So you may recall my earlier thread, in which I was asking about my 19-year-old son getting a certificate to teach English as a foreign language. He was hoping to teach overseas. The consensus was that he would need a college degree before anyone would hire him to teach.
He’s now thinking of attending college in the Middle East, preferably Egypt. I looked at the American University in Cairo. I was concerned about accreditation, but I found a link which seems to indicate a degree would be recognized in the US:
Assuming we could afford this (iffy at this point), would this be a good idea, or are we crazy for even considering it? We don’t want to dash our son’s dreams, but we want to make sure it’s a wise decision. I’m not sure where to start looking for advice!
I’d go to college in the US and then get the ESL accreditation. I agree with @PurpleTitan that Egypt is not a great place to be theses days – in fact personally I’d avoid the MIddle East.
@happy1, I agree with you and @PurpleTitan. It helps to hear others’ opinions. Sometimes my son is more willing to listen if I tell him I got advice from my online friends.
I personally would not have an issue studying in the Middle East, but it would depend on the country. One of my friends is looking at potentially doing a study abroad program there. However, if I were doing it, Egypt would not be on my list of countries. FWIW, the program he is looking at, which was housed at the American University in Cairo, is currently housed at Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, with the goal to return to Egypt dependent upon the university’s assessment of the security situation.
MaineLonghorn, I have a friend who is a ph.d. candidate in residence this year at NYU Abu Dhabi, PM me if you or your son would like to correspond with him. He is very knowledgeable about the academics (and just about everything else!) of the middle east.
Would he consider Japan? I’ve heard people have had a really good experience starting college here and finishing a degree in Japan(some Japanese required) but teaching ESL in Japan only requires any college degree, English is native language and no Japanese(although some is helpful in living there).
The United States Department of State sponsors a scholarship program that helps high school kids learn critical languages (including Arabic) by sending them to foreign countries (I know this isn’t applicable to your son, but bear with me, it’ll make sense in a minute). For the Arabic program, students are placed in either Jordan, Morocco, or Oman. To me, this means these are probably the most stable countries in the Middle East/Arabic-speaking region for American students to study, as the U.S. government is comfortable placing American students in these countries. I second the Jordan idea; it’s definitely more stable than Egypt. However, an important thing to keep in mind when studying Arabic (if that’s part of his plan) is that the dialects vary greatly between countries, and Egyptian Arabic is one of the more common types.
If he would consider other languages/regions of the world, there are organizations in China that will pay for American students to study teaching English as a second language in China (including covering the cost of a Master’s in Teaching ESL), which might be worth looking into considering you mentioned finances are iffy at this point.
I live in the region. I’d recommended attending a college in the Emirates or Qatar. There are a group of American universities that have branches in Doha, Qatar (Georgetown SFS, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell medical school, Northwestern, Texas A&M etc) - look into those if they offer the major he’s interested in? You’d receive the same financial aid you’d receive if you attended the branch in the U.S. Plus the Qatar foundation provides a few scholarships to students that get accepted and have high stats.
*What sort of schools is he aiming to teach at? I know for a fact that the best International schools (British/American) in the region prefer to recruit teachers from abroad so the U.S, UK etc. And they offers those that are recruited from those countries higher salaries than local recruits.
I currently live in Amman, Jordan. I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, but I spent my high school years living here. Jordan is more stable than some of the surrounding countries. Several of my friends are going to continue studying here- there are some pretty good universities (compared to the ones in the middle east) and life is pretty easygoing. Just make sure you stay in Amman. Jordan is pretty much Amman. There’s really not too much to see outside of the city, but its huge and you’ll have everything you need there. I also agree with @pink997 because the Emirates and Qatar both have solid universities as well. (even branches of American unis). The Middle East is great, but you need to choose the perfect place!
With the exception of famous competitive programs like JET and some others, there can be variability in terms of fairness in hiring and/or pay and working conditions. Incidentally, there is some truth in Japan and other East Asian countries that part of the preferred qualification along with native English proficiency is one “looks English/American”.
As for completing a degree in Japanese universities, Japanese proficiency is almost always required. This is the case even if the program is mostly taught in English as was the case with a HS friend who did her PhD at UTokyo in engineering.
As long as he can take proper precautions, I think it would be an absolutely fabulous learning experience. Not only would he get his subject major, but he would enter a whole new culture and political system as well as learn a language. Americans who have never lived abroad have no way to gauge this kind of experience and accomplishment, however much they are intangible. I say go for it. His life will be enriched beyond what you can imagine.