Job Discussion Forums

[lyndalorient]

I have been offered a contract with Sabis or Chouefait schools teaching English in Dubai. Does anyone know a thing about these schools? Good/Bad I just want to gain a bit of experience and money while experiencing a new culture. I am not expecting a fantastic school but I expect respect and no abuse from management or students.

Can you please e mail quickly telling me if you would do it or not. I am as confused as you were last year about the Sabis schools.
I will be earning 6400 in Euros thats no huge 1292�. But in Dubai is that alot. Rent and elec, water are already paid by the school

Principal questions??

Is the pay enough for a teacher?
Are working conditions acceptable?
Whats the standard of living like?
Can you save with this amount?
How much do ordinary things cost? ie food, transport, cosmetics, clothes
Is 6400 dirham alot in Dubai?

I would really appreciate it if you could answer ASAP as I have to give the school an answer very soon or I am worried my place might go to someone else"

Please can someone reassure me or tell me if that amount of money is enough to have a reasonable standard of living.

Is there a good chance of making friends out there. I am a little worried about being lonely but there is many expats and also are the people from Dubai friendly? I don t drink and I am not mad into going to clubs. But is there cinemas and cafes that westerners can go to in the evenings?
Are they terribly expenisve.
Is eating out cheap?
Are costs of living less than in Ireland or UK (In Ireland they are incredibly high and 1300 euro would get you no where)

Thanks and I appreciate any replies ASAP

[globalnomad2]

You generally get disrespect from managers and pupils in the Gulf. Dh.6400 might allow you to save up to 3700 or $1000 a month if you're single and don't go out to eat much. But you won't save much the first year. Yes, it's cheaper than the UK/Ireland, especially cars. You may think you don't need a car, but taxis add up in Dubai, although they're first class, while taxis are cheap elsewhere in the UAE but they're rather unpleasant, like taking cabs in Afghanistan or somewhere. And when it's 45 degrees C. and you're sweating and late for that appointment, that's when you won't get a cab.

Dubai has everything a modern world city has except an adequate public transportation system. Rents are sky-high, so if your school is paying rent, you'll probably share some kind of welfare-standard dump (but I don't work in the K-12 sector, so others will know better).

[veiledsentiments]

Have you done a search? There are a number of threads on this organization as it has been around for awhile and is predictable. Their system is very structured, so it is a better fit for beginners than experienced teachers. It is a test-driven system.

It is better than many of the schools in Dubai... better student discipline... not a great place to teach, but certainly a place to spend a year or two for the both the work and life experience. There is no reason that you can't save some... unless you do a lot of partying.

VS

[lyndalorient]

Thanks a million for your replies,
I ve done research but I am excellent at coming up with loads of questions. but I am organised by nature so this move seems incredibly impulsive for me.
I think Dubai might be the best choice for me. As long as there is nothing horribly wrong with the school, and I don t suffer from poverty and the area is not dangerous I am reassured.
It will be a change but not a complete culture shock hopefully.
How are women on their own viewed? As I don t know anyone there so of course I ll be on my own for a while.
I am blonde and blue eyed, will I get the same attention as in Egypt and even France (I know but its true some of them make a big deal out of blonde hair) i.e. alot. Or wil I be surrounded by similar tourists and not have to worry like in Tunisia?
Can anyone tell me what standards of accomodation are like? Is there any buses whatsoever. Is the beach nearby?
A gym is very important for me . Is there one near the school? If so how much is it?
I don t want to buy a car in anycase I have enough problems driving on the left. So I suppose I can buy groceries in Bulk.
Does someone meet you at the airport and take you to the school?

Thanks a million for the answers already on the site but I am capable of coming up with the more specific (and girly ones )
Lynda

[rosyanna]

Hi I have met quite a few Choueifat teachers. To be honest, most are young, just out of uni with no teaching qualifications. A lot are out to have a good time, and most do - usually very active socially. The Chouifat system is very rigid - however, it means that for you as a teacher, all your planning is done for you. For a couple of years it may suit you. [Sending your own children there is a completely different issue there, imo].
As for attention in Dubai - just going round malls, cinema etc you are unlikely to get much hassle. If you are on a public beach in a bikini, you will get stared at. Dubai has changed a lot - when i first came, 15 years ago, you would get a lot of attention, but really not now. Sometimes you can go into Spinneys and only see westerners, which is sad.
I don't know about Choueifat accommodation.
A lot of teachers here do private tuition. I imagine this is not allowed by Choueifat, but also guess a lot still do it. You would get around dh125 an hour.

[trapezius]

[stoth1972]

[trapezius]

[stoth1972]

[Iamherebecause]

Trapezius clearly never switches on the lights or the a/c and doesn't have a phone, doesn't see the need for an internet connection or anything other than regular TV channels. Perhaps Choueifat teachers don't have to pay for any such bills, is it in with the accommodation? Even the phone??

Just taxis could easily see off 40dhs a day in Dubai if you have no car, need to go to work daily and want to go to the gym regularly plus other things. Even getting a regular lift with a car-owning colleague ought not to be totally free (unless you are totally Without Good Manners).

It's when you want to go home to Europe for your holidays that you really feel the pinch. As the OP said, 1300 euros a month gets you nowhere in Europe so she'd really have to save for the Summer holiday.

[stoth1972]

I believe Choueifat teachers only have to pay for the phone, actually.

[lyndalorient]

[stoth1972]

Lynda, there are two reasons why walking might be unpleasant for some women:

1) It's somewhat dangerous. The drivers are mad and many roads are not intended for pedestrians. Crossing a simple roundabout (something Al Ain is full of) can be scary. My doctor in Dubai was mowed down in the zebra crossing (and she had a 'walk' sign). Perhaps someone currently in Al Ain can speak to the traffic volume there better than I.

2) Women really don't walk anywhere (and few men, for that matter...I recall seeing mainly the men who worked as manual labourers). Women walking communicates some messages to certain men of various cultural backgrounds. If you're ok w/ the random solicitation for paid sex and the stares (particularly from men who don't see women very often), then you should be fine. I lived in Bur Dubai (centre of prostitution, it seemed) and couldn't walk the 4 blocks to my gym on Bank Street w/o a car trailing behind. Some people tune this out well. Bugged the crap out of me, though. Even friends of mine living on campus (which was quite a ways out of the city at that time) were solicited on an untravelled road between the school and the local grocery store. If you don't mind that stuff, then walk away. I wish the country was more walker-friendly than it is.

Good luck!

[lyndalorient]

I actually got asked for sex in France and Brussels several times whilst out walking. Basicly if you are blonde and ample chested you are asking for it (quite sad I think especially for France and Belgium)
I ll try and if it does happen I ll seek alternative methods of transport.

Does walking include city centre as I love strolling looking at shops and places? On foot paths of course. I am talking about walking in the city centre and residential areas not motor ways.

Also with regards to dangerous driving. I ve been to Egypt and Tunisia yet nothing prepared me for the madness that is Italy. Worse than Tunisia and Egypt put together and not for the faint hearted.
I still managed walking on footpaths despite motor bikes behind me on the foot path beeping to overtake. Cars going at 130 in a 50 zone, Red lights being cut, Overtaking without looking and coming head on with another car, no indications, driving on the wrong side etc.....

The only way to cross a road is to walk infront of the driver and hope he breaks an inch away from you. Or they swerve and zigzag around pedestritains. You have to see it to believe it.

I am amazed more people are not killed in Italy. The police are just as bad as ordinary italians so there is no role model.

I think I have to see UAE driving for myself to judge if its as bad as Italy.


Roudabouts don t faze me so much as they are everywhere in Ire except we approach from the left.

I don t think I d drive there as it does sound way too crazy for me.

I ll see how it goes.

Just out of curiousity is cycling any better than walking? If its like Ireland its probably the most dangerous form of transport

[trapezius]