JUST take it. Whatever topic he teaches, he will make it worthy. He is very chill and make you get out of class an hour early. Discussion is not intimidating at all, and very lenient grading. This is class is a second writing requirement class, so expect to write a 10 page and 15 page paper instead of exams.You don't need a prior knowledge of German to do well on this class. Though the textbook is quite expensive.