Hi, I am Souad from Algeria.

[Souad]

Hello,
My name is SOUAD .I am from Algeria. I m an english teacher in the middle school and I work just near to my house. I m married and a mother of two children [ Fares and Farah ].
In my country, we speak Arabic. It s our mother tongue. At the same time, we are fluent in French because of hitorical circumstances . English is a third tongue we speak here but a very interesting one. Young people were taking it into concideration during the last decade.
I speak it, too, I learn it and I teach it to my students . By teaching, I have the task to educate my students. And by teaching this language, I have the task to show my students the future .
Now, I hope to meet people in this forum for discussion and knowlege .
Thanks a lot.
SOUAD.

[Torsten]

Dear Souad,

Many thanks for joining our community. Please tell us more about life in Algeria. How many students do you have in class and how many classes do you teach? What kind of materials do you use for your lessons?

I look forward to sharing experiences and ideas with you.
Regards,
Torsten
_________________
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[Souad]

Hello Mr, Torsten,
Thank you for your reply and welcome.
Algeria is a big country [ more than 2 millions sq km]. It is situated in the north of Africa. We have a big desert in the south and people there have a black skin. They are very generous and kind. People of the north have fair skin and if you are closed to the sea you find physical appearances that look like the Italian, even with blue eyes. Personally, I m from this north.
concerning my job, Ihave 6 classes. In each class Ihave about 45 students. Just few of them are excellent in english and the rest either are motivated but uncapable ,or they are not interested at all. And that needs too much efforts from our parts as teachers . Now, the materials provided are not suficient to suply the need of our students. However, I never go back .. I use pictures , tape recorders, a datashow ... as possible as I can .
In challah I will tell you more about my job and the atmosphere here in my lovely school .
I would like to contact people ,all over the world, speaking english , teaching english and learning english.
My best regards,
Souad.

[Souad]

Mr, Torsten.. I would like to change ideas with you ,too.
Souad.

[Souad]

Hello, Mr,Torsten,
In my previous message I made a mistake when writing [change] instead of [exchange].
So, I m sorry.. it is the french interference in my head.
Thank you.
Souad.

[AncestralManor]

Hello Souad,

I am an historical researcher. I am interested in the origin of the name Souad. It seems to be very common in northern Africa. Is it also common in other countries that have Arabic roots?

Sharon

[Souad]

Hello Sharon,
Yes. "Souad" is common in northern Africa but in origine it is an old arab name . It is usually used in Egypt and the Middle East. "Souad" is a feminine name .It is derrived from the word " SAADA" which means in english:" Happiness".
As synonym to "Souad" we have "SAIDA", a feminine name too, and the masculine is "SAID". There is also "SOUDA" and "SADIA" that are not used here ( " HALiMA SADIA" is a famous woman in my religion who fed our profet "MOuhamed"- PBUH-with her milk.)
A woman whose name is "SOUAD" should be a source of happiness for all people arround her .
I hope I succeeded in telling you something new about the name.
Now , your name attracted me and I would like to ask you about your origine. Are you JWISH?

[AncestralManor]

Hello
Thank you for explaining your name. The name Sharon is of Jewish origins, meaning fertile plain. I was raised as a Christian in the US. My ancestry is very mixed. I have some Native American ancestors. French ancestors who came to Quebec in the 1600s. Also Swiss ancestors who went to Nova Scotia in the 1750s. English, Scottish, Irish, and German ancestors who came to Canada and the US from the 1600s into the early 1900s. One of the early British immigrants to America is supposed to have been descended from a Royal line 1200 years ago, which would make me distantly related to half the world through Charlemagne - I am told!

My grandaughter's mother is from a village in Abruzzi Italy, where the family has been for many generations, so my grandaughter has added another combination to her ancestry.

My niece's father is Jewish, and her husband is half French and half Egyptian. So their children are both Arabic and Jewish descent. But I know very little about the Arabic culture.

I do historical research following individual people through history through their families, communities and business associates. Most of my work has been in western Europe, Canada and the US.

Sharon

[Abdou]

Hi Souad,
My name is abdou, I am algerian too but I live in the south of the country. I want just to correct a little detail about color skin of poeple who lives there. Most of them don't have a black skin. but some have.
By the way have you ever been in the south? if not, you are welcome in any time.
abdou

[Souad]

Hello Sharon,
It gives me much pleasure to exchange ideas with a historical ressearcher as well as to learn from you.
It seems to me you are someone clever because of that huge number of ancestors. Yes, according to my knowlege, the person whose ancestry is mixed is someone very inteligent. So, you have to say thank you to your grand fathers.

[Souad]

Hello Mr Abdou,
Thank you for correcting me that detail and thank you for the invitation. I never make mistake when I say you are generous in the south.
May I ask you about the skin color ? Where is it, exactly, white and where is it black in the Sahara?

[Abdou]

Hi souad,
I thank you very much for your replay, and for your good thinking about us. I apologize if I make mistakes or I can't answer correctly what you have asked me, because my English level is still low however I will try to do my best to give a real explanations.
About skin color, Here in the sahara there are three kind of color skin, white skin, black skin and a third one I don't know how it is called in English dark or brown skin(أسمر).There is no place specially for poeple with special color, but all poeple live togheter in the same place.There are many towns in the sahara where these poeple live. First of all my hometown where I live it's called EL-MENIA (El-golea), secondly Ouargla,Touggourt,El-oued, Timimoun,Adrar, In-Salah,Tamanraset, In-Gazem,Janet and Ilizi.
It's all what I know about this topic.
If you have any questions about Sahara, don't hesitate to ask.
have a good day
abdou

[Souad]

Hello Mr, Abdou,
How are you?
Since you gave me the chance to ask about the Sahara , I'd like to know about jobs there. Teaching occupation interests me more. How is it going there?
Sincerly,
Souad.

[Veronikavan]

Hi Souad,

nice to meet you, I am Veronika, I come from Slovakia, I am married and working as a officer at the personel department in some business company in Slovakia.
I am trying to learn english every day, because it is necessary if I want to speak more fluently and understand better to newspapers and to other staff.
Last year I was on holiday with my husband in Egypt, it is not so far from Algeria as I saw on the map. We had a beautiful holiday there.
Do you like your job - teacher? Please tell me something more about you.
I would like to find some nice pen pal friend with good english. I am opened to your questions on myself.
buy Veronika

[Souad]

Hi Veronika,
How are you? I'm so happy to recieve your message. I'm happy ,too, to have a pen friend from the east of Europ . I hope w'll be happy together and help each other in improoving our English.
Yes Veronica , I like teaching as it is but the difficult steps we face in our country concerning this job makes me somehow tired in this field. You know.. money becomes the leader in our students minds . So, education is in vain. Moreover, a teacher is not well paid . Anyway, we are fighting.
In my beginning in studies , I intended to become a translator but I have mistaken the way !That's about me.. and there is more .
Now Veronica.. how about you? I'd like to know about your country, your language, your habits and your culture. How about your job? What's exactally its nature? May I ask you more ? Do you have children? And how old are you ? Sorry for this" police investigation" or let's say " women curiosity".
Let's exchange ideas and culture, one of the purposes for which this forum is created .
Yours,
Souad.