Morocco # English board

Hi all,

Are there currently english speaking persons present in Morocco who are also on the forum?

I have returned from living all my live in Europe to Morocco to setup my own business and i am a little bitt fed up with talking french all the time.

So, if you are in Morocco or will be in the coming period, just message me and i'll be available.

For all you Moroccans who are not in Morocco......you don't know what you're missing, every day is day full of surprises...

you might find people that speak english in those english/american cultural center . "Centre culturel americain"

How is your business doing ? and what city in morocco did you choose ?

Thanks for the tip.

I have started my project in Casablanca and Alhamdullilah up to now the business is going as it should go. Morocco has its own 'unwritten handbook' but as soon as you have read it, you understand the way of doing business.

succes,an what kind of business do you have,in which branche

just out of curiosity, what kind of business you run (if it's not secret), and why r u
fed up of speaking french? u can speak moroccan

Quote
Taily
Hi all,

Are there currently english speaking persons present in Morocco who are also on the forum?

I have returned from living all my live in Europe to Morocco to setup my own business and i am a little bitt fed up with talking french all the time.

So, if you are in Morocco or will be in the coming period, just message me and i'll be available.

For all you Moroccans who are not in Morocco......you don't know what you're missing, every day is day full of surprises...

Quote
Taily
Hi all,

Are there currently english speaking persons present in Morocco who are also on the forum?

I have returned from living all my live in Europe to Morocco to setup my own business and i am a little bitt fed up with talking french all the time.

So, if you are in Morocco or will be in the coming period, just message me and i'll be available.

For all you Moroccans who are not in Morocco......you don't know what you're missing, every day is day full of surprises...

Would you tell some examples of these surprises?

Hi,

In Casa/Rabat its so hard to have a non-French conversation, even if you start speaking moroccan, the other person(s) will automatically start talking franch to you.

I have started my business in the Tourism and Travel Industry.

Hi everyone,


Taily


this is very interesting cause tourism is my area...I’m working in the tourism at the moment...could you please give us some more details about your business? The difficulties you’ve found and what do you mean with “Morocco has its own 'unwritten handbook' but as soon as you have read it, you understand the way of doing business. ”


Many thanks for sharing with us your experience

With unwritten handbook, i do mean the way of doing business.

I am still learing everyday by doing, but my experiences so far have been more positive then i had expected before.

When one changes his life from a country to another, the best thing is first to live 8-10 months without doing any business. In these sabbatical months one should adopt to the system of living in Morocco.
Creating a good social atmosphere, your own crib, throw away your arrogant european lifestyle (no tie for a year!) walk for hours in the chaotic 'Zotia'.
In the mean while you can setup your company paperwise.
My experience is with the CRI, that setting up a company could go quite easier then the i had setup in Europe.
In the Tourism business I see no difference in corruption then the one i have sen in Europe, Japan and Australia.

I think the best thing is to get down to earth and don't think that because we have lived or studied abroad we have invented business.

Hi
I am former UCLA visiting schlolar, in which departement you got you education
and when.
Take care

Cross-examine?
History

Quote
Taily
Cross-examine?
History

Dear Taily,
Your reply shows that you are really at the heart of moroccan thinking.
I was curious, since I spent a year at the school of sciences, Materials science and never met a moroccan on campus. So there is no needs of cross-examining anybody and in particular in an anonymous Forum.
Take care

My friend, I was trying to be funny, i am sorry.
(but your reaction made me laugh)

"Your reply shows that you are really at the heart of moroccan thinking".

Taking into consideration that i didn't grew up with Moroccans at all, that my mother isn't a Moroccan and that I had to learn Moroccan/Arabic before I entered Morocco; taking all that into consideration, I regard this as a compliment!

Thanks

Hi Taily


I read your contribution with interest , its nice to hear more positive experiences from back home
I love it if you could tell us a bit more about the tourism in Labled ,i'am also very interested in the field & eager toknow how is doing !

Many thanks

Your english is perfect, I would think you lived in the States not in Europe!
Wishing you the best of luck Taily.

kindly,
Sharing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2006 12:59 by Sharing.

Hi
It is true that almost everyone in morocco speaks French and English ... if you do get the cance to travel try Ifrane with the university that they have there, their employees as well as students speak english fluently and most of them are from either Rabat or Casablanca so you might get to meet with them over weekends or something like that. Best of luck on the new business I wish I had the courage to stay in morocco when i decided to but i guess i gave up ... it just did not work out for me who knows may be one day i ll try again
Best of luck

Pourtoi, Sharing, Fabaraw,

Thank you for your nice comments.

In 1999 I left to Japan to start a project, duration 1 year. I met a Moroccan (in a night club of all places) who spoke fluently Japanese (!). He was a guide and lived between Japan en Morocco.
He inspirated me to go to Morocco and investigate the possibility to invest.
I had a very negative idea about Morocco, between 1994 and 1999 I didn't even visit Morocco.

Then in 2001, I decided to have a little break and travelled two months in Morocco. From a non-believer a turned into a Morocco-lover.
To love Morocco is one thing, to invest in Morocco is something totally different. I came back to Morocco 15 times before I got myself and my business partner convinced of moving to Morocco.
My business partner left a year ago after trying to life in Morocco. He had major problems with the mentality of employees etc.

I adore the Moroccan mentality because I look at it in a different way.

Enough about me, I just wanted to meet some people who spoke English instead of French all the time.

Thanks and bye

Taily

I thank you ,for your feed back about labled its very valuable to all of us living far away !
You are right that we could always look at things in 2 ways & be positive
The problem i have with home is the lack of systems & professionalism , but again you are proof that it can be done & more & more people are investing in Morocco these days .
Good luck & keep feeding back please ,at least we could live & hope that things are better !

Cheers

"I had a very negative idea about Morocco, between 1994 and 1999 I didn't even visit Morocco"

What was the secret then to change your negative idea into a positive one?

I'm sorry, I know you just wanted to meet some people who spoke English, but I think that for the people who have a negative perception of their owns, in someway, they feel bad about it and would like to change. Do others in this forum agree with me?


"To love Morocco is one thing, to invest in Morocco is something totally different"

So, do you love Morocco or do you invest in it?


"I adore the Moroccan mentality because I look at it in a different way"

How do you look at the Moroccan mentality? do you see things that we are unable to see?

Thanks for sharing your vision!

Hey,

There are English speaking people everywhere in Morocco! You just have to know where to look... Rabat and Fez have Arabic language schools for English speaking students from both America and Britain, and there are always students in these towns all year round.

Hello Taily,
I congratulate you for your courage because many MRE are really afraid of settling in Morocco and I undrstand them. There is a big difference between life there and here. The crash is sometimes too hard to handle, but thanks God it's worth trying.
Concerning English speakers in Morocco, there are plenty of young people who speak english and want to practise it with others. Personnally speaking I find it a bit hard to practise English in a French oriented country esp that I have to improve it because i need it in my job. As you know practice makes perfect, but here it's not that easy.
Maybe we should have an association for English speaking people so that we can discuss things in English and forget about French for a while

hi everyone,


any answer from Mr. Taily?!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2006 05:27 by Ilhem2.

Magna res est vocis et silentii temperamentum
(The great thing is to know when to speak and when to keep quiet)

Ok, you owed me some replies;

"What was the secret then to change your negative idea into a positive one?"
Sometimes things 'coïncidencly' come together. I think I came to age then (in 1999) and became more open to understand Morocco as it was, do not forget that after the inauguration of the present King, we MRE, were very much willing to experience the 'new' Morocco.

"So, do you love Morocco or do you invest in it?"
My final decision to enter Morocco, so to invest, was a pure rational one, It was very important for me not to focus on the emotional-side. To do so, you have to set yourself (various) sub-goals, certain kind of escape routes should the business not succeed.
As our products are Touristical concepts it is ofcourse very important to believe in your own products. Believing in our products means you need, at least, to have an affection for the country. At the end you invest in a product you 'love'.


"How do you look at the Moroccan mentality? do you see things that we are unable to see?"

This is very difficult for me to explain, I am at the moment for 15 minutes thinking how to put it on paper, but I just simply can't. I will get back to this asap.


My questions to you are:

- Why do Europeans/Asians etc. enter Morocco, live there for years, gain a lot and Moroccans & MRE's can't?
- What are the major obstacles for not living in Morocco?
- What are your guarantees that you will find the suitable job or just a job abroad?

I have seen too many moroccans who want to live their dreams outside and suffered too much. I have seen them everywhere ( Mila, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, USA, Sydney, Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Paris) and it made me very sad.

DEAR SIR

CAN YOU GUESS HOW I AM SO GLAD TO WRITE THIS MESSAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME AND HOPE TO

ALL FOREIGN PEOPLE SUCCESS IN THEIR PROJECTS .

ENGLISH IS A SECOND FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN MOROCCO AND THE MAJORITY OF STUDENTS STUDY

ENGLISH AT COLLEGE THEN AT HIGH SCHOOL .

WELCOME TO ALL OF YOU CAUSE MOROCCO IS A LAND OF GREETINGS .

Hi Taily,

Morocco is rich country culturally, and you will find many English speakers/students/ teachers...It depends on where you are looking for ELS.
I am an English teacher at the American School of Marrakesh, and if you are looking in the same city in which I am working, I can offer help.

Good luck
Halima

hi im morrocan and i have the same probleme i do not speak frensh and i dont like to ..i spent 4 year looking for a job but i didinnt find cuz of frensh all jobs all department talking frensh and im sick of that;;if u will open ur progect on marrakech i will be there to work with u just keep me on ur mind . regards fatima

i hate frensh

L'Institut Amèricain d'Anglais Témara est une Institution Amèricaine d'Enseignement de langue ANGLAISE avec une approche basèe sur la communication . Notre objectif est d'offrir des cours d'Anglais de qualité à l'ensemble de la population de Témara / Rabat et ses régions. Ainsi, Préparation et Formation Concours Linguistiques et Tests internationaux : TOEFL et TOEIC ( Authorized Test Center).

Nos enseignants Marocains, Britanniques et Américains sont diplômés des universités Marocaines, Britanniques ou Américaines et ont une expérience prouvée dans l'enseignement de l’Anglais comme langue étrangère.

Programmes Kids & Teens de American Language Institute Temara. La manière pour les enfants et les adolescents d’apprendre l’Anglais comme Langue Étrangère avec plaisir et efficacement.

Leaving the states, headed to Rabat.

You can go to Amideast or British Council in Rabat, you'll meet certainly american people or even moroccans who speak english, good luck