The workload for this class was pretty light, and although it caused me stress throughout the quarter, I do not think it's difficult to pull off a decent grade.
The structure of the class is weekly homework worth 45%, a paper worth 10%, and a final worth 45%. There is no midterm. The professor post summaries of lectures online every week. You could probably get by without going to lectures, but I think it would have been harder to understand the material without attending so I wouldn't recommend that. I did not like the book for this class, because it is more of a novel than a textbook, and in that way it is unclear what material is important. I did not really read the book except when it was necessary for homework, and I ended up fine.
I love the fact that the homework is worth almost half of your grade, and you can get 100% in that category if you put effort in. I did have to go to office hours to get help every week, but I think it is worth it to secure that grade. He also gives extra credit on the homework.
I personally was not a fan of the fact that there was no midterm, because I had no reason to memorize or even fully understand the material until the final. You can get by on the homework without fully understanding and this left me in a panic when the final came around, especially since the final is worth a big portion of your grade. The professors and TA were very unclear about what material we needed to know for the test. I found the final to be pretty challenging. The professor told me that in regards to the textbook, as long as I read and understand the material I would be fine. That was NOT true. There were very specific questions on the exam from the textbook that I don't know how we could be expected to memorize.
The paper was pretty easy, only 5 pages and there was a very clear rubric.
Overall, this class does not require a lot of your time but I didn't enjoy it because of its structure. The material is interesting but more complex than I expected and I was not interested enough to want to put time into the class.

THIS WAS A HARD GE
I can honestly say that I spent more time on this class than my Chem 20a class.
IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU AIM FOR 100% ON THOSE PACKETS. THEY ARE 45% OF YOUR GRADE.
Week (1): "Wow I got a 16/16 on the packet, psh this'll be an easy class"
It is not an easy class, after week one, go to office hours and make sure you do the extra credit and aim for 100%, you'll need that buffer for the test.
Your TA is a big factor in this grade as some TAs grade significantly harder than others, on the packets and the essay.
My TA, Hendrik is the worst and a huge stickler on the essay and the packets and was not helpful at all. I ended up going to two other TAs office hours for help.

tl;dr HARD GE, DON'T TAKE IF YOU CAN, GET 100% ON THOSE DAMN PACKETS YOU'LL NEED IT AND DON'T TAKE IT WITH HENDRIK KIM

Sportiche is a decent lecturer and mildly engaging. You won't miss out on anything in the lectures because all slides are on CCLE, and sometimes you don't even need the lectures to do the homework.

There's no midterms, so no worries there. The final paper is relatively easy, but grading depends on your TA. The final exam is pretty easy to study for. Review the homework and review the lecture slides, because everything you need to know from the textbook is on the slides.

You straight up don't need the textbook, but if it makes you feel better you can rent it for around $7.

Pretty good introduction to linguistics for those interested, and for those not interested it's a relatively easy GE. Take it if you can.

Sportiche is a great professor. Pretty clear in lecture, which was only twice a week, and is very kind and helpful in office hours. Pretty reasonable (not overbearing) courseload for a GE, and that's even if you decide to do the readings. 7 homework assignments, worth 45% of your grade, a final paper (pretty straightforward, only 5 pages) worth 10%, final exam 45% (multiple choice, not tricky, just like the homework). NO MIDTERM. The homework is pretty straightforward and reasonable, but get to work on it early when it's assigned so you have time to see Sportiche or a TA in office hours if you have any questions. If you have a genuine interest in the class, you'll love it. If not, there are plenty worse classes to take.

Material is very interesting, and I really did enjoy lectures! He uses a lot of metaphors that I didn't find entirely clear, or to be the most efficient way of explaining things. Don't focus too much on trying to write down everything on the slides because they're not super helpful for doing the homework. And homework does get hard, so go to as many office hours as possible. I had schedule conflicts and my homeworks really dragged down grade.
Workload: weekly homework assignments, one final, and one essay, which is graded pretty leniently (in my experience)

I would really REALLY recommend going to office hours for help from your T.A., because from week 2, unless you completely understand everything from your lecture, the homework gets confusing and hard. The homework is like a packet each week, and it probably takes like an hour or two. Personally, I didn't feel the need to go to all the lectures, because all the important points are also stated in his notes that he posts. The lecture was fun and short, so it was enjoyable though. Also, don't worry about the essay, because if you just answer the question of the prompt, you'll most likely get a full grade. Don't lose points on your homework and just review the homework for the final. GOOD LUCK

I found this class very interesting! Sportiche is really passionate about linguistics, and he shows this in his lectures. He pulls interesting examples, videos, and other sources to help make the class more engaging. There are weekly assignments that are not too difficult if you do the readings, pay attention in class, and attend office hours. Homework is a big portion of your grade (45%) and a lot of the exam material is taken from the homework, so I recommend thoroughly completing these assignment (however, they do drop your lowest score, so don't worry if you don't do well on one). There is a short, pretty straightforward paper in which you apply your linguistics knowledge to your personal experience with language. There is no midterm, and the final exam (multiple choice), wasn't too tricky if you understood the homework and lecture material.

I really enjoyed this class not really because of the professor but i found it genuinely interesting and honestly loved the class. Sportiche is an okay professor and you can get by missing a couple of lectures, its really helpful and almost important to read the assigned chapters, especially if you plan on skipping lectures but its not hard to read at all. GO TO SECTION. Almost everything taught in lecture is reviewed in section which is very useful. The homework is fairly easy and he gives extra credit for each homework which is good. The final is also straightforward and is just multiple choice questions. overall a good and fairly easy class, definitely recommend. (esp if you dont wanna take any of those philosophy GEs)

Paper: 10%
Homework: 45%
Final: 45%

I actually really enjoyed this class! I consider this an "easy" GE as long as you are willing to put the effort. The lectures were interesting, but even if you consider it boring the class is very doable. As for homework, there were some confusing questions, but I went to office hours every week and my TA helped me a lot (I had Megan and sometimes Luke would sub in for her, but both were equally REALLY helpful). They drop your lowest homework grade and there are extra credit questions which saved me a bunch of times. It also helps that everyone in office hours is just as confused as you are on a problem so you don't feel alone. I got a C on my first assignment which bummed me out (cause a lot people did well on it/ that was the easiest assignment out of the seven) but started getting better at the homework as the quarter progressed so don't freak out like me if you get a bad grade at first lol. There were times I would zone out in lecture or it was actually confusing, but I just went on the CCLE site and read over the lecture notes he posts every week and it helped clarify anything I did not catch or understand. Paper was easy, just do not over think it cause that's what some us did at first. There is no midterm, only a final. It was not open note, but as long as you review all your notes and the lectures, study your homework assignments, and go to the final review session, you should be fine. I did not really read the book, I just scanned it to answer some homework problems. There are some questions on the final from the book, but very few. The final was basically like your homework, there were even some EXACT questions from your homework assignments which surprised me. I only studied two days in advance and managed a B+ on the final. I am really glad a took this class my first quarter here, just put in the work you need and you will do well :)

I signed up for this class because I felt as though it would be an easy course. It is NOT an easy course. It is very abstract and while Professor Sportiche is very nice and often quite funny, he did not teach the content in a clear way. I spent most lecture periods puzzled and confused. If you do end up taking this course, my advice to you is to review everything he talked about immediately after lecture. He posts lecture notes every week and those make the material 10x more understandable. There is homework every week and it is hard to complete them if you don't understand what is happening. It is key that you aim for 16/16 on each assignment since it is 45% of your grade. There is no midterm. The final was MUCH harder than I and probably many other students anticipated. 90 multiple choice. In previous years, open notes were allowed but this was the first quarter that he took that away. I'm sure the scores are the lowest they've ever been because of this. If you are very willing to focus, this course will not be that bad for you.