3)ITA191112
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ITA119
5.0
ITA3106MDV3100
3.7
ITA1101
3.6
MDV3100
3.3
ITA1911
2.9
Reviews (86)
My interest took a downward dive when I started the class. She is boring and puts you to sleep pretty quickly. Bring something to do in class such as hmk from another class because this class is clearly a waste of time.
Easiest class (besides Latin, which y'all should go take) I've ever taken. Prof is friendly, easy to understand, and goes at a good pace.
Class is fun and stimulating. Could be faster paced. Prof is very good, accessible, makes you interested in the language. I learned tons and want to continue in Italian....
Really loved the first class, it was a great introduction to a new language. She was awesome; she talked about culture and other fun stuff. The second semester I found more frustrating that anything. The reading comp. and culture sections of the quizzes were just plain stupid. Good class though, better than other language classes, that's for sure!
flexible and caring
Prof Perissinotto is one of the best profs U could have! She is very kind! She maintains your interest, makes sure that the material covered is clear/ understood, and if U have questions she is more than willing to take the time to help U. She also manages to include Italian culture within each lesson, so U learn more than the language/grammar...
This professor is kind, intelligent and always willing to help her students. I really enjoyed having her as a professor.
Prof. Perissinotto is awesome. She is clear and her teaching style is fun, with lots of interactive activities, and great use of technology!
Hands down my favourite professor at Ottawa U. Friendly, funny, intelligent,and always there for her students. Her classroom became a haven for the students ; after three years together, we were a family. Sign up for her classes if you have the chance, you won't regret it!
This professor is amazing. She truly cares about her students and the subject. She is passionate about the subject and makes her students as such. students are lucky to have her for 3 years, which is the entirety of the course offered at the university. She is one of those professors you always remember, years after graduating
Her slides are poorly made, the order of her lessons is backwards(we do exercises for which we need certain knowledge which isn't even taught until a week after). Has taught this course for years? I wouldnt have guessed.Typos everywhere, disorganized, & quizzes are poorly made.I have learned other languages before, and i can tell she cannot teach.
Greatly enjoyed her course. It was a pleasant change from high school, being taught a language by somebody who actually speaks that language. Really good prof, entertaining, was never even tempted to skip her lectures.
Professor Perissinotto conducted a wonderful class. She was extremely informed, professional and also very accessible, friendly, and ready to help. I look forward to more classes with her and would recomend her as a Prof to any one interested in Medieval History. I give her an A+
Totally different kind of class: different guest lecturers ever week made the info fun to learn and kept my attention. Prof. P. is very friendly and easy-going, has a great sense of humour, and is easy to follow as a lecturer. Very easy to get good marks: easy weekly journal entries and quizes, take-home mid-term and exam (not complicated or long)!
Good class. I liked that fact that I learned a lot, yet I wasn't bombarded with a huge work load. If you do the readings you'll get a good grade. Great class, and tonnes of great professors.
Great professor. Easy to communicate with, and interactive with the material.
Speaks too fast and expects students to know advanced material. DGD teachers are hotties that are boring otherwise. Would have enjoyed a slower pace more.
I love Italian, yet despise this class. The professor treats students like children, calls us "ragazzi" (girls and boys) and gets upset if you leave to go to the washroom. Her slides are 80% pictures, she prefers to teach through games (awkward partner games), and you better participate for each exercise otherwise your grade will go down fast!
I love Italian, but this teacher sort of ruined it for me. The class I attended all she did was say "SILENZIO RAGAZZE" and that was a bit annoying considering we are all adults. I dropped it right after realizing what type of teacher she was..
If it weren't for the TA who's DGD I am assigned to, I would have dropped the class by now (5 weeks into the course). She is arrogant. I approached her twice and both times she disregarded me.My suggestion is take a class elsewhere if you want to learn Italian because she is the only Italian professor at Ottawa U. She doesn't make you want to learn
I was pretty upset seeing my sister took this and loved the course... I cannot understand why. She speaks in italian all the time for a beginner course and she expects 200 students to understand who have spoken no italian... Common get a clue. And the T.A. I have is useless. Poor guidance on her part.
She is certainly not the greatest professor but not the worst either. She is nice and funny. I would take another class with her. I really enjoyed the TA's, we had a blast. I am taking italian again this year but Mr. Voltolini is boring and disorganized. He is the worst professor I have ever had.
She is the worst professor I have ever had. I am working on my second degree so have had a loto f professors. Impatient, arrogant and does not care about her students. I am tempted to write to the faculty about her poor teaching skills. I got an "A" in the class and I still hated it.
She is the worst professor I have ever had - I am working on my second degree so have had many professors. She is impatient, arrogant and does not care about her students. I am tempted to write to the faculty about her poor teaching skills. I got an "A" in the class and I still hated it. Avoid if possible. Take Italian elsewhere.
Funny and friendly professor. Italian Cinema class was great! I'd recommend it to anyone!
She's not especially professional, and can come off as very stern and harsh, but she's generally good-natured and undemanding.
No structure. Badly made powerpoints. Control freak. Avoid.
based on the reviews i had read of this prof, i was terrified. i have prior knowledge of Italian so i understood her. people find her arrogant,but that is honestly just a culture difference issue.Italians are dramatic (i know seeing as my whole family is Italian).she wants respect and quiet(no cellphone or laptop. you must be willing to participate
She includes irrelevant content, like the Italian constitution, and culture that she tests you on. I don't understand how memorizing the constitution will help my unerstanding of the language. The quizzes are easy but the exam was really hard. Definitely a course worth taking once you go to class and put in the effort she needs to improve.
I loved this class, but it was honestly because of my T.A, he was amazing!! I dreaded the lectures but i loved our dgd's. We always had such a good time in our dgd's. But i did get very lucky, cause I've heard horror stories regarding the other t.a's.
Even though I learned a lot I still got a bad mark. Lectures were terrible; speaks only Italian. I was completely lost. Icludes a lot of irrelevany material if you're trying to learn the language. DGD's were easier to understand and are 100% NESSESARY. Tests are HARD. I would NEVER have her as a prof again.
Very competent professor that cares about her students and her teaching. Thoroughly enjoyed this class and learned a great deal. If you have good work ethics, you should be able to do well in this class. Learning a language requires dedication and hard work. Would not hesitate to recommend this class. Grazie Professoressa!
Extremely easy class, GPA booster. I didn't like the lectures by the professor too much (Seriously she is a control freak, shouting at us to be quiet all the time and treating us like children) but my TA was awesome, so as long as you have a good TA you'll have a good time.
Awesome course to take; as long as you pay attention to the movies and do your journals, you'll be fine. Prof was super nice and passionate about her subject. Just know that she is very strict regarding use of cellphones and will call you out on it.
She might be good for a 3rd or 4th year course but for someone with no knowledge of italian, I found it insanely hard that she teaches in the language from the 1st lecture. She moves quickly through the slides and if you don't understand something, she doesn't speak english, she just confuses you more in italian. DGD is the only helpful thing
Go to the DGDs, they help you so much. The lectures are useless, she speaks fast and when you dont understand, she repeats in Italian. Prior knowledge of french helps a lot (the rules are the same), can be funny sometimes, print the slides for the lecture, she goes through them too quickly for note taking
Seems strict and controlling but she's super sweet when you talk to her one on one. This is NOT a bird course and would likely be impossible without knowledge of French. The lectures are too fast paced to be useful so just sit through them and wait for your DGD where your TA will explain what the heck happened.
NOT a bird course, unless you know spanish or french, which I didnt, and I got hammered for it!
Pretty easy class, as long as you pay attention to the movies and complete the journals. Pretty easy marker. Lecture slides can be confusing and mistake riddled but not a huge deal. Has a no electronics policy and will call you out on it!
She is a terrible professor. It is unbelievable that she works at uottawa.
Terrible, awful, just disappointing all around... mean, rude and generally unpleasant person. U of O has no good option for Italian profs. Will have to go elsewhere.
She treats us like kids and barely makes any links with other languages. She passes through things way too quickly and won't answer a question more than twice. If you don't understand what she's saying the second time, she'll brush it off and keep on teaching. Huge language barrier. Good luck if your TA sucks as well, I had this misfortune.
As a professor, I thought she wasn't bad. If you asked her something outside of class she was very clear. The class itself isn't hard in terms of quizzes and homework, but the lectures are taught only in italian. Having a good TA definitely helps.
Cristina is a pretty good professor, but it's the DGDs that are important (and fun!). If you review your notes the day before a test you'll do fine. Super light course, easy if you know French.
Good professor who is willing to answer questions. She helps you understand what the slides are saying and is very fair in terms of quizzes. If you put in the effort to study, you will get an A+
She is very dismissive when you do not understand. Her powerpoint are ridiculous: who has 100+ slides for a lecture?
Cristina treats the class like children. She will assign an exercise to complete during the lecture, and then yell "Silenzio!!" every 10 seconds if you try to compare answers with a partner. She comes prepared for lectures and her tests are very fair, but her teaching style in lectures is very frustrating . The TA was excellent though.
As a person, she's awesome. One on one she's super sweet and is down to have a conversation. In her lectures, however, she's fast paced and will not explain things well or tolerate goofing off. Slides go quick, helpful to write them out before class. Don't ask her to explain things, just wait for your DGD and ask your TA, mine was super helpful
Awful professor. She is very strict and treats her students like children and will only speak to you in Italian so if you have a question... good luck! If you are very anxious, I wouldn't take her class because she randomly calls out on people and is rude if you don't know the answer. My TA however was excellent and is the only reason I passed.
She's too fast with her lectures - we're learning a new language and she doesn't give us any time to absorb at all, and the fact that she doesn't speak a single word of English throughout the class makes it increasingly difficult to comprehend harder concepts. Going to the lecture feels useless because you can't understand anything.
She doesn't speak any French or English during her lectures and crams every single verb tense in one semester. She's very strict about class attendance and if you are late, say goodbye to your participation points of the day. Same if she sees your phone. Thankfully, she isn't the one who grades exams, but her grading is merciless when she does.
The first minute you step in, she welcomes you and was very cordial with everyone. She maintains control of her class politely and the work you must do is right for the University level. The syllabus may appear loaded but everything is clear and if you put in the time and effort, you will learn a new language. No room for lazy or tardy people.
She's rude and curt and impatient. Speaks no english or french, not even in the first class. She has very high expectations yet doesn't explain things fully. She won't even answer in english and when you don't understand she just repeats herself in italian. However, TA was extremely helpful and wouldn't have passed without her!
Prof Perissinotto is great and really wants their students to learn. The course itself is very well structured and she makes a particular effort in balancing grammar with more interesting things (e.g. culture). It is true that she is very strict with attendance, punctuality and participation, but if you want to learn the language, take this course.
One of the most caring, down to earth professors I have encountered. The lectures could sometimes be a bit overwhelming and fast paced, but her and her TA's are always willing to stop and answer questions, or help after class. Her summer 2018 class was one to remember. We all became a family by the end of it.
Pretty darn fast prof, with little Spanish background I was able to catch up after the class. No English or French in class was a nightmare, I learned German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese at Uottawa; those beginner level language classes normally are taught with the help of our mother tough. I figure she's trying too hard for intermediate level.
She's very knowledgeable in Italian Literature but sometimes tries too hard to show it off and doesn't encourage students to elaborate or make in depth interpretations during class, which would actually make the class more engaging. Participation marks are also evaluated under very strict guidelines so if you show up, show out (but not too much...)
Professor Perisinotto was very passionate and knowledgeable. The course included very interesting elements of Italian literature. The class was in English and no knowledge of Italian is necessary. I would recommend this course to anyone who loves literature or is interested to learn about Italian culture. I really loved her slide shows.
She's a friendly professor. She can come off as aggressive and fast-paced but I feel it's more the language barrier. Course is simple. Attend all lectures as participation matters. Do the weekly online homework. Midterms and final are pretty easy. I had no prior-knowledge of italian and would recommend for anyone interested in learning italian!
rude, condescending. Doesn't want students to succeed. avoid (also note the code I put was not the actual course I had with her but it was not listed)
Lacks emotional intelligence and rarely considers her students' well-being. Per her "academic freedom," she has not changed her approach (condescending, better 1 on 1). Lectures are wasteful. We don't discuss readings and digressed. I did well, but I regret the course (not listed). Didn't give a breakdown of grades until I emailed twice for them!
Rude, not prepared, silly, she treats her students like children, her lessons are silly, her methods do NOT teach you a language successfully, would never take this class again.
she was aight
I was so excited for this class and this prof made the class unpleasant. The material is so simple, but because she associates grades to attendence this will mess up any chance of getting a grade that truly reflects on your work. She will mark you absent for the slightest thing (zoom cam off, not participating, late...) I dropped it after one class
She treats students in a condescending way, I did not like her rudeness and the super quick slides. You won't learn a language, since too much stuff is badly condensed in too little time. she won't speak English or french in class, also her teaching method is childish and weird.
This professor started off the coarse by making it very clear that if you have never spoken any Italian this was the right class to be in. After the first class of explaining the syllabus she only spoke Italian the whole class which was not an ineffective method of teacher as all/most of the students in this class have never spoken or understanded
She is very knowledgeable about the content. Lectures were interesting but tedious since it was 3 hrs. 65+ MCQ quizzes over the lectures and readings which is terrible cause she picked the most random info and based the questions on it. Very picky w criteria; will ask you to redo blogs if they don't meet it. Exam is 3 hours and 400 q's. don't do it
The prof is nice but she is so picky. She has specific criteria in mind w everything and you lose marks for not meeting them. Asked us to open our cameras for 3hr meets or else we'd be "absent" (losing 6% from final mark for each absence). Her exam was painful 3hrs for 400 q's, and her weekly quizzes were 65+ MCQ in 15-30 mins. Would not take again
Literally the worst teacher/professor I have ever encountered in my life do NOT take this class, literally just use duolingo. She gives out impossible assignments to do, and if you get 70% or less on them it's an absence. If you have 5 or more absences you cannot take the final exam. Just save yourself the time.
Professor Cristina Perissinotto is amazing Professor is she super nice and amazing person but she is really strict you have put your cam on and do your work but she goes over a lot of interesting stuff and her teaching is amazing, honestly she was one of my best professor she cares about you but the class material was a lot its wasn't easy class
Very European professor, may seem strict at first but is very kind, conveys material effectively and loves what she teaches. Do your work and you will do great in the course. Would take her class again.
She is a great prof. She is quite strict about attendance and participation but it is worth it for this class. It is super easy to get a passing grade.
One of the best profs i've had in uni so far.. her lectures are so interesting, we talk about 50+ Italian authors, all the info to study may seem overwhelming, but trust me, just concentrate to what she says and you'll be fine. Answers emails and provides every detail. Excellent professor! Evaluation and explication methods are very efficient!
She took over for Prof. Ricci in my class and I enjoyed her half of the content just as much. You could tell she wanted to respect what Ricci had left for us and incorporated it very well into our content while also providing us very well done lectures very last minute. So much respect for Perissinotto.
Awful prof, not worth your time and effort. If you actually want to learn Italian, Duolingo can teach you better than this prof. Would not recommend to anyone.
Legitimately the absolute worst professor I have ever met.
Run don't walk away.
The course is structured horribly and her teaching methods stink, you would make more progress using Duolingo for a few weeks.
Never again
Terrible. She's very self-centred and will often show baby pictures of herself during class for no apparent reason. In large auditorium classes, she'll actively seek whoever isn't listening and put you on the spot/ridicule you with tough questions. I really didn't learn anything substantial from the 2 classes I had with her. Don't waste your time
Without question the most maddening professor I have had the displeasure of dealing with, whilst the class material may not be hard and is often quite interesting, her teaching style utterly ruined this class for me.
-nice lady, bad prof -for the asynchronous online weeks, we have between 8AM Sat and 8AM Sun to do a long Brightspace quiz and she doesn't care if you have a life (also i signed up for in-person not hybrid) -online lectures are crazy boring -sometimes stuff on the quizzes aren't in lectures/readings -her accent and grammar can be hard to understand
She had bogus rules in her syllabus, one of them being you only have two free absences from her class and other absences after that and she'll take 1% off your final grade and you're only allowed to miss a class if there's a family emergency, but it only applies to immediate family (i.e. Parents or siblings).
Not understanding of external circumstances whatsoever and had very strange exceptions (let one person miss classes with no penalty and not a different person who had an actual medical exception :( ) . I found her class very easy though just participate, tests, hw and exam were open book at home . Just prepare to be picked on at some point though
Horrible. Learned but her style of teaching is just Awful and there's no room to communicate with her given how many courses she's teaching was taking this course as an elective and attended most of the classes and did pretty good in my Tests and final exam. straight As and still got a C. wouldn't repeat.
Long lectures, MANDATORY attendance and participation. Simple, straightforward content evaluated through three tests and a final exam. Reach out to her in person, as it is quite rare she responds to emails.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
95%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.70 avg changeRatings by Course
ITA2113
5.0
(1)ITA3911
5.0
(1)ITA3912
4.8
(4)MDV2100
4.7
(3)ITA191112
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ITA119
5.0
ITA3106MDV3100
3.7
ITA1101
3.6
MDV3100
3.3
ITA1911
2.9