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Noelle
Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 361
Location: USA
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 Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 10:11 pm Post subject: Missing Omani students |
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Just a note...
Omani students may not be 'like us' in all the ways we would wish them to be (not sure what those are) and their knowledge of L2 may be lower in level even compared to their Gulf neighbors. But now that I'm home, working with students coming to the U.S. from KSA, Kuwait & UAE, I am missing my students from Oman more than I ever thought possible:(
We have exactly one Omani, and several teachers have been 'fighting' over who gets to have him in their class. My director just told me this week how she wishes we had more from the Sultanate. They truly are the best ambassadors from the Gulf (and possibly the entire M.E.) to these U.S. university language programs.
Treasure your students. Oh- and if anyone out there is teaching writing and would like to set up a 'pen-pal' activity with a class of intermediate-level Saudis, Japanese, Koreans and Brazilians studying in the U.S.- please contact me! It will most likely be done via schoology.com, so no post office trips required! |
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013
Posts: 988
Location: Cape Town
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| Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:40 am Post subject: |
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YES OMANI students are great....they are the best student ambassadors in the Gulf....come to Oman to teach them English!  |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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She just left... that is why she is missing them... 
VS |
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Tazz
Joined: 26 Sep 2013
Posts: 512
Location: Jakarta
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| Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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| a motivated Omani student studying overseas-wow! Most of the ones I encounter here in the desolate interior only attend for the money.....and attend for as little time as they can get away with..... |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 1:23 am Post subject: |
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Always a mistake to generalize as if one's students were all that Oman is producing.
Because one would be wrong. Comparing those that go overseas or study at SQU or some of the private colleges in the larger cities to the village boys who are basically just being paid to get them off the streets because their grades are too low to get into the better option... apples and oranges.
VS |
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Tazz
Joined: 26 Sep 2013
Posts: 512
Location: Jakarta
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| Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 9:08 am Post subject: |
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| 'apples and oranges'....errrr-no. It's a valid comparison in terms of student motivation and academic achievement. They are all young adults from Oman.... some attend SQU while others study overseas and a large number attend the MOM and CAS colleges in the interior. The OP was waxing lyrical about how much he/she 'missed' Omani students and what great ambassadors for the Gulf they were-I simply pointed out that his/her experiences were in marked contrast to my own. |
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1st Sgt Welsh
Joined: 13 Dec 2010
Posts: 946
Location: Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
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| Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 11:57 am Post subject: |
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| Tazz wrote: |
| 'The OP was waxing lyrical about how much he/she 'missed' Omani students and what great ambassadors for the Gulf they were-I simply pointed out that his/her experiences were in marked contrast to my own. |
To be honest, that's been in contrast to my experiences as well and, whilst the OP may be missing her Omani students, I've been missing my Vietnamese students for quite some time now  . Anyway, in fairness it should be noted that the OP was only comparing the Omanis to the other Gulf students and, as a generalization, I don't doubt that, overall, the Omanis would be on top in terms of being pleasant to teach. However, to be honest, their competition within that context isn't what I would describe as fierce.
VS made a good point about the differences between the motivation and academic ability of students, but, the fact is the "village boys" [and, presumably, girls] are much more the rule than the exception and, for every student studying overseas or attending SQU, there are several 'villagers' scheming on ways to get their stipend without exerting too much effort. The majority of potential newbies reading this thread will more than likely be teaching them (as opposed to the 'elite') and they should be under no confusion as to what most students here are like [refer to Tazz's first post on this thread]. However, it's not all doom and gloom and even at the lower-end institutions, you still get some good students and some decent classes. You just try and make the best of it and do what you can  . |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Tazz wrote: |
| 'apples and oranges'....errrr-no. It's a valid comparison in terms of student motivation and academic achievement. They are all young adults from Oman.... some attend SQU while others study overseas and a large number attend the MOM and CAS colleges in the interior. The OP was waxing lyrical about how much he/she 'missed' Omani students and what great ambassadors for the Gulf they were-I simply pointed out that his/her experiences were in marked contrast to my own. |
errr... no... What you did was what you seem to do all too often... denigrate another poster's opinion and experience because they didn't match yours.
VS |
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Chiselpoint
Joined: 05 Dec 2013
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 11:39 am Post subject: |
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Any time I see any of Dave's Mt. Rushmore criticizing new or occasional posters for living in an echo chamber I can feel the universe start to turn in on itself a little bit.
Check out the recent blog link in the Saudi section for a good example. |
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013
Posts: 988
Location: Cape Town
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| Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 12:53 pm Post subject: |
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Me thinks we should all contribute on this forum to nominating the best student EFL ambassador to Oman.... will the nominee come from I F RI, Musc rat, Nicewa, or So far...or ??  |
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