Job Discussion Forums

[Grendal]

Ok. Here is a possible incongruous outcome. I've got some info through the grapevine about prep year programmes in Saudi Arabia.

Now if you're that new teacher that is planning to bring the whole family here and send children to school here then please think twice. Also if you are the guy that's coming here to pay off a huge debt or mortgage that you just recently incurred then think thrice. If you are any of the above and have fairly decent job offers elsewhere other than gulf countries then take it. At least you may have a job in the next three to four years.

The scoop is this: the Emirates are going to go back to Arabic instruction in universities or they may have started already. It seems that prep year English is just a waste of time for most Arab students. These students can benefit more from going to university directly and not waste a year of their time. Saudi Arabia may be following suit in the next three to four years. I do agree with this strategy for Saudi Arabia at least. One huge savings on the king's student allowances. At least one less year of payment to a growing student population that seems to be doubling every year. Another reason why I see the light in this move is because the students will actually engage in class and learn something. After a child's early years and early teens language acquisition is a major effort and this means work. And you know Arabs!

So all you newbies out there. Don't get into debt until you find something secure. Better yet, just don't get into debt.

Grendal

[Grendal]

And one more incongruous piece on a health related issue.

Most Saudi women as you know live behind walled fortresses. Or have friends that live behind walled fortresses. They can happily shed their abayas there and swim, play, exercise etc.

Now when it comes to the less fortunate expat females with not too many friends and an apartment life, then one should be concerned. 'Vitamin D' just think of that. How does the body get it? If you don't know, please Google it. Then let's consider the rate of thyroid conditions in women as compared to men. Google that too. Now put the two together and you have a recipe for cancer. You can Google that too.

As if it wasn't enough not having sunshine available you must cover every inch of your body in black. No sunshine able to penetrate your skin. Enough said.

My wife just finished her radiotherapy after her thyroidectomy.

Grendal

[veiledsentiments]

[SENTINEL33]

The Switch to Arabic
=============

You might get away with it for language, literature, home economics, and various of the sub-professional technical fields. You might even take a stab at accounting and some such.

But once you start playing around with the hard sciences: astronomy, EE, IE, Computer Science, Chemistry, Business Admin. and all that at the college level, you're stuck with English. That is, if you want to be taken seriously.....if you want your degree to be recognized beyond the walls of your university and your country.

Science and especially engineering programs in the Gulf are all into "accreditation" by US accrediting agencies. These agencies simply wouldn't consider an Electrical Engineering program, for example, taught in Arabic (or Chinese, for that matter). Completely out of the question. (For one thing, what textbooks would they use? They hardly exist in Arabic in these fields). They're all into "comparatability"......the professional recogniztion that a particular program is "comparable" to its counterpart in a US universisty (and that credits are interchangeable and so on). Like it or not, English is the sine qua non of any educational program in the Gulf.

The truth of the matter is that the Gulf countries (and Arab countries in general) simply don't know what to do.

[nomad soul]

[SENTINEL33]

Uh... Who's the "you" you're referring to? Saudi students who follow the ESL Café?


I'm simply making a general, grandiose statement using the so-called generic or impersonal "you". (I'm surprised you didn't recognize it for what it was). It's better to use it than the boring "one".

In case anyone has never heard of the "generic you", here's a nice write-up on wiki. (A useful grammar point to be taught in class by the way, considering that ESL textbooks never allude to it even though it's used all the time in spoken/written English). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_you

[veiledsentiments]

All I want to say about this use of "you" was found totally confusing by all of my students over the years... can even be confusing for native speakers. I would have probably used "they" referring to all of these countries.

BUT... back to topic.

For what all of us cost them, they could organize a publishing company and translate all the materials that they need into Arabic for the whole Arabic speaking world... and still have lots and lots of cash left for fancy cars and flats in Zurich.

It seems to me that the only field that would likely be too difficult to translate on a timely basis would be medicine. And perhaps a few other students who deserve the chance to go overseas for advanced degrees in science, technology, and engineering (and I'd add education too) will need Academic English.

VS

[scot47]

"Most Saudi women live in villas with access to swimming pools" ? You jest.

[SENTINEL33]

[sicklyman]

[veiledsentiments]

Fortunately for me I have the skills to teach Academic English and to be honest, most students in the Gulf need the EFL teaching for 1-3 years to even be ready for Academic English. Since they don't get it, it means that those of us who can teach Academic English have to be able to "dumb it down" to the level of the students that make it through Foundations with still minimal language skills.

Not to mention that North Africa and the Levant have/had functioning universities who taught in Arabic with the exception of medicine. Not to mention that I see nothing wrong with the interspersing of a few English terms in a text of another language.

The two of you have made your anti-Arab prejudices completely clear here and any of us who taught there for some years are aware that these tribal based societies do have trouble working together to "organize" a system that would benefit all of their citizens. They are finally reaching the realization that their education system is obscenely expensive and pretty much dysfunctional. While we all enjoy(ed) the benefits of the jobs, my idea is the most logical... if not probably workable as yet. But it is what will have to happen eventually though I don't expect to live long enough to see it. Qatar and the UAE are making the first moves.

VS

[SENTINEL33]

[rollingk]

[Grendal]

[quote="veiledsentiments"]

[Grendal]

trying to reach a thousand posts.

Is there a gift when "ONE" reaches this tier?

I like using the boring 'one.'

Grendal