While she may kick you out for being late, or isolate you from your friends if you talk during her lectures. There is no getting away from the fact that she is VERY helpful. She will literally take you by the hand to get an A, and she really does care about her students...as long as you don't talk during her class!

She is strict in class however she gives a lot of small assignments that can boost your mark intime for the final. She expects everyone to be on time and participating. Can be intimidating but overall a decent english professor

Still one of my favourite Russian profs I've had. Her classes are structured, organised, and very informative. Her class was often entertaining and funny; I looked forward to going! She seemed to care a lot about our learning, and would even provide individualized feedback on assignments. Take a class with her!

Completely up front with what she expects from students. Does not dance around useless points, but gets straight to the point.Our class didnt give her enough credit as it was mostly full of mouthy first years who were still in highschool mode. If one simply follows all of her instructions you WILL do very well.

SHe is so nice and funny. To be honest, the content is so boring but it is not necessary to go to her class cause she posts her slides (i never went to her classes) BUT the DGDS are MANDATORY. The TAs are angels specially Carmela LOVE HER TO DEATH. if you hand in all your work and follow instructions you should be all good :D

I absolutely loved this prof and her TAs! This class taught me so much and it was so easy to do well in. If you do exactly what the textbook does and be creative with the assignments, you'll do great. Focus a lot on grammar as well as the assignments are basic grade boosters. She allowed us to do tests in partners and the exam was easy!

Amazing professor. Serious about teaching. Explains very well. Teaches new necessary skills easily. She's hilarious at times what with her self deprecating humour. The only class I look forward to every week. :P

She is a good teacher. She wants you to do well. The class is an easy course. She really good at making appointments and discussing things 1-to-1 with students. However she does have contradicting class notes and assignment examples that do not cross reference well. Just outright ask her what she wants if it is not clear.

When I read the negative comments about her, I was terrified to be in this class. Let me just say, this turned out to be one of my favourite classes! She's quite friendly if you treat her with respect (as you should for any professor) and she wants her students to do well. Loved the Discussion Groups and the T.A was super nice! Would take again.

This is by far the most boring class I've taken so far. Honestly, don't bother going to class because it's not worth it; however, make sure to go to every DGD and hand assignments in or you won't pass. Follow the samples online, don't bother buying the textbooks and act like you're paying attention in the DGD and you'll get a good grade.

Elena is a great professor! She is very clear in her grading criteria and makes herself available outside of class to look over assignments and give you feedback. You don't need to go to lectures because she puts everything on Blackboard; however, attendance to DGDs are mandatory. The final exam is take-home!

She makes a very boring class less boring.

She has very strict rules (ex. cannot be late for workshops) and is very old-school in that matter. However, she provides all the help you need to get an A in the course. Follow the instructions and go see her during her office hours. She basically guides you to what she wants, so how can you go wrong?

Elena is an "old school" professor who rightly doesn't tolerate disrespect. Many complain about the mandatory workshops but honestly, if you just read the chapter before, you'll do well. Participation is very important and even if you answer incorrectly, she'll point you in the right direction and push you until you get it right.

Overall a good class. Prof Ilina explained necessary concepts well, but still found there were some tough markers.

Lamo shes a delight

Lectures are long and boring but Elena is hilarious... And everything is posted on blackboard. Generally easy course.

Good class- Elina is hilarious and very helpful. Answers questions well in lectures and works one on one with students to help them get a better grade. Really good class for science/ engineer students. In my opinion, Elina was great. She made 8:30 lectures on La Friday morning not only bearable , but interesting and fun as well. Highly recommend

By far my favourite class I took last semester. The writing skills learned and the types of documents in relation to this course will prepare you for many different professions. I found Dr. Ilina very clear on what was expected for each assignment. She also gave many opportunities for participation marks. Over all great professor and great course!

The most practical immediately applicable class I have taken so far. Isn't the most interesting material but has clear grading criteria and I had a good TA. Put in the time will get an A. (rhyme)

Elena is always there if you need help. Struggling on an assignment? Do not be scared to email her for some help. If you show you are interested and want to learn then you will do just fine. Do your homework before tests and you will do well!

She's an OK professor. My largest qualm with her was that she did not use the board enough. To me, a good professor is seen by the examples they do at the board, not in their powerpoints. On the upside, her criteria are clear. In addition, if you go see her with a draft of your assignment, then she'll give you some good tips on how to improve it.

Prof. Ilina was was clear, concise, and very fair with her marking scheme. The quizzes and assignments, although elementary in nature, were useful in solidifying a concrete foundation for English writing in a technical environment.

Elena did a great job conveying all the material in the one class we had a week- which happened to be Monday morning at 8:30. Elena provided great feedback on my papers and was always available to help! She made the expectations clear on the reports and they were very reasonable!

Professor Ilina is always there if you need her. All you need to do to not get a bad mark is to go to her office hours and talk to her, she will explain 1 on 1. Great sense of humor, and her tests are open book, which are an easy A if your IQ is higher than 10. Do NOT RECOMMEND taking this class to those who are NOT in engineering though!

The course itself is not that interesting but the assignments were quite relevant to the engineering profession. Elena was clear on what technical aspects she expected on the assignments and didn't care about the actual content. To do well in the course just take the assignments and homework seriously and put in the time. If you do its an easy A.

Fair Professor, easy course. Zero creativity required. If you follow the appropriate conventions , you will excel in this course. Also Gemma is the best TA ever. Elena gives you all the tools you need to succeed but you still need to put in the effort, obviously. She is very helpful if you put in the time and effort. Dry lectures, however.

Good prof for sure.. She's not perfect but she definitely tries her BEST. She doesn't give up free marks why some people are mad at her, but she helps you get the knowledge you need to get a good grade.

Lays out a simple step by step process to complete assignments

English on its own is a very boring subject. Prof Elena tried so hard to make it fun. She played music at the beginning of class to keep people awake but no one ever danced. Honestly , I feel like there's nothing she can really do. I mean it's English. Plus, she's really approachable and always willing to help.

Great prof but a hard prof. With the content of this course you really can't expect to be on the edge of your seat the entire class but Elena tried. Most of the negative reviews here are from the people who won't last in engineering anyway so if you're a good student and can pay attention take Elena's class and get Gemma as a TA!

Elena is eager to help students during lectures, discussion groups and her office hours! The grading criteria for assignments is clear, and in-class quizzes are easy and open-book. The lectures are rather long and boring, but Elena does try her best to make them less dry. The assignments are also relevant to engineering careers, which is great!

I'm not sure why Elena gets so much hate from some people on here. She taught the course clearly and tried to make it interesting along the way. If you don't like the lectures because of the content, then don't go to them. I attended very few and still received an B+ in the course. There's free participation marks at the DGD's... just go to those.

Elena Ilina is a good professor who unfortunately has to teach a class that no one wants to take. For my program this course is mandatory, but very useful later on. This course prepares engineering students for the types of documents that we will be encountering in the work force. Elena is very clear on what she wants from you each assignment.

She is a nice person and always helped me when I asked, if you aren't illiterate than you can get an easy B+ AT LEAST.

JUST AMAZING

SHE IS THE BEST

She is a very good prof. She took the time to make it clear what we had to do only projects and made herself available to help students on a one on one level. She also played music for us in the mornings before lectures. Just make sure you do the assignments the way she asks and the course should go well. Also there is alot of group work in the DGD

If you have a chance to have her as a teacher, do so. The workload is surprisingly light, as she gives no final exam. She only grades the papers you hand in. The textbook helps a lot while writing the papers, so I suggest you buy it. DGD's are mandatory, although it is not necessary to go to the lectures. She posts everything on blackboard.

Great prof, definitely recommend her for ENG1131! Really nice lady and explains everything really well. Her assignments and grammar quizzes are not hard and you can easily get a good mark if you follow the concepts learned in class. Discussion groups are mandatory, I was in her group and she gave really good feedback on all the assignments.

Professor Ilina makes you work for the mark. However she is very accessible in her office hours and gives very good feedback on where to improve. Overall if you put in the work and get her feedback on assignments you can get a fairly good mark. I was never great in english but still managed to get good grades with Ilina's help.

We didn't have any exams- just 4 assignments and some weekly online quizzes. Really easy assignments, I don't think I did any of them before the night before they were due. Knows that making science and engineering kids care about grammar and writing technicalities isn't easy, but still makes it seem slightly less boring.

For most assignment the guidelines are very clearly provided. Sample papers, scaffolds are given for most pieces Eg. sample memos, scaffolds for research proposals etc. In fact, you can skip lectures and do assignment solely based on the provided scaffolds and materials and by reading guidelines. Teaching assistants provide good feedback.

Best teacher for the technical report writing class! She treats you like an employee, with everything building towards your final report. You're taught how to make employment documents and then various types of report that all support the final. Very useful for any engineering student!

Marvellous Prof, although her launchpad assignments are hard.

She is really an amazing prof. Everything is clear and the grading is not that tough.

She is a great professor, very caring like a strict mom, and posts the notes online so the information is accessible. The course is not too hard, only the launchpad assignments are hard. However, DGDs are mandatory so always arrive five minutes earlier.

Very good teacher. She makes the lectures and DGDs very fun. She is definitely a harder marker for the DGDs than the TAs though.

Prof Ilina prepares you for every assignment she gives. Every week you get an assignment that you do in class together, and they're only marked on participation. As long as you show up to class, it's an easy 100 on each of those assignments. The midterm was easy, and as long as you put in the work for the assignments they are also easy.

Very easy professor gives clear marking schemes and assists at any time. Take her class.

She's a really nice person and very passionate about what she does which makes the class more engaging, but the workload is a lot compared to other classes.

Honestly, she really does care about her students but you have to show interest in her class. Do so by emailing her your questions and requesting Zoom meetings. I do not think she is a tough grader but start your formal report early since it does take a bit of time.

She's such a G. I took her during the summer and you can tell she loves English and teaching. Everything was fairly straight forward. I considered her an easy marker because the things I wrote were not my best work but she always gave me 80% or more and her feedback was good. If you go to class she literally gives you everything you need to succeed

I don't understand all the hate, she's actually a lovely professor! Her course material is very straightforward which I really appreciate, and none of her assignments are "tricky", just simple and useful. She even provides us with templates and rubrics for everything, so we know EXACTLY what to do and how.

Elena is a very nice professor. She has a passion for her subject that makes learning much more enjoyable. She posts weekly briefings that detail the learning plan, so students can be prepared. There are 2 textbooks, but they are not mandatory (I didn't get them and did fine). Additionally, she is available for questions outside of class.

The lectures are a bit hard to follow but recorded and uploaded on Brightspace afterwards so it's not too bad. I found some of her feedback confusing or vague for the essays. The Brightspace is organized by week which is nice to stay up to date on content but if you want to re-read a particular slide deck you have to go back and find it again.