Human Resources is pleased to announce the start of the spring term of English courses for spouses. Spouses of any faculty, staff or student residing within the KAUST community are welcome to join the offered English classes which will run from Sunday, March 29 – Thursday, May 28 (with one week off for Spring Break).
Courses cost 800 SAR and range from Beginner to Upper Intermediate levels.
This is a great opportunity to improve your English, as well as interact with other community members who share a desire to learn English.
Click here for more information or to register for a placement test.
Hello,
In my opinion,I don’t think there should be a charge of SAR 800 for such course especially since it’s intermediate to beginners and it’s only for almost one month. I am sure there are plenty of people who will be welling to teach this course for free.
Hello Salah,
Thank you for your message. We appreciate any feedback we can get from the community regarding our program. The duration of the courses is for 8 weeks, and they meet twice a week. We have several levels (the most recent course had 12). In this way, we can assure that all the students in our classes are grouped with other students of similar language levels and abilities.
We’ve hired experienced certified English teaching professionals to deliver our courses. The fee charged contributes to the costs of the the teacher resources as well as course materials. In addition, charging a fee helps ensure that our participants are committed to the program and attend regularly.
It is my understanding that there are currently free courses in the Harbor library which are another option for community members. I’m not aware of the schedule. However, if you contact the library, I’m sure they could give more details.
Regards,
Matt
Hi,
I would like to know more information about the class time and location..
Thanks
Hello Abdulaziz,
Our spouse courses meet twice a week for 1 1/2 hours per class. The class times are in the mornings from 8:30-10:00am or from 10:00-11:30am. The course lasts for 8 weeks.
All of our English courses are on campus in building 9.
If you would like more details, you can email me at matthew.fechtmeyer@kaust.edu.sa
Matt
Hello,
what type of question like for ex multiple answer type n how many? Is the test duration 3hrs. Please advise.
Best regards,
prospective student.
Mrs.khan.
Hello Mrs. Khan,
There are 2 parts to the assessment test. The first is an online exam which takes about 1 hour. This has grammar and vocabulary questions, as well as a listening section.
The 2nd part is a face to face conversation with one of our teachers to assess your speaking level. We look at the results of both parts to place our participants in the appropriate level for their language ability.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at matthew.fechtmeyer@kaust.edu.sa
Matt
Will there be any Arabic classes for staff etc at all in the near future – after work would be great? More than happy to pay too!
Also interested in Arabic Courses, waiting for news on Action #4.2 from the President’s Task Force. Thanks!
Hello Claire and Marcos,
The English department is not responsible for Arabic courses at KAUST. However, as a fellow community member, I am interested in these courses as well.
I don’t have any official knowledge of the progress of bringing Arabic lessons to KAUST. From conversations I’ve had with others in community, I understand that the President’s task force has identified this as a need, and that HR is looking into options. If this is true, I’ll see you both in class when they begin.
Matt
Is there any possibility to change it to 6:pm ? Since some spouses work in the morning .
Hello Amani,
For the moment, we don’t have the resources to offer classes in the evening. However, we are starting to get more requests for evening classes, so it is an option we will need to explore.
Regards,
Matt
The provided link does not seem to be working, please update.
Hello Mohammed,
We’ve closed registration for the upcoming term as assessment tests were conducted this week.
Since the classes have not yet begun, we can try to arrange to still enroll your wife in a course. Please email me directly at matthew.fechtmeyer@kaust.edu.sa to make arrangements.
Matt