It is nice to know how Terramax and Richard123 are trying to coordinate things. I can contribute some feedback and remarks in such coordination . . .
1- I have sent an email with my proposal, which was very brief, and Richard123, Terramax, Lou and I guess two more have recieved it.
2- For the Mall Roundabout nightmare, sure! I agree that driving there is hectic but if you have noticed that the traffic has become less in recent weeks after the Airport Roundabout was opened(not fully yet) and Al Tadamon(Solidarity) Rounabout with the new traffic lights. The real dilemma was two months ago. I believe you or we are trying to find a place that has as light or smooth traffic as possible.
3- A blunt comment: It is to easy to say that a meeting can take place anywhere if this place accross from LuLu does not fit some people. Sometimes, if we try to find a spot, you will/may realize it is not as easy as you may think. On my own, I will see what I can do on that later today and Friday and Saturday since it is my day off. . so I will have some time to check on this. I should have a better idea by Saturday.
4- Hallooo ... hallooo ... hallooo ... The Asian Games is around the corner and if you are freeking out from the Mall Roundabout but what about other areas? The bottom lines ... there should not be worries about the issue of traffic. .. whatever spot is agreed upon, people should plan to leave from where they are like 20-30 minutes earlier and being in class little bit early has an advantage too for exchaning ideas or questions that some of you may have not time to discuss openly and with more details while in class . . . trust me. . . i know it!
5- In case more than one group of formed. . . no problem ... If two or three groups are formed, they do not have to be in the same area or with the same teacher . . . the students can make their minds on what maybe convenient for them . . . .ooooops . . lets not forget what is convenient for the teacher too. At the end, it is all mutual.
6- That is why I said earlier that I could be open to having to a group of 5 or 6. There more students are there in a group, the more diverse opinions can be shared. But the bigger the group, the less attention each student may have part of a group. Plus, some of you insisted and preferred a group not more than 4, but to balance all feedbacks is ok but having eight maybe something others do not feel comfortable with. Then, if two groups can be formed, they can be formed with different sizes. One group have 8 and the other 4 or 5. The student may need to choose which one he or she may feel more comfortable with.
7- For the possibility of having two or three groups, well, then this maybe difficult to be done/arranged/taught by the same tutor or teacher. Then, another teacher may get in the coordination process and teaching does not have to be in one group by a teacher, the same like another group by another teacher.
8- Two people contacted me. It seems they got to know about all of this from the forum, but each one of them requested a person-to-person intensive tutoring. They are still negotiating, but I said for a person-to-person tutoring can not go less than QR100 which I believe is very fair. When/if each of them is interested, they have my email and phone to proceed.
9- Interesting remark to share with you all since I have noticed this during my stay in America with people who want to pursue studying Arabic. People in universities or on academic grants were the ones who were kind of committed learning. Plus, teaching professionals or people who work during the day, is different from people who are students in universities. At the end of the day, professionals get tired in the evening and they look for a enjoyable class, easy going, with diverse material to be covered in one hour to keep them up. Covering three or four topics in one hour is much better than one topic for the whole hour.
10- Kindly make note that tutoring classes do not involve teaching only. One class may be to cover or teach new material and the following class may not have any new material but an atmosphere to talk, practice, exercise what was covered the session before. When you are a professional(not a full time student) the class is your full new territory to force yourself to expose yourself to the language without distractions, while at home or work, you have other things . . . plussssssssssss . . do not forget the pets if you happen to have a cat or dog at home too!! LOL !! just kidding!
11- Last but not least and accordingly . . . I have a suggestion . . for those interested, how about if we have a coffee getting together somewhere in Doha on the evening/early night of Friday or Saturday - so by then you have given this a thought - to discuss a plan and you have nothing to loose . . . if at least 4 people confirm to show up, I should show up too. My other suggestion beside the other feedback that one of you is waiting for from QF is . . . We can start a workshop of 5-6 sessions. Each session will be for an hour or a session of two hours where a 10-minute break is in between. The sooner we start this workshop, the earlier we can finish them prioer to the start of the Asian Games where the city is expected to go crazy! In those 5-6 sessions we will have a broad coverage to the main topics in the Arabic language like some cultural background, common vocabulary, pronouns, masculine and feminine usage in the language, pronounciations, alphabets, writing, connecting the letters, distinguishing the letters from each other, the accents which are tha notations that give each letter a different sound. This should give a good intro to a language you are curious to check out. If you like it, then you plan what you see convenient and if you were not satisfied, you will not regret what you have learned in those 5 or 6 sessions. Only the first session of those 5 to 6 sessions will be like an hour an half for introduction and orientation so time is well spent on whatever material to be covered.
Sorry Terramax . . . I did not mean to get you upset by writing a thousand posting . . . .lol! I check the forum regularly and upon the feedback, lets see whether we can confirm a time to meet . . . let me know . . . and sorry all for being 'little bit' long and self explanatory. At the end, it is there for all of us to be well-informed . . .
For Lou . . . thanx for the email and getting back with us.
For Camilla . .. thanx for updating us and you have not missed anything yet by me or Richard123 or Terramax . . .
It is nice to know how Terramax and Richard123 are trying to coordinate things. I can contribute some feedback and remarks in such coordination . . .
1- I have sent an email with my proposal, which was very brief, and Richard123, Terramax, Lou and I guess two more have recieved it.
2- For the Mall Roundabout nightmare, sure! I agree that driving there is hectic but if you have noticed that the traffic has become less in recent weeks after the Airport Roundabout was opened(not fully yet) and Al Tadamon(Solidarity) Rounabout with the new traffic lights. The real dilemma was two months ago. I believe you or we are trying to find a place that has as light or smooth traffic as possible.
3- A blunt comment: It is to easy to say that a meeting can take place anywhere if this place accross from LuLu does not fit some people. Sometimes, if we try to find a spot, you will/may realize it is not as easy as you may think. On my own, I will see what I can do on that later today and Friday and Saturday since it is my day off. . so I will have some time to check on this. I should have a better idea by Saturday.
4- Hallooo ... hallooo ... hallooo ... The Asian Games is around the corner and if you are freeking out from the Mall Roundabout but what about other areas? The bottom lines ... there should not be worries about the issue of traffic. .. whatever spot is agreed upon, people should plan to leave from where they are like 20-30 minutes earlier and being in class little bit early has an advantage too for exchaning ideas or questions that some of you may have not time to discuss openly and with more details while in class . . . trust me. . . i know it!
5- In case more than one group of formed. . . no problem ... If two or three groups are formed, they do not have to be in the same area or with the same teacher . . . the students can make their minds on what maybe convenient for them . . . .ooooops . . lets not forget what is convenient for the teacher too. At the end, it is all mutual.
6- That is why I said earlier that I could be open to having to a group of 5 or 6. There more students are there in a group, the more diverse opinions can be shared. But the bigger the group, the less attention each student may have part of a group. Plus, some of you insisted and preferred a group not more than 4, but to balance all feedbacks is ok but having eight maybe something others do not feel comfortable with. Then, if two groups can be formed, they can be formed with different sizes. One group have 8 and the other 4 or 5. The student may need to choose which one he or she may feel more comfortable with.
7- For the possibility of having two or three groups, well, then this maybe difficult to be done/arranged/taught by the same tutor or teacher. Then, another teacher may get in the coordination process and teaching does not have to be in one group by a teacher, the same like another group by another teacher.
8- Two people contacted me. It seems they got to know about all of this from the forum, but each one of them requested a person-to-person intensive tutoring. They are still negotiating, but I said for a person-to-person tutoring can not go less than QR100 which I believe is very fair. When/if each of them is interested, they have my email and phone to proceed.
9- Interesting remark to share with you all since I have noticed this during my stay in America with people who want to pursue studying Arabic. People in universities or on academic grants were the ones who were kind of committed learning. Plus, teaching professionals or people who work during the day, is different from people who are students in universities. At the end of the day, professionals get tired in the evening and they look for a enjoyable class, easy going, with diverse material to be covered in one hour to keep them up. Covering three or four topics in one hour is much better than one topic for the whole hour.
10- Kindly make note that tutoring classes do not involve teaching only. One class may be to cover or teach new material and the following class may not have any new material but an atmosphere to talk, practice, exercise what was covered the session before. When you are a professional(not a full time student) the class is your full new territory to force yourself to expose yourself to the language without distractions, while at home or work, you have other things . . . plussssssssssss . . do not forget the pets if you happen to have a cat or dog at home too!! LOL !! just kidding!
11- Last but not least and accordingly . . . I have a suggestion . . for those interested, how about if we have a coffee getting together somewhere in Doha on the evening/early night of Friday or Saturday - so by then you have given this a thought - to discuss a plan and you have nothing to loose . . . if at least 4 people confirm to show up, I should show up too. My other suggestion beside the other feedback that one of you is waiting for from QF is . . . We can start a workshop of 5-6 sessions. Each session will be for an hour or a session of two hours where a 10-minute break is in between. The sooner we start this workshop, the earlier we can finish them prioer to the start of the Asian Games where the city is expected to go crazy! In those 5-6 sessions we will have a broad coverage to the main topics in the Arabic language like some cultural background, common vocabulary, pronouns, masculine and feminine usage in the language, pronounciations, alphabets, writing, connecting the letters, distinguishing the letters from each other, the accents which are tha notations that give each letter a different sound. This should give a good intro to a language you are curious to check out. If you like it, then you plan what you see convenient and if you were not satisfied, you will not regret what you have learned in those 5 or 6 sessions. Only the first session of those 5 to 6 sessions will be like an hour an half for introduction and orientation so time is well spent on whatever material to be covered.
Sorry Terramax . . . I did not mean to get you upset by writing a thousand posting . . . .lol! I check the forum regularly and upon the feedback, lets see whether we can confirm a time to meet . . . let me know . . . and sorry all for being 'little bit' long and self explanatory. At the end, it is there for all of us to be well-informed . . .
For Lou . . . thanx for the email and getting back with us.
For Camilla . .. thanx for updating us and you have not missed anything yet by me or Richard123 or Terramax . . .
yalla . . ciao !!