Elzbieta Szoka

Possibly the biggest waste of a class that I took at Columbia. You won't learn anything unless you FORCE her to teach you, or you just do it on your own. You will never learn grammar, but you will learn to fudge your spanish with a bit of portuguese accent. Szoka is completely random, focusing on little tidbits of info - especially allegedly "colloquial" sayings that you WILL get tested on. I came away hating this class, and speaking very little portuguese.

I have to agree with the comments from the person who called her a scatterbrained *CULPA CENSOR* She's nice, but nutty. Will spend class learning the most random things about Brazil and if there's time left, she whips out the index card vocab game....filled with useless idioms and words. One thing to keep in mind, that she assumes that because you speak spanish, portuguese should come in a snap. Oftentimes she explains grammar in seconds with the famous line "you know, it's like spanish." A very nice lady, a VERY easy grader, you love her first semester and hate her by the end of the second when you realize you learned very little portuguese. Just be nice, show up to class (every once in a while) and turn in an assignment or two.

This teacher is very nice, but she's mysterious. You really won't learn a whole lot of Portuguese, but you do get to practice the Portuguese you already know. One important thing is that she is the easiest grader alive. She doesn't care if you turn in assignments weeks late, and half the time she never even remembers what she's assigned. She's somewhat of a ditz. But, the class is uncomparably easy, so if you need a good grade, take this class.

This woman has no problem speaking for the entire hour and fifteen minutes, a lucky coincidence because students in her class are abnormally averse to saying anything themselves. If she ever leaves teaching she might pursue a career as a tailor, given her ample experience of making almost daily alterations to her syllabi, which keeps students off balance but also well stocked with excuses as to why they didn't read the day's assignment.

This prof is a dream. She keeps the class going when everyone is about to die. She understands that there is more than one class students are taking. Entertaining, brilliant. Take the class if you have a chance.

Not too bad, especially cause it's easy to convince her that she never assigned the assignment, and she doesn't check homework, only 1-page essays.

Yet another example of why Columbia's language programs are oft-criticized. Szoka's a friendly, though scatterbrained Polish Brazilianist, with a penchant for transmitting the most irrelevant knowlegde possible. Take her class, and you'll learn the name of every beach in Rio, plus random useless Brazilian idioms. Grammar was explained rarely and atrociously. I learned more from the textbook than I ever did in her class, that's for sure. An easy, easy class -- but boring as hell.

Good at talking for the entire class period, meaning shy students may never once have to comment in class. Her disorganization leads to frequent syllabus changes, which in turn leaves students covered when they try to explain why they haven't done the day's assignment. An easy grader with low expectations of her students.

Midterm, Final, 2 essays (1 pagers on movies), 2 oral presentations (on brazilian current events), and LOTS of busy work (which she never checks). Just be sure to turn in the big stuff and a few homeworks here and there. You'll be fine

Just enought to keep you honest and learning the material. Not so much as to drive you crazy.