Hello and Salam!

Hi Kristi,

Welcome to Expat.com!

I have moved your topic on the Morocco forum for better visibility.

Hello...how are you? i from morocco.. .I am Bami Monika

welcome in Rabat , i would like to make friends too , especially english native speakers , if u need any help just let me know

Shukran! Hopefully when I arrive in Morocco I will obtain my CELTA certification to teach English and travel around. Rabat is one place that I want to visit!

I need to learn French and Arabic as well... so new friends are always welcome.

Kristi

Thank you Kristi

Afwan! And thank you as well!

welcome to morocco . if u have any question in u'r mind about morocco post it here . u'll find the anwser insh'alah

Moroccan1 wrote:

welcome to morocco . if u have any question in u'r mind about morocco post it here . u'll find the anwser insh'alah

Thank you! I hope to move there soon! I am sure I will have plenty of questions!

hello Kristi

welcome to Morocco, I'm living in Agadir if you need any help when you visit Agadir let me know.

good luck

Thanks Kallouma, I will definitely be trying to meet people once I arrive. I am currently trying to sell my car here in the USA. If I can sell it soon, Insha'Allah, then I will come to Morocco as soon as possible!

hey , welcome to morrrroooccooooo and speciallllyy to marakech , i live in spain but im heading to marrakech in a couple of weeks  so if ur there let me know .
have a good trip

le marrakchi wrote:

hey , welcome to morrrroooccooooo and speciallllyy to marakech , i live in spain but im heading to marrakech in a couple of weeks  so if ur there let me know .
have a good trip

Cool!

Well, I wont be there that quickly I don't think. I need to sell my car first!

Soon insha'allah. I have someone looking at it today!

Kristi

hey ,  happy to hear that , hope ull have luck so that u can move to morrrooocccooo .

c ya around

by the way this is my

Good morning, I am also moving to Morocco to teach english.  The Oxford seminars course given in the states is great and is well known.  If you have time, it might be worth it to start before you leave.  I just finished mine in Canada, and they have a terrific placement service.  Good luck.
Michelle

Michelle Cutland wrote:

Good morning, I am also moving to Morocco to teach english.  The Oxford seminars course given in the states is great and is well known.  If you have time, it might be worth it to start before you leave.  I just finished mine in Canada, and they have a terrific placement service.  Good luck.
Michelle

Michelle, at this time I am working full time and taking 2 classes after work for school... so I am a bit busy. I will get the CELTA certification from the British Council in CASA once I arrive.

But perhaps if you're around we can continue chatting and meet up! I am sure I will be in need of English Speaking friends!

Kristi

Sure, that would be great, i am moving to Marrakesh at the beginning of July but will be up to Casa to shop!
Take care

You too Michelle!

Looks like I may be in Morocco soon!!!

I have someone who is seriously interested in my car... it might be sold by this weekend! Ahhhhh!!!!!

It is not 100% sure yet, but there is a good chance!

Pray for me people!

Ok dear I will not tell you so much about me better to keep that till we see eachother.
my name is ksikas abdelhak
email/[email protected]
phone/0033(0)619732378
up to now i'm in french,I have double nationalites french and morrocain.
I have very big familly in casablanca.
so if you fell free call me or send sms in my addresse email
you have all my contact so see what you fell and I will be there
for you.i'm free man like the bird in the tree if you find yourself in the peace and harmony just call ksikas,maybe nice relation give chance to you and me.
ok dear will not add more.....

Ok everyone... Update! I fly out of JFK in New York tomorrow! See you all soon Insha'Allah!

Your weelcome

I was in Morocco for 9 months but am currently back in the USA visiting family!

Did you start teaching in Morocco ? in which school/ city? I hope you had a nice time here! Good luck

Kallouma, I did teach a little while there but honestly have no prior teaching experience. I don't speak French so finding a job was challenging.

I did enjoy many aspects of Morocco but some things were hard for me to adjust. I do wish to go back, but only if I can find a nice job with nice people!

I was in Casablanca

Oh I see, of course it's better to find a job before coming here.
Casablanca is not an easy city to adjust with and of course some cultural difference would be difficult to understand. But still every experience is unique, some could find nice environment and people to work with and some couldn't. It's the same thing for Moroccans as well. It's not easy to find a job and if you find it it's not always the best conditions.
If you don't speak french it would be difficult to adjust at the beginning specially in work, I suggest you learn some french so you can communicate with people easily and of course if you learn darija locals appreciate when foreigners learn their language, even if just few words!
Maybe next time you can search for a job in others cities as well maybe Rabat, Marrakesh or Agadir.... You should concentrate in you area of expertise and look for something that requires English language. Maybe you can try sector of tourism but I don't know what degree you have...

Good luck for next time.

crazygurl3399 wrote:

Kallouma, I did teach a little while there but honestly have no prior teaching experience. I don't speak French so finding a job was challenging.

I did enjoy many aspects of Morocco but some things were hard for me to adjust. I do wish to go back, but only if I can find a nice job with nice people!

So the people aren't nice?

Zayn,

I met some very kind/hospitable people while there. However, I felt that the prifessionalism in the workplace was not anything like I had experienced in the USA. The USA has sneaky people, but in Morocco I felt this was amplified.  I was promised many many things by employers that never came to fruition.  I do not like being lied to.

So, if you choose to work in Morocco, be very careful and do not put your "heart on the line" so to speak.  Interview for many places, see what each has to offer, pay etc. Don't let them take advantage. Perhaps I was too kind.

Usually moroccan are really welcoming and nice to foreigners. But that doesn't mean you will meet only nice people . There is a little of every type of people like other places.  In the work place it really depends you can have great  coworkers or maybe not that much .

I agree Kallouma. No where is 100% perfect.

I understand what you experienced . Some people don't take work seriously and are really sneaky and want easy money . If you happen to work in a company with people like that and you are a kind and hardworking person . Those kind of people won't like of course. It the same situation for any moroccan person who is like you.  Some employers want to hire well skilled people with a small salary. I found a job in casablanca with a salary that doesn't encourage me to move there. Better unemployed than taking advange off.. if some employer tell to he will increase your salary or give you any advantages after some time don't trust him negociate everything before taking the job. Good luck

I'm afraid that you have learned the hard way that cheating and lying are part of the culture in Morocco and are perfectly acceptable things to do especially when a foreigner is involved. This is deeply ingrained in the fabric of society. If ever you return, you simply must accept that virtually everything that is being said to you is likely to be a lie, unless it is in a society that is run by foreigners or has heavy foreign investment. This is a given in the business world and in some (many) personal relationships too.

If you can accept this and be as good as them at their game, then Morocco is a fantastic place to live - after all, I have been coming here for decades and have lived here for years.

As for professionalism in the workplace, I know several TEFL teachers as well as placement students working in universities as lecturers/teachers. Every single one states that they have had pressure put on them to pass people who don't deserve it, especially if the miscreant student comes from a "good" (meaning "rich") family. One teacher I know refused and her contract was not renewed.

crazygurl3399 wrote:

Zayn,

I met some very kind/hospitable people while there. However, I felt that the prifessionalism in the workplace was not anything like I had experienced in the USA. The USA has sneaky people, but in Morocco I felt this was amplified.  I was promised many many things by employers that never came to fruition.  I do not like being lied to.

So, if you choose to work in Morocco, be very careful and do not put your "heart on the line" so to speak.  Interview for many places, see what each has to offer, pay etc. Don't let them take advantage. Perhaps I was too kind.

If you were too kind, I was something else. No wonder I was taken for a ride.

I was naive and inexperienced. But in my defence, I come from a place where we are never promised anything that is known to be a lie. We have 3 things:

- Explicit "Yes" (this means it will be done, as simple as that)
- Polite "no" (When you don't want to give them an explicit no, but at the same time, don't want to promise something that you know you won't fulfil - "I will look into your application and get back to you if you're successful" is something that you will say to someone you don't want to offer a job, without hurting their feelings with a direct no, and without raising their hopes with a direct yes).
- Explicit "no".

In Morocco, a lot of it was a "Yes", and unfortunately the reality was very different. I would very much prefer a direct no to my face that makes me disappointed, than a yes that makes me smile but is a lie.

laduqesa wrote:

I'm afraid that you have learned the hard way that cheating and lying are part of the culture in Morocco and are perfectly acceptable things to do especially when a foreigner is involved. This is deeply ingrained in the fabric of society. If ever you return, you simply must accept that virtually everything that is being said to you is likely to be a lie, unless it is in a society that is run by foreigners or has heavy foreign investment. This is a given in the business world and in some (many) personal relationships too.

If you can accept this and be as good as them at their game, then Morocco is a fantastic place to live - after all, I have been coming here for decades and have lived here for years.

As for professionalism in the workplace, I know several TEFL teachers as well as placement students working in universities as lecturers/teachers. Every single one states that they have had pressure put on them to pass people who don't deserve it, especially if the miscreant student comes from a "good" (meaning "rich") family. One teacher I know refused and her contract was not renewed.

For those less experienced, such as myself, and I assume her, the experience does certainly leave a bad taste in your mouth, seeing as she is coming from the USA, me from the UK, where things work VERY differently in those countries, as you obviously know. Although Morocco is a third world country, you still expect a certain level of professionalism, which sadly is difficult to find. I don't want to offend anyone, but it did feel quite uncivilized.

kallouma wrote:

Usually moroccan are really welcoming and nice to foreigners. But that doesn't mean you will meet only nice people . There is a little of every type of people like other places.  In the work place it really depends you can have great  coworkers or maybe not that much .

Nice to foreigners for a reason, don't you think? I call it customer service.

Hi and Salam  Kristi
Sorry to hear you ve failed your teaching English experience in Morocco. what about your CELTA certification? i would like to take it but i heard it is a tough and a tiring taske. is that true ?
MM

Kristi it's wonderful to be here among us as Moroccans and you know, Morocco is a great place to visit and live; I mean there're too many things and places to discover, and you may have a worthy living experience in your life as a whole. I live in Casablanca and I share with you the same purpose, but the only difference is that I'm Moroccan, so if you need any help you'll find me here just try to contact me.