Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Qatar University

I teach. I teach the English. Lindsay posted that we are in Qatar because of my job. We realized that after getting a Master's in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Langauges), and as a mono-income family, we could live in the US and be somewhat financially-challenged, or we could venture overseas and make enough to provide for the family and our future. That's just the breaks of this field. So, I accepted a job at Qatar University.

Thank you to Flickr and the photographer Maryam for this lovely shot of the Women's Library.

At QU, all of the students are Arabs, which most often means they are Muslim - yes, there are Arab Christians. Most are from Qatar, but there are a few others from various Arab nations. After matriculation, some are still at a low level of English. So, they enter the Foundation Program, where I teach. After passing through the Foundation Program - usually two years (or testing out of it early) - students work on their regular programs of study where the medium of instruction is English or Arabic. All of the student body is divided into two campuses: men's and women's; I teach women, level 2. We work on reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills that they need in order to be successful students in their regular university programs.

This is a great opportunity for me to develop professionally and gain experience. We have been - and will continue to be - blessed with many great benefits and opportunities. Also, so far, this is a great place. Who knows? We could see ourselves living overseas for only a short while (my contract is initially for three years) or for many years.

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