Learning English

Originally from a village, Ahmed heard of
opportunities to study in the capital and
get a better paying job.

However, when Ahmed made the big move to the city, the reality of living there soon hit. Jobs and hence money weren’t so easy to come across. His first job was selling fruit and vegetables from a cart that he pushed through the streets, and he managed to move up to assisting in a small supermarket. Then he helped his friend by driving a taxi on occasions, which paid more. When driving the taxi, Ahmed met more foreigners, and he discovered that the little English he had learnt in school wasn’t enough to even take directions. He realised his prospects of a better job would be increased if he could speak English.

Finding a place to study
Ahmed’s friends knew of a few different places that he could study English. There was the biggest institute, which was run by the American embassy. They had new rooms and desks, and the teachers were all professionals. However, they were expensive and most of the teachers were from other Middle Eastern countries, so their accents weren’t perfect. Another big institute, sponsored by the British embassy, had the same problems. There were some small institutes, privately owned and run by locals. Though they had nice facilities, most didn’t have professional teachers. The few that managed to find teachers weren’t able to pay them, so the teachers ended up leaving. However, Ahmed’s friends mentioned another institute.

The oldest institute in the city, this facility was reasonably priced with only native English speakers as teachers. But there was one major drawback - they were known to be Christians, and stories circulated that they tried to make all the students into Christians. Quite apart from any rumour, Ahmed had been taught all his life that Christians were immoral Zionists. He often heard it preached that Christian women jumped from man to man, and it was often suggested that the Palestinian people were homeless because the Jews were backed by the Christian Americans and their money. Despite this, Ahmed decided to join this institute so he could observe and learn English, but was determined to be on his guard against these Christians.

Changed views
A year later, Ahmed had changed - now he knew English, and his opinion about Christians was very different. These people had taught him English well. He had an urge to catch a bus back to his village to speak to Mr. Mohammed, his old English teacher, who had taught him some things that weren’t correct. But more than that, he wanted to talk to his imam at the mosque, who had said many things that were not only wrong, but also misleading about Christians.

The people in the institute had never once told him to convert. The lady teachers were polite, but they definitely did not make signs of immoral behaviour. The male teachers, whilst talking to the lady students, never did anything that made them feel uncomfortable, and they showed the women just as much respect as the men. Once a student who had come back from praying during the break asked why Christians didn’t pray - the teacher answered that he did. He called it ‘talking with God’. How could a man have a conversation with God?

Another time someone had asked the teacher what Easter was, and the teacher explained what Christians believed. Never did any of the teachers speak against their prophet. Only on one occasion did a teacher say that she thought the Qur’an was not from God. She had asked, “How can the Qur’an and the Bible be from God if they don’t have the same message?” Ahmed hadn’t read much of the Qur’an so he couldn’t answer. Once a student had mentioned how the Israelis had entered Gaza, killing Palestinians, and the teacher expressed her sadness - she wished there was peace in Palestine.

Ahmed now knew that ‘Western’ or ‘American’, did not necessarily mean ‘Christian’. He caught himself feeling disappointed that he had finished his last level at the institute. He was quite competent in English, but he wanted to mix further with these kind people - to learn from them. He wanted more!