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jmeth8811
Joined: 14 Nov 2010 Posts: 3
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Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:33 pm Post subject: SAT Teaching in Egypt |
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I was wondering if anyone could help me out with knowing my qualifications to teach in Egypt. I have 5 years of experience as an SAT teacher and individual tutor in the U.S.
1) Is there a large market for SAT teaching and/or tutoring in Egypt? If so, where is the best place to look?
2) Does my background teaching and tutoring the SAT at all qualify me to teach English, since I have never formally taught it in the States?
Any help or advice is appreciated! |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:40 am Post subject: Re: SAT Teaching in Egypt |
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jmeth8811 wrote: |
2) Does my background teaching and tutoring the SAT at all qualify me to teach English, since I have never formally taught it in the States? |
No. If you want to teach English, get a CELTA. You can, by the way, get one at the British Council in Cairo.
I never heard of any SAT training in Cairo while I was there in the past... I would expect that the market is very limited. I don't know who would be needing it... maybe the students at CAC?
VS |
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jmeth8811
Joined: 14 Nov 2010 Posts: 3
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Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 2:43 am Post subject: |
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Don't a lot of the more wealthy students aspire to go to American universities? If so, isn't SAT preparation extremely important?
Also, as a follow-up to your CELTA idea--does that certificate only apply for adults? I would much rather teach children.
Thanks so much for your help, veiledsentiments! I really appreciate any advice I can get and it is very nice of you to donate your time. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 4:05 am Post subject: |
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I'm not sure what the situation with SATs. It is just that in my years of teaching in the Middle East from the mid-80s to 2001, I never encountered anyone wanting prep for the SATs. Lots of TOEFL prep was in demand. Since I was always teaching at university level, rather than in K-12, that may explain it.
Take a look at the Cairo American College website and see what it says about the exam. In spite of its name, it is K-12, and many of its students would be heading to the US. It may very well be part of their curriculum.
Perhaps someone will show up who has encountered it and knows more.
VS |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 654 Location: Egypt, baby!
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Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 7:01 am Post subject: |
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The SAT exams are a HUGE part of the Egyptian educational system because without them students cannot enter the Faculty of Medicine (including Pharmacy and Dentistry) or Faculty of Engineering because those curriculums are taught in English.
Private schools use SAT prep as a sales tool and there is an entire industry built around private tutoring SAT prep.
Any native speaker with a pulse can land a job teaching in a private school in Egypt. Sure, there's no work visa or usual spiffy benefits, such as airfare, and the salary won't be fantastic, but it's NOT hard to get a job.
If your background is SAT tutoring, my suggestion would be to take whatever job you can get to keep a roof over your head while you build a group of privates to tutor the SAT. Parents can and will pay for it because, literally, their child's future depends on it. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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Hi justcolleen... (good to see you!!) wouldn't HUGE be a bit of an exaggeration? I would think only a small percentage of students would have the Thanniwiyya amma scores to even be considered for Medicine or Engineering. Or can the SAT now over-ride a low T/A score so the ever hopeful (but little chancers) will all be trying to pass the SATs.
Rather similar to the students in Adult ed at AUC who had been taking the TOEFL prep course for more than 5 years. Test Prep has always been a lucrative way to add to one's income. I used to be able to pay my full year's rent in the month before AUC gave its entrance exam.
VS |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 654 Location: Egypt, baby!
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Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 7:22 pm Post subject: |
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veiledsentiments wrote: |
Hi justcolleen... (good to see you!!) wouldn't HUGE be a bit of an exaggeration? I would think only a small percentage of students would have the Thanniwiyya amma scores to even be considered for Medicine or Engineering. Or can the SAT now over-ride a low T/A score so the ever hopeful (but little chancers) will all be trying to pass the SATs.
Rather similar to the students in Adult ed at AUC who had been taking the TOEFL prep course for more than 5 years. Test Prep has always been a lucrative way to add to one's income. I used to be able to pay my full year's rent in the month before AUC gave its entrance exam.
VS |
Sure, it's a small percentage of students, but when you consider the "official" population of Egypt is 80 million, that's a pretty large number.
This describes the value of the SAT exams in relation to university admissions: http://www.egyptianamericanschool.com/Contents/AmericanDiploma.aspx
I wouldn't say that huge is an overstatement at all. Egypt is a class-based society. In that class system, education is the one of the few ways to be upwardly mobile. Medical and engineering degrees hold the highest social status so, of course, everyone wants their child to be a doctor or engineer. Not that the education itself has much value (an Egyptian medical degree is not sufficient to practice medicine in Nigeria or Yemen and there are so many engineers in Egypt an entire section of Cairo is named for them) but it's a way to move out of abject poverty - by having an educated child that marries up.
SAT prep is quite lucrative. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:32 am Post subject: |
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Cool... we teachers always need a way to supplement our incomes.
VS
(spent quite a bit of time in Mohandeseen over the years... lived on both sides of it... Dokki and Zamalek...) |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 654 Location: Egypt, baby!
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:28 am Post subject: |
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Engineering school is, quite likely, a prerequisite for driving a taxi. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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... and running fancy machinery... like a cash register in the little corner shop...
VS |
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jmeth8811
Joined: 14 Nov 2010 Posts: 3
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:04 am Post subject: |
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Thanks so much to both of you for your responses! I'm guessing it would be worth it to give it a shot with SAT prep--if I can get another job in the meantime.
@justcolleen Do you have any ideas on where I should start on finding potential students for SAT prep? I would be amenable to teaching at a school but I would rather do another job and supplement it with SAT prep income. Do you know of any other way to recruit students than simply finding them at a school?
Best,
Jake |
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Aklhoney
Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 10
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 6:14 am Post subject: SAT Testing is HUGE |
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Hi Everyone
Yes ...I concur with justcolleen ... my friends in Egypt pay out enormous amounts of private tuition fees for SAT prep. I would think that there would be no difficulty in getting tutoring work.
Good luck. |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 654 Location: Egypt, baby!
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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jmeth8811 wrote: |
Thanks so much to both of you for your responses! I'm guessing it would be worth it to give it a shot with SAT prep--if I can get another job in the meantime.
@justcolleen Do you have any ideas on where I should start on finding potential students for SAT prep? I would be amenable to teaching at a school but I would rather do another job and supplement it with SAT prep income. Do you know of any other way to recruit students than simply finding them at a school?
Best,
Jake |
I've had wonderful luck with craigslist and simple networking.
Note the rate for a "regular" English tutor/private teacher/Miss is 150 LE per hour. An in-demand specialization would warrant asking for - and probably receiving - more.
Be careful. The Ministry of Education is swiftly changing the rules and it's a possibility a work permit will be a challenge to come by, if granted at all. |
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omario
Joined: 07 Dec 2011 Posts: 1 Location: Egypt
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:24 pm Post subject: Re: SAT Teaching in Egypt |
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[quote="jmeth8811"]I was wondering if anyone could help me out with knowing my qualifications to teach in Egypt. I have 5 years of experience as an SAT teacher and individual tutor in the U.S.
1) Is there a large market for SAT teaching and/or tutoring in Egypt? If so, where is the best place to look?
2) Does my background teaching and tutoring the SAT at all qualify me to teach English, since I have never formally taught it in the States?
Any help or advice is appreciated![/quote]
Are you residing in Cairo now? If so, you can write down your contact ifo.
and will get back to you regarding teaching SAT. |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 654 Location: Egypt, baby!
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 2:30 pm Post subject: Re: SAT Teaching in Egypt |
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omario wrote: |
Are you residing in Cairo now? If so, you can write down your contact ifo.
and will get back to you regarding teaching SAT. |
If you post more, it will unlock your private messaging.
Also, as a general rule, it is unwise to post personal information on internet message boards.
And thank you for the testimonial. |
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