Job Discussion Forums

melysnl · Joined: 31 Oct 2011 Posts: 15

I'm wondering about this school because I have an interview upcoming with them. I've already done a search and can't find any posts newer than 2012/2103. I'm hoping this means that there has been a significant improvement in the general working and living conditions. People tend to stay away from this board when they're content.

Does anyone have any new experiences with them? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

I would never assume any major improvement in a mere 2 years. Very often the lack of posts here is because the English teaching faculty is mostly non-native speakers who rarely join these boards.

Hopefully a more current teacher will appear.

VS

hash · Joined: 17 Dec 2014 Posts: 456 Location: Wadi Jinn

"Any and all advice" you say?? Ok, here's my position. I am not familiar with PMU other than knowing it exists. However, a quick Google search alighted upon the following alarming paragraph: "PMU concentrates on the needs, interests and abilities of students for sustainable nourishing. The feedback as well as inputs of students are valued by PMU Faculty members who evaluate the knowledge level of each and every student thoroughly. Such steps are to train them by genuine learning system."

See the full article at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Mohammad_University

Nearly all KSA universities (in fact, nearly all KSA establishments and institutions of any kind), use this variety of florid Victorian Arabo-Indo "English" in their public descriptions of themselves.

One can forgive, I suppose, non-academic establishments for this clownish public display, but universities?

Anyway, if this public description of PMU is any indication of the level, quality and standards of its English training, one has to ask oneself if one wants to be associated with this program and ask oneself how seriously English is truly regarded at PMU.

If this is how they treat English, just imagine how they're going to treat you.

johnslat · Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:37 pm Post subject:

If treating English badly is going to be used as a criterion, all of us on these forums are in big trouble. Very Happy

Regards,
John

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

melysnl · Joined: 31 Oct 2011 Posts: 15

Most of these schools are hacked together to a certain degree, so I'm not entirely concerned with their treatment of the English language. Education, by western standards, has been a bit of joke in virtually every place I've taught overseas.

Its true too that I shouldn't assume any improvement in the quality of life for the teachers. I just finished a stint at KSU and it was pretty horrendous. PMU actually sounded better than what I just endured(for two full years) from what I read in the earlier threads. Hopefully someone will be able to share some new insight.

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

melysnl · Joined: 31 Oct 2011 Posts: 15

Thanks! Much appreciated! I had not seen a few of those threads.

I will have to make some tough decision in the next couple of weeks. I'm not sure I'm keen for torturing myself in order to make money in Saudi any longer.

balqis · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 373

Perhaps at least the location you may like more than your current one, i.e. the Eastern Coast, Al Khobar herself with her pretty corniche etc, just a causeway's throw to Bahrain, I say perhaps as I don't know where you are now.
PMU is some 30 min drive out of Khobar into plain flat desert, but the faculty used to be housed in three different Khobar compounds when they started in 2006.

balqis