The adult student received good education at an excellent British boarding school before starting College in the US. Due to family circumstances he did not finish this degree, and now holds a senior position in a large international company. Although he is fluent in conversational Arabic, he never really learned to read or write the language. He harbors a dream to become competent enough that he can read and enjoy the Koran in its original language.

The student understands that he is setting himself a serious and demanding challenge, but he is committed and dedicated to putting in the time and practice required. He feels he owes it to himself to attain a good standard in his inherited language and culture, and appreciates that though it will not be easy to reach the level of mastery he wants, the journey itself and the sense of pride that will come from this self-improvement will be worth the efforts involved.

The student is a calm and polite man who values knowledgeable people who have an easygoing manner. He dislikes snobbish, self-important or impatient teachers. Given the nature of the working relationship, the Tutor should be erudite, interesting, quirky even, and broad-minded.

The student leads a busy professional life involving a great deal of travel. Although the Tutor will be engaged in a full time capacity, the actual hours of instruction will be variable and far from full time. The Tutor will need to be flexible and adaptable, ready with material whenever on occasion for tutoring arises and available for travel, mainly to the US and Europe, perhaps at relatively short notice. The Tutor should not expect to accompany the student on trips lasting less than three weeks.

The student does not know yet precisely when he will have time for study, and while he appreciates that it is in his interests for study periods to follow a pattern, his professional and personal commitments do not always facilitate this. Some tutoring may be in the morning, or perhaps an afternoon will become available. There may be evenings when the Tutor and student will dine together and this may offer a tutoring opportunity, or perhaps during some travel.

Although the student’s spoken Arabic is fine, he has asked that the Tutor assume that he is a complete beginner when it comes to reading and writing the language. The role therefore requires someone with not only a huge personal interest and a natural gift for sharing this passion, but also someone with the patience to start at the very beginning with adult learners.

There will be a good deal of time when the Tutor is not with his or her student, and during this time he or she will need to be able to busy themselves appropriately. It is therefore envisaged that the Tutor will be someone who has a personal project they wish to complete, perhaps a book or a doctoral thesis they wish to write. Certainly there will be plenty of resources available for research in Qatar and the neighbouring countries.

The Tutor will essentially be on call for up to 40 hours per week, but will likely not be actually spending more than an average of 2-3 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week with the student. These tutoring times could be early mornings, any time during the day, or into the evenings.

The Tutor will need to be extremely flexible with regard to timing. In general though, the Tutor should expect to have around 10-15 hours contact time with the Client each week and at least one day off per week. The Tutor will be entitled to a minimum of 9 weeks (54 working days) paid vacation per annum.

The Client will provide a car for the use by the Tutor throughout the assignment. In Qatar the Tutor can drive themselves; in some other locations a driver may be provided, and in yet others the Tutor will be reimbursed for using taxis — it will depend on the location what arrangements are made, but in all locations the Client will ensure that suitable personal transport is provided for the Tutor.

If the Tutor should be invited to accompany the Client when they travel, the client will be responsible for all the Tutor’s travel and accommodation expenses.

The Client will provide a furnished apartment with Internet for the Tutor while in Qatar. When travelling, accommodation will either be in a hotel or a shared apartment, sometimes with other members of the staff. The Tutor is responsible for all meals not occurring during tutoring.

The Tutor must be fit and healthy, and a non-smoker. It would be preferable if the Tutor enjoyed sports and travel.

Although not essential, it would be an advantage if the Tutor were Muslim as this is likely to add greatly to the common appreciation of the study of the Koran.

The Tutor will need to be familiar with Qatari, Iraqi or Jordanian Arabic. If none of these, then Egyptian or Lebanese Arabic will also be considered.

Although the Client has an informal style, the Tutor must maintain appropriate levels of private service professionalism and decorum at all times.