خواطر ما بعد الثورة

Friday, July 07, 2006

English-speaking Tunisians (2)

I am very pleased to see that the proposal to create a network of anglophone Tunisian academics and professionals has been met with particularly enthusiastic response. The network has not been named yet; proposed titles include:

- Worldwide Tunisian Competence (WTC)
- Tunisian Exchange Group (TXG)
- Anglophone Network of Tunisian Expertise (ANTE)
- Other suggestions are welcome!

May I restate that our organisation is not promoting any elitist ideas. To the contrary, it aims at bringing along as many Tunisians as possible with the common objective to enhance the visibility of our country in the anglosaxon world and trigger further opportunities for research, development and investment back home.

If you are affiliated to an English-speaking research centre or professional body, you are encouraged to join us in this initiative. Please send a one-page biography/CV to the following address: tnworldwide@yahoo.co.uk. This is a multidisciplinary network: Tunisians across the sciences and the arts are more than welcome to take part in this project.

Your bio should include you name, location, education, professional experience and area(s) of expertise. Please note that this initiative is open to everyone who speaks English at the advanced level, regardless of their country of study or additional language skills.

The network will first be constituted through a mailing list, and we are looking forward to developing a website or a blog once we have reached a critical mass of adherents.

Thank you all for your expressions of interest and support! :)

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posted by Tarek at 11:16

22 Comments:

  • Wawo, c'est ce qu'on appelle "battre le fer quand il est chaud" et voilà qu'en 2 jours, un projet est entrain de naitre et de se définir:
    CONGRATULATIONS!

    PS: oops,I wrote in french :-D

    PS1: Tarek, legally speaking, this organistaion MUST ensure the confidentiality of all infos coellected , especially personal info related to members ( according to Tunisian laws of course : Conformément à la loi organique n° 2004-63 du 27 juillet 2004 portant sur la protection des données à caractère personnel)

    By Blogger SNAWSI, at 12:37 PM  

  • @tarek: WTC!!! NO!! World Trade Center :(((

    we should choose an optimistic name I think, rather than this...

    By Blogger Curieuse de tout, at 1:34 PM  

  • @sanwsi, that law applies to tunisian residents. It is true that tarek however should provide assurances that confidentiality will be upheld. Probably a solem declaration? ;-)

    @curieuse, i think tarek has put forward 3 options, pls either help choose or contribute with a better one.

    By Blogger Napo, at 2:09 PM  

  • @napo: I didn't proposed another one because I like both!! So I contributed by eliminating one. Is it ok boss?

    By Blogger Curieuse de tout, at 2:18 PM  

  • sorry "propose"

    By Blogger Curieuse de tout, at 2:18 PM  

  • Curieuse de tout: I like WTC...
    Is it possible to send the CV in french?

    PS: I don't speak English at the advanced level! :-(... but I understand it ...at the advanced level :-)

    By Anonymous EMMA BENJI, at 2:29 PM  

  • @emma: no problem, it's your right..

    By Blogger Curieuse de tout, at 3:00 PM  

  • @curieuse, nice one !
    i'm not a boss, merely a helper in all this.

    @emma, try to translate it and u don't need to write in the advanced level. Brabbi, take it easy, rahou l'angliz mte3ik mahouch khayeb..do you want a certificate for that? :-))))

    By Blogger Napo, at 3:01 PM  

  • Tarek, a little advice if I may:
    Many people are inclined to show great enthusiasm at any “new” idea. Try not to be fooled, because when it comes to putting ideas into practice these same people may mysteriously vanish.

    Good luck ;-)

    By Anonymous Houssein, at 3:51 PM  

  • How about the tunisian guy, like me, who speek little indian ?

    By Blogger Heliodore, at 4:52 PM  

  • Houssein: yes, I know what you mean! But everything seems improbable, risky and imprecise at start anyway.

    I am going ahead with this. Should it work out, that would be wonderful. If it doesn't, then, oh well, at least I would have done my best with little means at hand :)

    By Blogger Tarek, at 2:35 AM  

  • It seems to be a very interesting project.

    But a question remanes, how can someone really know if she or he speaks english at an advanced level..?

    Anyway, Good Luck to you all.

    By Anonymous Yas, at 9:43 AM  

  • Tarek, I propose that we create a commission having for mission to collect the ideas rabout the name to give at this institution.

    By Blogger Abdou, at 10:29 AM  

  • Very good initiative Tarek.
    I’m for Tunisian Exchange Group (TXG). And commission is a very bad idea. We’ll spend days and weeks for nothing.

    I’m convinced; this project can be mutually advantageous for all and in the end for Tunisia.

    But how would you sell us this idea? How would we sell this idea to our friends? We have to define more precisely the objectives.

    If I’m
    1) affiliated to an English-speaking university/professional body
    2) or well connected to the anglophone business world and scientific community,
    and if I’m very busy,

    why will I bother my self sending biography? Why will I go to the trouble of sharing my experience? How this action can be mutually advantageous. Concretely what will I be asked to do in this group? What will I give and what can I receive? What will I exchange? And how much this network is serious and reliable?

    If the rules are not clear from the beginning, if the web site or blog or forum is not ready I am likely to get bored and not to grant big credit to this initiative.

    Ps: I don’t speak English at the advanced level.

    By Blogger bugsbunny, at 1:14 PM  

  • I hope that our IT specialists will build us an efficient website/ database/blog/listserv that can ensure the interactivity and the visibility needed for such entreprise.

    By Blogger zizou from Djerba, at 5:06 PM  

  • Tarek, I have been away from the blogsphere for a while, and just read this...

    What a great initiative! I will definetly contribute. I actually was thinking about something similar but more related to sustainable development. My idea could fit here somehow I guess :)

    I wanted to suggest two additional things:

    1- Beyond a networking platform between professionals and academians, I also suggest to create a group for students in Tunisia who are making a special effort to learn english and are planning to study in an english-speaking university. These student could get an opportunity to work as graduate students under the supervision of one of the professors in this network.

    2- Second, the day a website is created, we could have a section linking "conpetences out of Tunisia" to "organisations in Tunisia that could benefit from their expertise". I am sure that many of us wouldn't mind, say, giving a one-day training in their field of expertise when they are in Tunisia in the summer.

    Any how, just some quick thoughts! If you need a hand, I would love to be involved.

    Another thing, this will work! :-)

    By Anonymous Rym B;, at 10:31 PM  

  • Thanks Rym, this is exactly the spirit we need in order for this venture to work. I will try to sum up of the propositions I received in a few notes and publish them shortly. I agree a website is an absolute necessity!

    By Blogger Tarek, at 10:43 PM  

  • Are english speaking "wannabe tunisians" welcomed in that group?

    I like TXG btw!

    By Blogger Youyou, at 11:46 PM  

  • Sorry but even if you are insisting that we should talk in english, personally I prefer to cotinue talking in frensh. I want to defend persons who don't speak english and who are motivated to be members of this ambitious project...
    Pour moi, toutes les bonnes volontés sont les bienvenues et si l'anglais est tjrs une obligation pour faire partie de ce projet alors je retire ce que j'avais dit dans un précédent post. Pour moi, l'important c'est les bonnes idées qu'une personne peut apporter et sa volonté à contribuer à un tel projet

    By Blogger Bamboutch, at 7:28 PM  

  • Hey,

    The idea is excellent and I think there is no escape that all Tunisian will be more inclined to speak English as the globalization phenomenon expends.

    This is said, I think using an email list is a bit obsolte. I'd suggest to create a news feeder and use an RSS feed. This way the information is broadcasted instantly.

    On the other hand, you defined participants by :"English-speaking people affiliated with a research center or a professional body"
    This seems a bit vague, I wish you could make it clearer. May be narrowing down a bit the goal of this venture would help.

    Finally, I'd like to suggest using Linked In which is by far the best professional network out there.

    Good luck.

    PS: what would you do with the collected Resumes?

    By Anonymous Flying_Monkeys, at 4:08 AM  

  • NFM!! oh my god, NFM??!!! oh my goodness gracious me!!! NFM???

    Where have you been??? ayya welcome back :))

    yes I know it's vague so far, but that's how it should be at start. At least the 'principle' is clear right? I'll draft some more ideas soon, just give me some time :)

    Can't believe you're back :)) that's totally cool :)

    By Blogger Tarek, at 8:51 AM  

  • Wonderful and informative web site. I used information from that site its great. » »

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:00 PM  

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