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

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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

LR

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I found this course to be not only educational but extremely interesting. It provides a great overview of the field of linguistics and does so in an engaging manner. I highly recommend it!

MC

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Very interesting course, I found the content easy to follow. Some of the questions felt a little abstract in relation to the content, but perhaps that was user error in trying to complete quickly!

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126 - 150 of 734 Reviews for Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics

By Катерина Б

Oct 26, 2023

Even though I have a bachelor degree in Linguistics, it was an amazingly interesting course! Somehow it included the information I never came across during my studies, and I am deeply grateful to all the wonderfull people who created this course! There were mistakes or bugs sometimes, but I enjoyed it immensely, thank you very much!

By Chiun H Y

Nov 14, 2020

Highly recommend for those who like to learn languages as their hobby but also want to know how languages work, in a scientific but playful way. All the videos, discussion, quizes are very helpful and inspiring. Although it's a short course, it gave me lots of insights and encouraged me to explore more about linguistics on my own.

By Cecilia C L R

Nov 12, 2017

A wonderful course for those of us who love language and question ourselves about its acquisition, the disciplines that study it and the many factors that can modify it. Professor Marc van Oostendorp explains everything in a clear and simple way and makes one get involved in the course and wants to deepen the study of Linguistics.

By Ishtar J D J

Mar 14, 2021

I loved this course! I was loston what I liked and this made me realize of how much I love linguistics. If I lived anywhere close Europe I would definetely go study the full Linguistic degree at Leiden University. I learned great things, enjoyed every quiz and assignment, just the best thing you could study if you love languages.

By Eve M

Mar 2, 2018

This course is challenging, which is good. I was familiar with some of the material as my educational background is in psychology, but I learned a lot here and want to consolidate what I've learned. I didn't have time to do the peer graded assignments, but I might even retake the course to do so. The video lectures are great.

By SHEHR B Z

Oct 27, 2021

Hi, as an introductory course to linguistics I found it quite interesting, informative and beneficial for my future endeavors in this field. All the videos, reading material, visit to lab, interviews were really superb. I appreciate the effort done by all the people involved especially Prof Marc, Marten and Igne. Thanks a lot

By Erin S

Jun 27, 2017

A really excellent intro to linguistics! I found the lectures straightforward and engaging. The assigned readings were really high quality, and they included a nice variety of styles and formats. The quizzes were difficult (maybe sometimes unnecessarily so) but I think this makes enrollees really pay attention to the content.

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 24, 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!