Teaching English in Saudi Arabia

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

Anonymous on 6 May 2009

quote One of the most difficult places on the earth to teach English. Before coming here, you are told so many fancy stories by your employer that you would definitely ask why on earth I did not work here before. The day you land here in this country, you will feel that the honeymoon is over. For a 2-minute work, you have to wait for one to two months. On the top of that everyone lies. You will never get salary in time. Your employer will say "God willing (inshallah), you'll get your salary tomorrow". But this tomorrow comes not before two months.

Anonymous on 11 February 2010

quote Before you decide to go and teach English in Saudi Arabia, you need to be aware that because most Saudis are wealthy and they have a lazy attitude towards studying, they don't care about learning English, they just want a certificate so they can get a job. Most of the students are lazy and never do homework or even turn up for class if there is a football game on. Sometimes they are friendly and it is part of their culture to invite you for a meal if they like you. Your employer may make a lot of false promises just to keep you interested in working for him. Most Saudis have an attitude that foreign workers are their 'servants' and if you can't speak Arabic, usually they won't be interested in talking with you, unless you find someone who really wants to learn English. If you want to change your job you will have to get an exit visa from your employer and leave the country and then wait for a new one from your new employer. The only things you can do in your free time here is go to a restaurant or coffee shop or play biliards. Also you can play football anywhere as football is the most important thing here after their religion. Single men are not allowed in shopping malls. Don't expect 'professionalism' in any workplace. There are rules but no one cares about them. The most important thing is you pray 5 times a day and don't talk to any women who are covered totally in black. If you are lucky, you will get a nice boss and a good salary.

Anonymous on 3 December 2010

quote I agree with what the two above writers said. Saudis can say 'inshallah' instead of yes or no, which is a great way of getting out of any agreements or responsibilities! Now when my boss asks me to do something, I just say inshallah, and leave him guessing whether I will actually do it or not ... Make sure everything you expect from your employer is clearly detailed in your contract, because your employer will certainly try to weasle out of it! Also be aware that the cost of living in some places can be quite high, so a housing allowance of 1500 Riyals and transportation allowance of 500 Riyals won't be nearly enough. (I'm thinking particularly of Jubail.)

Anonymous on 23 January 2011

quote The first time you come to Saudi Arabia, you are going to face a lot of problems especially, language, culture and religion. If you keep yourself behind those compound walls, then you will keep suffering. You may even feel you are an inmate. However, the faster you build up relationship with one or two Saudi nationals, the more your life will be the other way around. Definitely they will ask you to teach them at their home with the minimum rate of USD30 an hour. They will encourage you to join them for a meal every now and then and they will ask you to teach either their relatives or their friends. "Shisha" is one thing you will be doing late at night at one of the "coffee shops". Whether you are muslim or not, you will be requested gently to practice Islam thousand times. That is your time to pay back the "insha-allah" (God willing!). Just keep saying "Insha-allah" and that makes them happy but they will never stop requesting you. Don't show that you are not interested in religion. That will easly offend them and they can easly be rude. When it comes to employers, I advise you to get first-hand information about the company or employer from an expat currently work for them. You can easily login to LinkedIn to figure that out. In general, if you are serious about coming to Saudi Arabia, prepare yourself to pass through an informal cultural training for about a year. Then, once you buy your own car and drive around and meet more and more saudi people, you will start enjoying what is there for you especially the money part. Trust me, I am teaching English in Saudi Arabia for the last almost seven years and I am not intending to move soon. You can pay all your loans and even save some.

Huda on 24 April 2011

quote I'm a teacher of English and I'm Saudi, and honestly, I can't deny what you all have mentioned about Saudi culture but what I really want to say here is not to make generalizations, despite all these facts and situations, the Saudi people are still sociable and like to welcome people from different cultures.

AA on 9 September 2011

quote A few notes.. Saudis are generous people, very kind. How do I know? I have been here over a year but I was with the National Guard which is much more generous than other places, I hear. You have a compound to live in, very large and good. I love shopping places for women, and strict rules for Westerners - Yes, I am an american (American Arab woman!) Um, what else? Around prayer time, everything closes and ten minutes after, it all opens up again. And yes, no wine or pork (duh!). I think that the more high class students you work with, the more hard working they are... the National Guard students are high class, many are princesses but they do work. Other than that, follow the law and good luck!

Been there... on 10 November 2011

quote "Lock yourself up behind compound walls?" What school are YOU working for? The 300 teachers I work with are all living in 0 star hotels (some sharing a room) with cockroaches and mice. The others (working for a different company) are housed in a 5 star hotel, but will soon be moved to a compound where they will live 4 to a villa with no living room and only 2 bathrooms.

I agree that it is one of the most difficult (if not most difficult) places to teach English, but am mystified by the comment that men cannot go into shopping malls-except for one floor of the Kingdom Mall in Riyadh. Going to malls is the only thing a woman can do here, although how an English teacher could afford a Louis Vuitton bag is beyond me.

I would not advise making friends with Saudis-especially if you are a woman as their only interest is....SHOPPING! There is no culture, no politics, no entertainment. Virtually everything is "haram" (forbidden) and even the most innocent remark (i.e. Merry Christmas) could get you deported-or worse.

Yeah, Saudi Arabia....RUN! The salary (not all that great) is simply not worth giving up a year of your life for. Just go to prison, you'd have better living conditions and more freedom.

JD on 23 July 2011

quote Run! Run while you can!