My Colleagues - (short)

        I have been in Riyadh about a month now.  I have already been asked to extend my stay.  I am not sure what to think about the idea.  I am certainly willing to give it some consideration though.  So far, I have enjoyed the students and staff tremendously.  We teach with several instructors from Pakistan, and I have found them to be very engaging and interested in the “American” version of English.  I made a comment to one of them that they had a very different style of speaking in English, apart from accent.  Obviously, they use a more British version of the language.  What struck me most was that they made some syntax errors which I found strange.  The one that comes to mind most is that the gentleman said he “belonged” the city of Karachi.  I was a bit puzzled.  I figured out that he meant he was from Karachi.  I don’t think it affected the conversation much.  However, it was noticeable.  I asked him about it and he said that it was a common way to express the sentence.  I am sure I will continue to learn from the Pakistani teachers as well as from my Arab colleagues