Job Discussion Forums

[KME0050]

I have recently accepted a position at King Khalid University in Abha. In searching this forum I haven't been able to find any information about either the university or the city. I would be grateful if anyone who has either worked for the university or visited the city can share something of their experience with me. Thank you.

[cmp45]

I taught at the Prince Sultan College of Hotel & Tourism in 'New'Abha for 3 years-2000-03. New Abha is a fairly recent development (suburb?)near the Abha Dam where most of the tourists have villas for the summer months. The general Asir region is a summer destination for many Saudis wishing to escape the 40+ heat.

I worked one summer and it was really quite pleasant temperature wise albiet crazy with tourists. Mind you, I enjoyed the evening fire works display that went on each evening for a week during the summer!

Like anywhere in Saudi, if you can entertain yourself and/ or able to create social situations life can be pleasant enough.

Abha is situated in Asir, a very beautiful mountainous region with a temperate climate year round. Lots of wilderness parks. It can get quite cold during winter months. The temperature overall is generally moderate due to the high altitude. Lots of fog which can make driving hazzardous at times.

Abha is a small city, quite spread out, and has the usual modern amenities- hospitals, supermarkets, clothing shops etc.. It can be difficult getting about without a car; however, there are taxis and buses. I did without a car, walked, took the bus, and shared taxis etc.

khamis-Mushayt , a near by city is about a 20-30 minute drive where there are other shopping alternatives. Abha also has a great Thurs./ Fri. outdoor market.

I enjoyed my time there. Locals were friendly, or at the very least -indifferent to foreigners. Getting in and out of Abha via the small airport can be trying at times, but no more difficult than the major airports in the rest of Saudi.

If you are inclined to see your cup as half full rather than half empty, you should enjoy Abha well enough.

Sorry, no info regarding King Khalid University. I think it has a fairly decent reputation, but do not know this first hand.

In my opinion, Abha was/ is a fineplace to live, especially if you enjoy exploring the wilderness. Certainly worth staying for a few years.

PSC was okay although some of the teachers there at the time were abit off their rocker...

[trapezius]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Khalid_University

[KME0050]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

As cmp said..."indifferent" is a good quality in a saudi. I get suspicious of "friendly" saudis, but that's jes' me..."indifferent" is deffo a good sign of the local populace...

NCTBA

[007]

[johnslat]

Dear 007,

I'd just like to point out that you may be giving the wrong impression by writing this:

"Well, I have lived in Abha for some time . . ."

since I doubt that you are currently there.

You should have written this:

"Well, I lived in Abha for some time . . ."



Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]

Once a grammar teacher... always a grammar teacher. That is a good example of when grammar errors can mislead the listener/reader.

VS

[scot47]

I thought North Americans had an aversion to the use of the Present Perfect ! Or is that only in New Yorkers ?

My problem is that I equate "Americans" with Damon Runyon and Harry the Horse.

[cmp45]

[johnslat]

Dear scot47,

Well, I certainly see/hear a lot of "native speakers" here using the past simple tense when they should be using the present perfect simple (the opposite of 007's error.)

Perhaps that's due to the fact that grammar is taught so little these days. In fact, with a few exceptions, I'm amazed at how poor a grasp of grammar so many of my colleagues here seem to have.

This week I started teaching what's called an ESL 6 class; the students in this class have presumably been studying English for at least a year, often longer. I always do a review first and began with the present simple tense. Not one student could tell me: 1. what the helping verbs are; when the tense should be used.
Other information listed as among the missing: 1. Parts of Speech- not a clue what that meant, even after I gave "noun" as an example; 2. simple, complex, and compound sentences (never heard of them.)

I have to wonder just what the teachers of levels 1 through 5 WERE teaching.
Oh, wait - I know. They were teaching "communicative grammar." You know, that's when you just let the students speak, and, as long as you can (probably) understand what's being said, you don't bother to correct them. And even when you DO correct them, you don't bother to explain why what they said was wrong.

OK, bit of a rant there. I certainly think that BOTH are necessary, but what bugs me is that I can see that so many of my colleagues don't impart ANY "grammatical/structural" information (and I suspect in some/many cases that may be because THEY don't have any to impart.)
I mean, I've had TEACHERS ask me to tell them when someone should use the present continuous/progressive tense.

Regards,
John

[007]

Well, John, you can consider me as a Barbarian (not barbarous!) when using the English language here!

[johnslat]

Dear 007,

That's OK - I'm a Math Barbarian.

Regards,
John