After visiting Pharos university I came across the Alexandria Centre for Languages (ACL) where finally I found out what happened to the SOAS students (School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London). Apparently, since 2014 or earlier, for their year abroad, they had a choice between ACL, an-Najah university in Palestine and Qasid in Jordan.
The SOAS students appeared to be a lively bunch and on the first day spoke to me in Arabic, which naturally inclined me towards them. I worked out a deal with the director, Magda Abou Youssef, that I could try out the course for one week, which I paid for, and then decide whether to join the SOAS programme or not. I also took the placement test.
Magda also told me that she used to be the director of the TAFL Center and left because she felt the university was over-charging its customers and decided to give them a better deal in her own centre. According to another source, she had good relations with the convenor of the SOAS programme (of that time), which facilitated the inception of ACL.
About mid-week, after agreeing to allow me to try out the course, she then called me into her office talking very negatively about what we had agreed. It was then that I offered to pay her 100 USD. She happily accepted.
Towards the end of the week, the director told me that she had never met any student who took so long to make a decision and that the level was right for me. She also informed me that my delay in enrolling was disrupting my studies as well as the studies of the SOAS students and that I’d better make a decision soon or my opportunity to join would be lost.
Having already wasted a month at the other centres and with at least one of the teachers (I later learned her daughter-in-law) giving the nod that the level was right for me (in front of the director), I decided to join and paid the full amount (for the whole term and without the SOAS discount).
Two weeks in, I started to feel bored (the other students mostly spoke in English with me, perhaps they were fed-up and I don’t blame them), but I was determined to make the most of my time. However, after a month, I was out of my depth (especially with the grammar) and then realized I was in the wrong level. This opinion was seconded by at least one other student. It was just too advanced for me! Problem was that this was the only level…
Why had the director said otherwise and why hadn’t the teachers intervened? Were dollars in such short supply in these days? This is partly why I tended to avoid private centres. I always sensed them to be unprofessional, but after Jordan (where the university was equally more interested in money than education, or even their reputation) my mind had changed slightly.
When the Gawaazaat (visa section) asked for a letter from the course provider the director eventually agreed to provide one and requested that I not tell anybody I had paid her in dollars (apparently she was doing me a favour).
In total, I might have made a dozen trips to the visa section where the officer (not the director) ordered me to speak to him in Arabic (only because he said that he knew I could – obviously he was a mind-reader or because he considered me not white enough). Actually, I felt like a Syrian or Libyan or someone from Gaza, but at least they were getting consistent instructions and proper answers (or at least it seemed that way).
Interestingly, very soon after my payment of tuition fees at ACL the black market price for USD rose by 30%!
After some weeks into the course I also observed that most of the SOAS students were unhappy with their experience of ACL and some of them depressed (they would try to hide it from me, but it soon started to come out). One of them had no water in her apartment for more than a week, which I could believe as it had happened to me 1-2 months previously. When I could not stomach anymore, thought I should say goodbye and it was suggested that I should ask for the remainder of my money (three weeks worth).
So I did and, as expected (in fact, two months earlier, soon after payment she had told me that the money was stuck in the bank now and getting it out would be impossible – so I felt forced to stick to the course or lose the money), she came out with her usual nonsense and she even suggested that I could take the examinations early (pointless) and gain a certificate (useless).
I did not want to waste anymore time (had already wasted four months in Alexandria) and wanted to be sure that I caught my flight. Therefore, I said thanks for allowing me to join the centre and returned to the hotel.
Now I was starting to think that the key skill for a director of a language centre is the ability to mis-sell a product. Short-term profit at the expense of long-term gain.
They would do well in banking.
Arabian Misadventures 