Teaching English in Libya

The following comments are from teachers who have taught, or are currently teaching, in Libya. If you are a teacher and have some advice to share, please add it here.

Wendy on 3 July 2006

quote Libya is a fantastic country to work in. The people here are so keen to learn English: students are committed and friendly. The weather is scalding though! I can highly recommend Libya as a place for EFL professionals who are really dedicated to delivering what it takes! You have to be well-qualified and well-experienced and you have to not mind working 6 days a week... come to Libya, you will be amazed!

Peter on 11 March 2008

quote Be prepared for some major shocks as Libya is VERY conservative! The cost of living is very low and of course you'll save all the money you won't be spending on alcohol :) On the plus side, the Libyan desert is stunning... as is the driving!

Alice on 24 September 2008

quote I've been teaching in Libya for about six years now. It is really rewarding as 99% of students really appreciate you. They are friendly and always ready to lend a hand. Libya itself may be very different to what you are used to but is ok as long as you don't expect nightclubs etc. Saying that there are plenty of expats working here who make their own "social clubs" I agree with the fact that driving in Libya is pretty scary!

Morgan on 19 February 2009

quote Anyone coming to Libya needs to think very carefully about it. I personally love this country, but have worked extrremely hard to adapt to it. The biggest difference is that of Arab countries, where male and female lives are separate to a large extent and the public spaces belong to men. As I've said, I love the country and have hundreds of Arab friends, but women need to know that all women, local and foreign, experience a lot of sexual harrassment on the streets from certain men who hang out there. I know many Libyan women who never step outside, not because of their families, but purely because of the harrassment. I have changed the way I dress, so as not to stand out, as foreign women, in relatively revealing clothes are subject to worse treatment. Some women who come here become virtual recluses, and some have been made ill by it. Please know this before you come, as companies and organizations, such as the British Council, are guilty of not preparing women for this, and not taking seriously the difficulties. I will say again though, the majority of Libyan people are generous and hospitable and humorous, and teaching here is very rewarding.

Phil on 20 May 2011

quote I was teaching in Sabratha and left just before it blew up. People are wonderful - there was no indication of what was to happen. These are good people, regardless of the regime. I would like to go back when it sorts itself out. Doesn't matter which way, it's the people that matter. They will always endure. I encourage all teachers to go back when it's thought safe.

Mohamed on 14 October 2011

quote Thanks guys for the most beautiful feedback on Libya generally and on people in specific, I am so proud of having been thought of us as generous, hospitable and more importantly, is that we are extremely friendly and outgoing. I am a non-native speaker of English, yet i love English to the core and I always try to pass it onto my students since I am myself a language teacher, but the impression most of the employers have when recruiting a language teacher is that you should be a native speaker which is not always a case. I have been teaching English for the last five years and I'm getting more experienced every day, along with the fact that my language command helped me get a job as an Arabic teacher and I did it so well and the feedback of my students was so encouraging and positive that it made me reconsider teaching Arabic long term. Thanks a lot for your beautiful views and I am so glad of having been invloved in such a forum.

Anonymous on 8 November 2011

quote Libya is an amazing country and the people are the warmest and most hospitable that you could ever hope to meet. They certainly didn't deserve the recent NATO bombardments and massacre of innocent civilians. The country will now take years if not decades to recover from the NATO onslaught in the name of the people's liberation. I am not Libyan but I am truly disgusted by NATO aggression here having lived and worked for many years in Libya I witnessed the growing prosperity and true freedom of Libyans before the massacre by NATO. First opportunity I get to go back there I will use to collate evidence of NATO atrocities. God bless all Libyans