Job Discussion Forums

[icehell]

Which bank to make saving account with good accepted Credit card accepted worldwide?

poor saudi internet sites to get info. about price of anything there!

is there any famous mark like Levis jeans there?or should i bring it with me ?!

what is the best cell phone company?ADSL provider?

Does anybody here buy his staff online and ship it from usa to saudia?

Thanks in advance,

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[Stephen Jones]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[johnslat]

Dear NCTBA.
A gotcha moment, it would seem since what's true in the past (when the past tense is used) is usually not true in the present (which is why the present perfect tense is used when the action is up to now.)

However, I can see the ambiguity here since the action of "banning" took place in the past, and that action itself IS over - although, of course, the fact of Levis' being banned could extend up to the present.

Plus, in the context of the thread, your reply to icehell would seem to imply that Levis are banned now in the Kingdom.

So, all things considered, I find Mr. Jones NOT GUILTY of grammatical misinterpretation.

Regards,
John
P.S. If you don't find this appealing, this decision can be appealed.

[veiledsentiments]

Not that I want to appear to be ganging up against NCTBA but I read it the same way as John and SJ, but John beat me to the post.

Grammar does matter, but can be ambiguous...

VS

[Stephen Jones]

NCTBA evidently needs a crash course in pragmatics and Gricean maxims.

[johnslat]

Dear Mr. Jones,
Well, I've learned something from this exchange - Gricean maxims:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gricean_maxims

Loathe though I am to admit it, I'd never heard of them before.

And I was thinking - doesn't the interpretation of NCTBA's statement

(i.e. "Apparently, you are unaware that, not so long ago, Levis were banned as Lei Garrett was Jewish!!!")

depend, at least to some degree, upon whether "banned" is seen as a stative passive (adjectival) or as the passive voice verb?

"Not long ago, in New Mexico, the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes was allowed."

The action of allowing its use is in the past but the consequences are still ongoing.

To me, at least, an interesting point was/has been raised.

Regards,
John

[Stephen Jones]

[Sheikh Ago]

Wow....I guess I'll just keep sifting through the shyte for some diamonds....

[Pikgitina]

[Markemark]

Matt, can I make it clear to you, that what you are thinking of doing is pretty stupid? Only a newbie would even look at a contract with Direct English- Al Khaleej. Seriously, they are dead bottom of the foodchain.
Tabuk is fine, if you have Saudi experience and are on something like the helicopter contract- which you won't be of course, because you've probably just gotten a CELTA. So you're going to be with a really crappy language school, in an extremely remote part of Saudi, skivvying like a Bangladeshi for a pittance.
You will be lucky if Direct English even furnish you with a residence paper and you will probably be employed illegally- on a business visa, which is ok, as Direct English won't expect you to last for more than 3 months anyhow. You will be lucky if you pull a measley 10,000 SR- really lucky, and you will be falling victim to all the usual abuses- 40 hour weeks, split shifts, fleecing etc. You will probably hate Tabuk and going to KSA is going to be one of the biggest mistakes you will ever make. Listen, stay in Thailand, Indonesia or the Czech Republic. When you've got your MA + 5 years experience, go to Saudi with a proper job.
I guess you just found the diamond in the shite.

[Markemark]

Oh and someone better explain to the kid that he can forget banking, because as Direct English won't even get him an iqama- he can't open a bank account.
Listen, I know what you're all thinking....... but Saudi isn't the place to get experience and I hate the way language schools prey on these poor fools.

[Pikgitina]

[DenUk]