Job Discussion Forums

[elsteacherjasmine]

Hi all,

I'll be taking a year off from teaching and plan to learn Arabic. Any ideas on which language school /centre to go in KSA?

I've tried to contact Alexander Language School in Jeddah but have not gotten any reply yet.
www.als-alexander.org/jeddah.htm
Has anyone heard of this school?


Thanks

[Stephen Jones]

Presumably you are accompanying your spouse. I can't think of any other reason you would choose the Gulf to learn Arabic in, as it is the worst environment for this of any Arabic speaking country.

Where is your spouse working. Many universities such as ours have free Arabic classes for the unemployed housewives; you would be able to swap recipes as well.

Universities also organize Arabic classes for the general public, and if hubby is making money you could consider hiring a private tutor.

[elsteacherjasmine]

Dear Stephen,

Well, actually I'm single and currently teaching in Berlitz. I have a Bachelor of Languages & Linguistics and a CELTA-Pass B with two years ESL/EFL teaching experience (teaching English to Middle Eastern learners).

Its more of a personal interest to learn Arabic and also get a job in the Gulf.

Based on the details above, would your university offer any courses / jobs for me?

Thanks

[Cleopatra]

Arabic language schools in KSA cater to expat workers and their families. This is because it would be very difficult to get a visa to study Arabic in Saudi Arabia.

[Stephen Jones]

I don't know what experience you've got. You need to apply to women's colleges as there's no co-education in Saudi.

You stand a fair chance of getting a job, though whether you'd want it is another matter. Saudi is hard for a young, single female.

And for learning Arabic no Gulf country is good. I would try Egypt.

[umzakaria]

I would second Stephen Jones advice to learn arabic in Egypt,they have some very good centres there.The cost of living is pretty low too.

[sheikh radlinrol]

[ghost]

Do some of the Universities in Saudi offer classes on campus for foreign teachers?

I know, everyone can 'get by' with just English in Saudi, but it would be good, I think, to learn some basics in Arabic to show your appreciation to the host country. I have taken classes in all the countries I have taught in so far, and hope that Saudi will be the same, too.

Ghost in Korea

[johnslat]

Dear ghost,
Some of my colleagues took Arabic courses at this university:


Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was founded in 1953. In 1974 it was granted university status by royal decree. The university houses faculties teaching Arabic, Ulema, and Shari'ah, in addition to the computer and social sciences and other curricula. It currently has more than 24,000 students and 1,300 faculty.

Perhappd King Faisal University in Dammam does also.

Regards,
John

[ghost]

Slattery

Thanks for the information.

But, unfortunately, if I come to Saudi, I will be working in Dharan, near Bahrein.

Looks like I will have to do 'self study' which is not easy.

It is a pity that classic arabic and that which is spoken in the 'street' is so different. Most teachers, I think, don't even bother with Arabic, knowing that attaining relative fluency in the language is not realistic. In Taiwan, all the Universities had Chinese Language Depts. for foreigners to study the language. Pity the same is not the case in Saudi and the Gulf in general.

Ghost in Korea

[Stephen Jones]

Dear Sheikh.

Do an internet search for diglossia. The pioneering book on its study, by Ferguson, was based on Arabic speakers.

You have modern standard Arabic, which is what nearly every course will teach you, and which incidentally is probably closer to Egyptian Arabic than other variants. This is the language used by politicians and television announcers, and by Arabic speakers when talking about certain themes, to people with a certain social status, and to speakers of other dialects.

So an Arabic speaker from Morocco and one from Iraq will with their families speak a regional dialect that the other would not understand. But when speaking to each other they will use Modern Standard Arabic, which both of them understand.

Think of Italians and French speaking to each other in Latin (as happened and happens in the Catholic church). Or think of a Geordie and a Jamaican speaking to each other in standard English.

[veiledsentiments]

[scot47]

I still think Damascus is the best place to study. If you are comin g to Saudi and are serious then one-to-one with a competent tutor, if you can find one. In KSA Teaching of Arabic as a Foreign Language is not well-developed - unless you are studying for theological purposes.

Incidentally King Faisal University in Dammam is an Arabic-mediun uni. The English-medium one is King FAHD University (which has nearly 100 teachers of English on the payroll)

[umzakaria]

Syria is an excellent place to learn arabic,the reason I suggested Egypt is because I know many people who go there specifically to study arabic.Fus'ha arabic is taught in the institutes,this is the case in Algeria as well,where darja is the dialect (my mother in law doesn't understand me when I speak fus'ha).In Egypt the biggest difference is the pronunciation of the letter jeem,which they pronounce geem.Most arab speakers will tell you (if they are being objective) that Iraqi arabic is the purest....sounds a bit like the discussion on types of English !

[veiledsentiments]

Because of the geography, I would expect that Syrian and Iraqi dialect would be very similar.

VS