weekly photo challenge: a day in my life

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Nizwa, Oman, postaweek2013, University of Nizwa, weekly photo challenge

Saturday, March 30:  The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge asks us to create a tiled gallery of A Day In My Life.

What does your day look like? Here’s your chance to share with everyone a day in your life! Here are some suggestions to get started: snap a picture once an hour and share what your day was like, walk us through a typical day for you, or even just what happened today!

Pick the best pictures which give your readers a sense of a day in your life and share them!

Since I’m 9 hours ahead of the east coast of the United States, I always get the photo challenge late on Friday afternoon.  So for this challenge, I started taking photos on Friday evening.  So my day is from Friday evening at 5:00 to Saturday evening at 5:00.

Friday afternoon: writing about the gift of time on my blog

I leave to go to Mario’s for a seafood, olive, veggie, tomato & olive pasta

Mario the chef

Candles and a table set for 3

Saturday morning, driving down my road, heading to work

I park my car in the university parking lot

my desk at work

my students working on exercises

My students writing their answers on the board

Me checking their exercises

Students present new vocabulary to other students

LOVE

My studenst want me to photograph them making hearts and peace signs

me in front with my students behind

in the “canteen” for lunch

Mona Lisa at the canteen

walking on the campus under covered walkways

driving home to Nizwa after shopping at Lulu

I park my car and take out the groceries

the groceries in my kitchen waiting to be unpacked

one bag of my groceries

Coca-Cola Light ~ Arabic style

a teacher’s greatest gift

Tags

Oman, University of Nizwa

Tuesday, March 5:  Today, one of my colleagues came to my desk and said he had something I would be really happy to see.  He then handed me an essay one of his Level 2 students wrote about her Level 1 class in the fall semester.  I taught this student in Level 1 in the fall semester of 2012, and it made my day to read her essay.

Here it is, transcribed exactly as she wrote it.  Pardon the errors in English; please remember this student is in her second semester studying English at university in a country where Arabic is the native tongue and there are not many opportunities to speak English, except with their teachers on campus.

“Level One”

Last fall my teacher name is Cathy was committed and active for Level 1. I learned English and TOEFL.  I’m glad I had this class because the teacher was very funny, jovial, committed and the English I learned will help me in the future.

She is a married. She has two children.  She is 51 years old was a good mentor.

First, I learnd English.  Next I learned TOEFL.  Lastly, I learned skills.  English lecture was wonderful we were looking forward to attending  because it was a very learned lessons was a wonderful example.  We explain lessons play.  I like English very much.

As you can see my class was very useful to me becauce I met new friends who were good to me and I’ve loved them.  Teacher also liked the lessons she taught us well and tanks. Succeeded and moved to the next stage Level 2.

The teacher was very funny and happy.  I love my teacher very very mutch. The material I learned is going to help me on the toefl and in my future career.

————————–

I love how this student describes me as jovial, funny and happy. 🙂 I also love how she described me as only 51 years old (thanks to her for that!!).  She also forgot to mention my third child.  None of that matters.   I see a great improvement in her writing and obviously she feels she learned something from me.  I feel I also inspired her.

This is what makes my job worthwhile: the relationships I have with my students, who still drop by to visit me, smile & shake my hand warmly, telling me they miss our class and miss me.

Another student dropped by today, a lovely girl who worked extremely hard in level one.  She said, “Teacher I miss you so much!!” I asked how her current class was going and she said, “Bad, teacher, bad.”  I said, “Why??”  She said, “Teacher is always angry!!”  She shook her head.  “Angry, teacher, angry!”  (This comment is quite common to many students in Oman, describing teachers as angry, but maybe they just mean demanding.  I am very demanding too, so maybe they say this about me as well.)

My students are what, in the end, matter more than anything.  These kinds of written or spoken words from these girls are the greatest reward of my job.

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” ~ Brad Henry

giving notice

Tags

Life, Oman, University of Nizwa

Saturday, December 22:  Today, I tendered my 6-month resignation to the University of Nizwa.  My last day of work here will be on Wednesday, June 26, 2013.

The reasons I am leaving are numerous.  Basically, the main reason is that I’m homesick.  I miss my family and friends and my home in America.  I want to be close to my children.  I want to work on my marriage, and I can’t do that living abroad.   I miss the work environment I had in the community college in Virginia.  I miss feeling connected to my people back home.

entrance to the University of Nizwa

Finally, it is simply time to move on to a new phase in my life.  I have been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish next.  I am thinking seriously, as I always do, about my resolutions for the New Year of 2013.  Thirteen has always been a lucky number for me, so I have high hopes for the new year.

Stay tuned for my post on New Year’s Day, where I will spell out in great detail, as I always do, my New Year’s resolutions. (Maybe too much detail for my readers!!)  I always take this process seriously.  As I remember someone saying once, you have to create the life you intend. Or something along those lines.  Nothing will happen unless I make it happen.  A little luck thrown in is always a good thing as well!

“Edward: You know what the difference is between a dream and a goal? he used to say to me. A plan.”  ― Jodi Picoult, Lone Wolf

I will miss a lot about Oman.  I love the country and I’ve explored many hidden places that even Omanis don’t take the time to explore.  I will continue to do this over the next 6 months.

I get a new vocabulary word in my email inbox every day from Dictionary.dom.  The word I received today is this:

decathect \dee-kuh-THEKT\, verb:  To withdraw one’s feelings of attachment from (a person, idea, or object), as in anticipation of a future loss.

This word applies to what I will have to do when I leave Oman and the amazing people I have met here.

I’ve learned a lot while I’ve been here.  I’ve learned something about who I am.  I’ve learned to enjoy my solitude.  I love the sense of adventure that has grown in me.  I’ve learned to be independent.  I’ve learned about the kind of people I like to seek out and spend time with.  I’ve learned what feels good about a work environment, and what doesn’t. I’ve learned more about what I am seeking.

When I leave Oman, I will write a final reflection piece about what I’ve learned about myself and about coping in a foreign land.  Until then, I hope you’ll continue to join me for the final leg of my journey in Oman.

“If you have a goal, write it down. If you do not write it down, you do not have a goal – you have a wish.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

“There is always a gap between intention and action..”
― Paulo Coelho

the case of oman’s missing calendar

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Nizwa, Oman, University of Nizwa

Sunday, December 16:  After a year and a quarter of living in Oman, I still haven’t been able to solve the mystery of the missing calendar.  It seems there is NO OFFICIAL CALENDAR in this country at all.   This phenomenon extends even into the universities.  Though the institutions of higher learning make a half-hearted attempt to establish an academic calendar, they make little or no effort to follow it.

In Western countries, a calendar is issued well before the new year begins, specifying all the official holidays for the entire year.   As a matter of fact, I think these calendars are issued years in advance, so that if you want to plan a holiday for 3 or 5 years from today, you can just look at a forward calendar and figure out the best timing.

In the United States, we all know with absolute certainty that New Year’s Day is January 1, Christmas Day is December 25, and Fourth of July is, duh, July 4.  All the other holidays follow on a specific Monday or Friday of the month, such as the third Monday (Martin Luther King Day in January & President’s Day in February), the last Monday (Memorial Day in May), or the first Monday (Labor Day in September).  Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November, and that often means everyone gets off on Friday as well, making for a four-day weekend. While Veteran’s Day is legally on November 11, if that date happens to be on a Saturday or Sunday, then organizations that formally observe the holiday will normally be closed on the adjacent Friday or Monday, respectively.

The only holiday that is changeable each year is Easter.  The Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) set the date of Easter as the Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the vernal (spring) equinox.

We know that Easter must always occur on a Sunday, because Sunday was the day of Christ’s Resurrection. But why the paschal full moon? Because that was the date of Passover in the Jewish calendar, and the Last Supper (Holy Thursday) occurred on the Passover. Therefore, Easter was the Sunday after Passover.

If there were not an official calendar, it could all become very confusing because, in the USA, there are many holidays throughout the year, as you can see from the above.  Westerners would be up in arms if they were left dangling every year wondering when each holiday would be.  We simply wouldn’t tolerate it.  Because we are used to planning our free time ahead of time.  If we want to take a three-day weekend in the mountains or at the beach, we want to know well in advance so we can plan to do just that.

Here is Oman, there is never any certainty as to when any holiday will be.  Of course, most of the big holidays are religious holidays and are based on the sighting of the moon.  Although Ramadan is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Ramadan moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Ramadan may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.  This same logic applies to the other major religious holidays in the Muslim world, Eid al Adha and Eid al Fitr.   These holidays, being changeable, can in some ways be likened to how the Easter holiday in America and in the Christian world is determined.

With Easter in the United States, as it falls on a Sunday, which is already the weekend, there are no official days off, although most schools and some universities grant a week-long spring break either before or after Easter. Sometimes this spring break is not related to Easter at all, but it is still ALWAYS granted sometime in the spring. However, whatever holidays these institutions decide to grant are built into the academic calendar well in advance of the actual academic year.  Thus students and faculty know when they can plan a spring holiday getaway.

In addition, in the Western world, the academic calendars are all set well in advance of the academic year, with the start day of classes, the add-drop period, and the final day to drop a class and get either a full or partial tuition refund fully spelled out.  Also spelled out in these academic calendars is the last day of classes, the period of final exams, and the break between semesters.

Well.  NONE OF THIS HAPPENS IN OMAN!! I don’t know about ALL universities in Oman, but I can speak for the University of Nizwa.  And I can speak for how the official government holidays have unfolded in the time that I’ve been here.

This fall, for example, the university calendar said the first day of classes would be October 6.  However, October 6 came and went and there were no sign of students. There were placement tests for many students, who straggled in over a number of days as if they had just been startled out of a long nap.  Then, since many students didn’t know about the placement tests, there were more placement tests for students who didn’t make the first round.

So.  Classes finally half-started on October 15, which was a Monday.  I went to my assigned classes on that Monday only to find no students showed up.  I went again on Tuesday to find one student out of my class list of 26.  Suddenly on Wednesday, we got a brand new class list, with a whole new set of students, and not one of THEM showed up.  Thursday and Friday were the weekend.

Finally, we started real classes on Saturday, October 20.  But by this time, the Eid Al-Adha was only one week away.  This holiday, though written on the academic calendar, is apparently not to be counted on until it’s officially announced by the Chancellor.  This wasn’t announced officially until three days before the Eid began on October 25. Thus, there was really no time to plan a holiday. However, I had taken a gamble in August and booked my ticket to Ethiopia then.  If it hadn’t been announced on the day I thought it would, I could have been in big trouble.  But I didn’t want to wait because of the experience I had the year before.  Last Eid, in 2011,  I waited until the last-minute to book a holiday to Jordan, and because it was so late, all the flights were booked and I couldn’t get on a flight AT ALL until 3 days after the Eid began!

We had our week holiday, and started back to school on Saturday, November 3. By this time we had only completed one week of classes.   The official holiday to celebrate Sultan Qaboos’s birthday is National Day, on November 18.  However, this holiday seems to never be celebrated on this day.  This year, there was an Islamic New Year holiday also around the 14th.  All the faculty at the university was in a quandary as to what days we would be granted these holidays.  In 2011, we got a straight 5 day holiday, three days from work plus the weekend.  This year, they announced at the very last possible minute that we would get Saturday, November 17 off, plus the Thur-Fri weekend of the 15th and 16th, making for a three-day weekend.  At that time I took off for Abu Dhabi.  Then later, we understood we would get additional days off for National Day, but we didn’t know when they would be.  Again, only about 4 days before the holiday, it was announced we would get off Tue-Fri, November 27-30.  By then, it was too late to plan anything, and besides where can you go for 4 days?

Now the big issue is the upcoming break between semesters.  Originally, according to the academic calendar, which is apparently written only in SAND and can easily be blown away by the slightest wind,  January 5 was to be the first day of final exams.  However, surprise, surprise (!), since we had so many holidays in the fall and got such a late start in the semester, now the exams have been pushed back to January 12.  The students have a break on January 19 for one week.  But the faculty is not guaranteed that break.  Last year, we had two weeks between final exams and the start of the spring semester, and we were granted one of those weeks, at the last-minute and “out of the goodness of the administration’s heart,” as a holiday.  This year, we have no idea if we will get it at all.

For a Westerner, this is incredibly frustrating.  None of us can understand why on earth the university, or Oman’s government for that matter, cannot make a calendar and stick to it.  For someone like me, whose sole reason for living and working abroad is to travel, this problem with the calendar drives me absolutely crazy.  It is probably the NUMBER ONE reason I will be leaving Oman by this summer.  If I can’t achieve my travel goals when I live abroad because of such total confusion about holidays, then it is time for me to go back home.

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• Eid-ul-Fitr Mubarak

a glimpse at what teachers wear to the university of nizwa. {fall 2012}

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Life, Nizwa, Oman, University of Nizwa

Sunday, October 7: Often, people who are considering coming to work at the University of Nizwa write to me through my blog to ask various questions about life at the university.  One question people ask me is what people wear to work.  In order to avoid having to answer these questions on an individual basis, I decided to write a post about how teachers dress.

Long skirt, long-sleeve shirt and shayla (headscarf)

Short-sleeve blouse and skirt below the knee

button down shirt and long khaki pants

Saudi dress? I’m not sure here….

For the women, the general rule is that women should be modest, cover their shoulders and wear pants or skirts that fall below the knee.  Some of the women teachers are Muslim and cover their hair.  Others are not, and they do not cover.   Some women are Muslim and don’t cover.  It is an individual choice.  It is not required.

Short sleeve long top with long pants

A variety of dress. Left to right: button down shirt and long pants; Omani dishdasha and mussar; short sleeve collared knit shirt and long pants, long skirt and 3/4 sleeve blouse with scarf.

1) Me with long skirt, 3/4 length sleeves and scarf; 2) nice jeans and polo shirt; 3) long balloon pants and long tunic

long-sleeve button-down shirt, long khaki pants, and cap

The men generally wear collared shirts, or long tunics, or dishdashas if they are Omani.  Some men even go so far as to wear ties.  Shorts, frayed jeans or sloppy T-shirts are generally not acceptable.

women teachers at the university, with long skirts, scarves, long or mid-sleeve tops

short sleeve button-down shirt and long pants

a long sleeve shirt, tie, and long khaki pants

long tunic and long pants

This is just a sampling of different teachers and what they wear, as I cannot put pictures of every single teacher on my blog.  Teachers generally keep the heat in mind when they dress, sticking to lightweight cotton fabrics.  Many people wear sandals year round here, although many people wear close-toed shoes as well.

Indian cotton top with colorful scarf and long pants

long sleeve cardigan and blouse, long pants and headscarf

polo shirt and long khaki pants

long Indian tunic and long loose-fitting pants, cardigan over blouse and capri-length pants, and polo shirt with long pants

back to work ~ booted from office!

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Life, Nizwa, Oman, University of Nizwa

Saturday, September 15:  Today is Six Word Saturday, and here are my six words:

BACK TO WORK ~ BOOTED FROM OFFICE!

I didn’t open my university email even one time in the six weeks I was on vacation for this very reason.  I didn’t want to be upset by anything that had to do with work.  No one wants to find out while they are on vacation that they’ve been sacked, that their house has burned down, that they’ve been demoted, or WHATEVER!!  I didn’t want my peace of mind ruined, or even threatened, during my time of relaxation and leisure.

my new office

I found upon my return that the office I shared with two other people (it was bad enough we didn’t have our own private offices!) has now been confiscated by the university administration (for what use I’m not clear).  I was told upon my return to pack up my stuff and move to a newer building across the campus with a lot of other Foundation Institute teachers into a bullpen area full of cubicles.  It’s not that bad really, but the worst thing is that I’m separated from my closest friends all the way across the campus.

my special new desk

Welcome back to the real world.

listening final is over; marking begins…

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Nizwa, Oman, Six Word Saturday, University of Nizwa

Saturday: July 28:  Today is Six Word Saturday, and here are mine:

LISTENING FINAL IS OVER; MARKING BEGINS…

This summer, I have been the coordinator for what is called our Post-Foundation program at the University of Nizwa. These are students who have somehow completed the Foundation Program and are now still taking English courses because their TOEFL score isn’t high enough to start studying in their majors.  My coordinator position was just a summer position, and luckily I can just go back to teaching in the fall.  The only class I did teach this summer was Listening, focused mainly on academic listening and note-taking (including mind maps and linear note-taking).  Having taught the highest level of Speaking and Listening last summer at Northern Virginia Community College, I found this course was an exercise in futility.  My students are at a very basic level, and the lectures were about franchises, solving the traffic dilemma in London, macro- and micro-economics and Gestalt theory.  The curriculum level is simply not matching the abilities of our students.

Anyway, today was the final exam for listening.  This afternoon, our team, and other teachers who were hijacked for the job, began the double marking.  Tomorrow, we have the Grammar Final and on Monday the Reading Final.  We have to double mark nearly 500 exams.  All this by Tuesday afternoon, so as coordinator, I can check over everything for our group before submitting it to the administration on Wednesday.  Thursday morning at 5:40 a.m., I will be on the plane for Washington.  I am so ready for my 6-week break.  One month in Northern Virginia and two weeks in Greece!

As the Arabs say: Al Hamdullilah!

the university of nizwa: foundation institute

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Nizwa, Oman, University of Nizwa

Sunday, May 27:  I’ve been an English Language Lecturer at the Foundation Institute of the University of Nizwa for two semesters.  A lot of readers have written to me because either they have applied for a job, or are considering applying, at the university.   They want information, and I can’t say I blame them.  Before I came here I was desperate for information, as is anyone who is thinking of moving to and working in a foreign country.  When I got a job offer, I just decided to dive in and take a gamble, despite having little to no information.  I had a desire to work in the Middle East for various reasons and I figured this would be as good a place as any.  Besides, one of my State Department friends told me that Oman is the most desirable post in the Middle East for foreign service officers, so it seemed like a dream come true.

the entrance to the University of Nizwa

I’m generally hesitant to answer questions from potential job applicants because this is my place of employment and I try to limit my posts about my job here.  As you can imagine, I don’t want to jeopardize my job by putting into print every little thing I think about the environment here.

welcome to the university!

I hope people will not be offended if I choose not to answer their messages and questions about the university.  My blog is meant to be a creative outlet for me.  I like to focus on my travels and photography and mostly amusing or interesting anecdotes about my experience in Oman.  So, I would like to request that readers who are interested in applying here, or have already accepted a job here, please read my posts on the university (see the menu at the top of my page).  Other than that, I hope my dear readers will understand if I don’t respond to any further messages regarding work at the university.

my office, shared with two other people

That being said, there are several more appropriate forums to find out information.  Most ESL teachers already know that there is an international job forum on Dave’s ESL Cafe where you can post questions and get answers.  Also, I have a friend who started a website for Expats in Oman: Omani – Expats’ Portal.  Though this website is relatively new, I still suggest that you post your questions there in hopes of getting answers from other like-minded expats.

walkways on the university campus

On Dave’s ESL Cafe there are some very negative and bitter posts; there are also some positive posts. There is probably some truth to both the positives and negatives.  Just keep in mind the source.  Since Dave’s ESL Cafe is anonymous, anyone at all can post without giving any information about themselves.  It is impossible to know whether the person who posted is rightfully bitter about the university itself or is just a bitter person to begin with.  Anyone who has a grudge against the university for whatever reason can post.  If a person posts a lot of negative things about every place he has worked, for instance, that person may just be an angry person in general.  We don’t know.  So, I advise that readers should take everything they read with a big grain of salt.

wall painting on one of the university walls

Here’s what I have to add.  Each culture has its challenges.  Everyone who has ever worked abroad knows this.  Some cultures are worse, some better, than others. People take to  cultures differently.  For example, I worked in Korea for a year, but no matter how much I tried to love it, it just wasn’t my cup of tea.  Many other teachers absolutely loved it and have ended up staying for years.

walkways at the university

As for workplaces: I’ve worked for excellent and horrible companies all over, including in the USA.  The horrible workplaces are filled with negativity, infighting, low morale and high turnover. The excellent ones offer a positive, encouraging, inclusive and welcoming environment. Some workplace environments are simply better, or worse, than others. I think if you are a generally positive person who is resilient and flexible,  you will be okay here.  If not, you might be better off elsewhere.  I enjoy my life in Oman and I try hard to make the best of the situation.  I try to always remember why I’m here: to save money, to travel around the region, and to get more teaching and cultural experience.  I love being with my students, despite the general challenges found anywhere in the Gulf.

the Human Resources hallway

Here are some specific questions people have asked me, along with my answers:

How is the commute?

It takes me about 30 minutes to drive from my house, but it all depends on where you live and your transport situation.

a painting in the hallway

I’ve heard there is a bus that takes the teachers to and for the university.  How long is the trip?

There is and again, it depends where you live.  It’s pretty cheap transport; the university takes 10 rials out of your paycheck each month.

more covered walkways on the campus

Do you find it OK to be in the uni all day?

Yes, I’m especially happy when dealing with my students and direct teaching.

Does the uni provide sufficient materials for teaching?

Yes.  No working technology, but enough materials.

inside one hallway at the Foundation Institute

What are the negatives of working for Nizwa?  Positives?

See Dave’s ESL cafe.  I’m sorry, I can’t get into these myself.  Just read with an open mind and weigh what you read carefully.  You know yourself and what you can handle.

What’s the accommodation like?

My flat is wonderful.  You can see it in my blog, Home Sweet Home in the Abu Nooh Building.  It is a university flat so I pay nothing.  When the university provides the flat it comes furnished with basic stuff: TV, sofa and chairs, coffee table, king-size bed, desk, armoire, kitchen table & chairs.  You can get your own flat (I think the allowance is 175 rials, but I’m not sure) but remember under those circumstances, you must buy your own furniture.  This could be quite expensive.  In an earlier post, my first floor “villa” behind the shoe store, you can see the villa the university gave me early on; it had its own charm but it was, in essence, a real dive.  Slowly but surely I worked on them to get a new place.  Other people have done the same.  Just be aware when you first arrive, they are overwhelmed with new teachers, and have to stick people wherever, just to get them situated.  Later you can work with them to change your housing.

Building 13

Any social life?

Depends how outgoing you are.  But yes, there are lots of opportunities.

How many teachers?

Over 100??  Sorry, I’m really not sure of the number.

Many single older women?

Yes, lots!

covered parking ~ we need it in this heat!

Your blog gives the impression that you are very much enjoying life in Oman.

I am!!

I’d be interested in any downside so I can get a clear picture.

Please see Dave’s ESL Cafe.  You’ll have to make your own decision.  I hope you can understand I cannot go down that road.

basil on the university grounds

Overall, I try to be positive and try to get the most out of this  experience.  If you’re the same kind of person, you should be fine.  You create your life how you want it.  By the way, I AM renewing my contract for another year.  So, obviously I see more positives than negatives.

Good luck to all of you out there who are looking to come to the university.  Hope to see you here!

“end-ANGERED” animals

Tags

Oman, University of Nizwa

Monday, May 14:  This semester, Level 3 students at the university had to complete a term project on an endangered animal of their choice.  Basically, they had to research the animal to find out about its appearance, diet, habitat, and why it was endangered.  They mostly researched the topic on the internet, but they also had to survey their classmates as to why they thought the animal was endangered.  They also had to interview several of their classmates to find out what they, as students, should do to save the endangered animal.

the White “LEE-on”

It was an interesting topic and the project, I thought was laid out quite nicely for the students.  They had to learn to take notes, to footnote properly, and to organize and present their topic.  Many of the students still tried to cut and paste from the internet, but as teachers we demanded that they put their research into their own words and present the information in an organized fashion.  Getting these students away from cutting and pasting is quite a challenge!  They all love to think they’re doing so much work, when in effect they’re just taking someone else’s work!

the Gray Bat and its cave

Today, we had the oral presentations.  Many of them made posters, including a map to show where the animal lives, pictures of the animal, and an outline with talking points.  Some of them did excellent presentations and I was generally happy with their efforts.

The Arabian Leopard ~ my best presentation in class

The funny thing to me was the students’ pronunciation.  Arabic students have a difficult time differentiating between the hard “G” sound and the “J” sound.  They also have trouble with the “B” and the “P” sound.  The “P” sound doesn’t exist in Arabic.  The “G”/”J” sound, though, does exist in Arabic.  In Egyptian and in Omani Arabic, what is usually pronounced as a “J”  sound in other Arab-speaking countries is pronounced as a hard “G” sound.  A word like universityfor instance, pronounced “Jam’ia” in Jordan or Iraq, is be pronounced “Gam’ia” in Egypt or Oman.

Kangaroo Rat

There was a similar situation in Korea, where the “L” and the “R” sound both exist in Korea, but Koreans always mix them up and say, for instance, “lice” for “rice.”  However, there are words with “L” in them, which they pronounce with an “R” sound, for instance instead of saying “hurry,” they say “hully.” I’m sure linguistics experts must understand the reason for this, but for me it seems that if they can pronounce both sounds, then why do they get them mixed up? I can understand why with the “P” sound, which doesn’t exist in Arabic, they always pronounce it as a “B.”  As the sound doesn’t exist in their native tongue, you would expect them to have difficulty with it.

I don’t think these are really pictures of a cougar!! 🙂

One of my adorable students did her presentation on: The GUY-ant JAR-ter Snake, which is an end-ANGERED species.  When she did the practice presentation the day before I kept trying to correct her pronunciation.  She could not get it right.  I had her repeat after me each word: GIANT >> She said correctly, GIANT.  But then I’d correct GARTER >> She kept saying JAR-ter.  No matter how many times we practiced it, she could NOT say it correctly.  She originally was saying GUY-ant for GIANT, with the hard “G,” and she could correctly pronounce that as GIANT.  So why could she not say “GARter?”

the GUY-ant JAR-ter Snake

Across the board, every student said “end-ANGERED” with a hard “G” for “endangered.”  There were other pronunciation issues as well, of course, but this one was the most noticeable.  I heard “LEE-on” for “lion,” the “blue-FINE tuna” for the “blue-fin tuna,” “BAN-GONE” for “Penguin,” “Red BANDA” for “Red panda.”  Last but not least, one of the students, described how her animal ate “Christians” instead of “crustaceans.” 🙂

Of course for learners of English as a second language, pronunciation problems are always an issue.  As they are for a native English speaker (like me) trying to learn French or Arabic.  There are some sounds that are just plain difficult, if not impossible to say.  Especially in Arabic, where there are so many guttural sounds that we just don’t have in English.

the Fritillary Butterfly

So of course I understand the pronunciation problems, but I still find them entertaining, just as my students find it quite funny when I totally botch Arabic words. My friend Mario, who has his Master’s in Linguistics explains that this problem is because the students have learned the pronunciation, but they haven’t acquired it.  I guess that just takes time & practice.

a party to close out the spring semester

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Oman, University of Nizwa

Sunday, May 13:  This afternoon was our last official day of classes for the spring semester. Monday & Tuesday, the students have presentations and next Saturday will be the final exam for the level 3 students.

Golbon candies

My students, 27 girls, voted to have a party and signed up to bring mostly a bunch of sweets.  The girls swarmed into the room, tossing their candies and cakes and Pepsi bottles haphazardly on my desk.  They promptly started blowing up balloons and then popping them loudly, shooting confetti all over the place from a cylindrical cardboard cannon, and spraying gooey foam all over the place.  It was out of control from the first minute the party started until the end, when some of the more responsible girls and I had to clean up the entire mess…. !

my desk in complete disarray….

This was not my idea of a good time and during this party I swore to myself I would never have another party at the University of Nizwa.  The girls, ages 18-20 were acting like 3-year-olds at an unsupervised birthday party.  This was par for the course for this group, many of whom were sadly misplaced into Level 3; it was obvious early on that they were not even up to the ability of my Level 2 students at the beginning of the fall semester.  Having an all-girl class presented an additional challenge as the girls seem to regress to pre-adolescence when there are no boys around to keep them in line.

my Omani girl students and their favorite distraction ~ if they spent as much time studying as they did on their phones, they’d all be fluent by now.

My girls this semester were also ultra-conservative, unlike my Level 2s last semester, who seemed to be a mix of sophisticated, open-minded girls and conservative girls, with the open-minded ones in the majority.  Thus in this post you will not see pictures of any of the girls’ faces as they did not feel comfortable with me taking photos to post on my blog.

some of my students from the back…

We finished the party after a lot of squealing and general boisterousness and a HUGE mess in every nook and cranny of the room.  I was never happier to see a party come to an end.  I’m really hoping next semester, which will be the summer semester for me, I will have some more mature students, a mix of boys and girls, who are appropriately placed in my class.  I think it’s time, if one is a university student, to GROW UP!!

the view through one of the abaya scarves

I received gifts from two girls. One girl gave me three books: one titled Woman in Islam, another Islam and Christianity as seen in the Bible, and the other a book written in German called Ein Kurzer Illustrierter Wegweiser Um Den Islam Zu Verstehen.  When I mentioned to the student that I don’t speak German, she shrugged and said she thought I spoke German.  I’ve never given them any reason to think I speak German; I don’t even know one word!! She suggested that I might want to learn it.  Hmmm.  So I can read a book about Islam?  I’ve already read a lot about Islam and don’t feel any great urge to study a new language just so I can read another book about the religion!!

gifts from students… Hmmm…..

Another girl gave me a lovely little bottle of perfume and the sweetest note that said: Dear Ms. Cathy: I want say thank you so much for all your effort.  I know it was so hard to learn us and we was so annoying but you have white heart and forget.  Ms. “I will mess you so much.”  Take care, Yours, the noisy girl.  This girl was a sweet and lively girl who actually was my best grammar student.  Can you tell?

a nice gift and cute note from “the noisy girl”

One caveat: I did have some wonderful girls this semester, probably about two-thirds of my class, who were respectful, hard-working and generally lovely.  Those girls were the ones who made the class survivable, and even pleasurable, for me. I loved these girls and will miss them.  The rest of them were frankly not interested in learning and I guess are hoping that wasta (favors) will get them by.  Hmmm.  I guess only time will tell how life will deal with them.