Job Discussion Forums

[veiledsentiments]

Come back and give us an update as to how it is going... you can send me a PM if you don't want to post it publicly.

Enjoy!!

VS

[madhouseminx]

I will. I'll probably keep it on this thread so that everyone can benefit from what I learn.

Talk to you all soon.

[Sekhmet]

Have a great time Madhouse!!! Alex is a wonderful city (much better than Cairo, but VS won't agree with me!! ), and the people in Egypt in general are really cool. And hey, you've got the sea here!!

[Gallit]

Wow, you're actually going to go for it! That's great! A couple of questions - does the $1840 include the $500 deposit? And how much did your plane ticket cost?

I'm excited for you! Wish I was going...

[madhouseminx]

Gallit, sorry it took me so long to reply, I just saw your question.

The $500.00 deposit is part of the total price: about $1,500.00. If you decide to stay after the course ends and do the arabic training etc. Then I believe you can pay the extra 300.00 at that time.

As far as my plane ticket goes: Teflinternational was supposed to help me arrange travel at a discount. After sending a couple e-mails to "Kyle" at their airfare division, I gave up. He wrote me back once, but when I asked him a second question, he didn't write back for over a week. I gave up and told him to forget it.

Luckily, I have an Egyptian student who hooked me up with a local travel agency that his family uses that specializes in Middle Eastern travel. I got my ticket for $1250.00 I'm leaving before June 1 because their high season begins then and the price goes up.

Hope this helps.

ps. why don't you go?

[madhouseminx]

By the way, that's $1250.00 round-trip.

-Madhouseminx

[Gallit]

Well, truth be told, I'm still waiting to see if my financial aid will go through for school. I was thinking about going back to school for my MA, but if my financial aid doesn't pan out, then ESL-bound I'll be.

Thanks for the response. I'm so glad you decided to go through with it. I'll keep pestering you for details here as the days go on.

So about $3000 for the ticket(s) and the program total...not bad. Did they advise you to bring a certain amount of money when you go?

[madhouseminx]

They said for taxis and food figure about $100-200.00 US per month.

[Sekhmet]

That figure depends largely on the type of food you are eating, and where you are going. The school provides transport for classes every day (to and from) ao all you have to worry about in terms of transport is taxis to go see things or go shopping after class.
Food is easy to save with - you can eat McDonalds at 25LE per burger, or from Abou Rabie at 9LE for a full meal for 2!! So, I guess that guide is for people who like fast food! If you're willing to eat local, cheap food, you can halve that (and not go to restaurants, etc. too often!)
The best food to go for here is Egyptian or Syrian - it's the cheapest, and tastes really good! But even on around 100LE per week, you can afford to eat out once or twice.

[madhouseminx]

What is the conversion? So 100 LE = ? in US? I don't plan on eating too much Mc D's. I don't know much about Egyptian or Syrian food, but I hope I like it because that's what I plan on eating

[veiledsentiments]

I checked out on Yahoo currency page

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=USD&to=EUR

And it is $10 = EP 57

Or to look at it the other way, EP 10 = $1.74

This is the official rate. Depending on enforcement, black market rates are even better for the $.

VS

[madhouseminx]

Ok, well I was asked for an update. In fairness to anyone that is thinking of spending 2500.00 and flying 1/2 way across the world I feel I have to be honest.

First of all let me say that I do feel I learned some things and I am better off now as an ESL teacher than if i hadn't taken the course at all. Having said that, I do not recommend that anyone take the course at this time.

First of all there is little or no guidance when you first arrive in Egypt and subsequently, the accommodation. There seems to be little or no communication or coordination between the director, the accommodation, transportation, other employees...you get the picture.

Secondly, someone that I suspect was the glue to that place, fell ill and had to leave. Everything seemed to fall apart after that. During teaching practice there were sometimes no students to teach. Our teaching would be taped only for us to watch them and evaluate them ourselves and get no feedback. Teaching materials were scarce. You were lucky to even have a working dry erase marker.

The consensus about the internship was that it wasn't worth doing. The Arabic lessons are mediocre and disorganized, at best, so I opted not to do it.

300.00 + is the fee you pay for your "accommodation". They are filthy and you share the flat with 2 other people, which means they are collecting 900.00US! That is insane. There are tons of places that are WAY cleaner, bigger, and nicer for 1/2 that money.

I asked for help in finding a job after the course but was told I'd have to wait until I got back from my backpacking trip, and maybe I'd find one, maybe not. It was just that sort of wishy-washy noncommittal answer that played into my decision not to return to Alex at all.

I went ahead on my trip and ended up spending a month in Syria taking an Arabic class at the University of Damascus, which although it was very intensive, it was worth it.

Since I did the course, other employees tried to talk to the director with suggestions for changes and concerns about the way things were sliding downhill and for whatever reason those pleas seemed to have fallen of deaf ears and most of them have quit in the past few weeks. Although I liked the people that work there very much, this is little consolation when you use your savings expecting to get a quality ESL certificate.

The only perk was the Sharm el Sheikh trip. We stayed at the Mariott, but that still barely justifies a 1500.00 fee.

Since I returned to Egypt, I found a job on my own, ironically, not teaching ESL at all but subbing at CAC. And I guarantee my newly acquired cert. didn't get me that job.

So, if you have any business management skills whatsoever, you can go to Alex and start your own ESL training course. I could have ran that place better myself.

Comments? Questions?

-Mad

[veiledsentiments]

Thanks for the update MHM... as so often happens, things fall apart in these small places when key people leave.

Any chance of your subbing at CAC turning into a job? They have a great expat package there.

Just for curiosity, how much was the course in Damascus? Syria often gets recommended as a good place to learn Arabic.

VS

[madhouseminx]

Hey VS!

The possibilities are great. The problem is I haven't actually been given the chance to work yet. I only just got hired and either they have a lot of subs on their list, or their teachers aren't absent very often. They did indicate to me that there is a possibility of long-term work. After all, emergencies happen and sometimes a teacher may have to go back to the US, but there are no guarantees.

I paid 320.00 US for a one month course at the University of Damascus (which I thought was reasonable, especially compared at AUC) It's 4 hours a day 5 days a week, and I had at LEAST 2 hours of homework per night. You have to learn about 50 new vocabulary words per day. It is very intensive and you can't really approach it with a casual manner or you'll be lost. I loved living there and I would have stayed, except it's almost impossible to study there and work at the same time. Plus, there aren't many places to work. There's Amideast and I could have worked at a place called the Friends Center, which would have been nice, it seemed like a great place to work, but your hours aren't guaranteed.

Plus, I had left all of my things here in Cairo and I needed to get back. But for anyone thinking of taking an Arabic course there I would recommend it, just be ready to study, A LOT!

-MHM

[Sekhmet]

Madhouse:
I'm very sorry you had such a bad time at the course in Egypt. I know how disorganised things were there over the last couple of months,and it's a real shame you got caught up in that, especially since the course is generally a good one. I can only hope that they take your comments (and others') on board and try deal with what has been happening.
Sekhmet