Saturday, August 20, 2005

Internet, Mailing, and Books in Syria

Internet

As far as I know, there are two options for dial-up in Syria: SCS (Syrian Computer Society) and dial-up from your local phone company. I recommend SCS because you can use a POP account and IP address, so you can use chat programs. ADSL is also available, but I heard it was quite expensive. There are plenty of net cafes around as well.

Mailing

There are various places you can get a PO box. I know that AMIDEAST offers mail services to foreign students. I have heard, however, that it takes a long time for mail to arrive. I had a box in the US Embassy thanks to my grant.

More info

If you are interested in buying books, Beirut is a good bet. There are various western-type bookstores and a huge Virgin Records store that houses a large book section. I love walking around Bliss street in Beirut checking out the bookstores. AUC in Cairo is good also. Syria offers good books for those interested in Arabic literature, but not much for speakers of other languages.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Damascus University Arabic Site

Check it out! Damascus University's site is working. Well, only in English so far. Here is the link:

Arabic Language Center at Damascus University

Enjoy,
Jeremy

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Benefits of Being Bilingual

BEING BILINGUAL PROTECTS AGAINST SOME AGE-RELATED COGNITIVE CHANGES, SAYS NEW RESEARCH

WASHINGTON — Most will agree that two heads are better than one in solving problems. The same logic may be true for language and retaining cognitive processes as we age. Being fluent in two languages seems to prevent some of the cognitive decline seen in same-age monolingual speaking persons, according to the findings of a study appearing in this month’s journal of Psychology and Aging.

Go to full article here

If you get a "oops how did I get here from the APA site" you should simply type the words "Being Bilingual" into the search box at the top left side of the screen. The first article to come up should be this one.

Jeremy



More info:

Article: “Bilingualism, Aging, and Cognitive Control: Evidence From the Simon Task,” Ellen Bialystok, Ph.D., and Mythili Viswanathan, M.A., York University; Fergus I. M. Craik, Ph.D., Rotman Research Institute; Raymond Klein, Ph.D., Dalhousie University; Psychology and Aging, Vol. 19, No. 2.

Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office or at http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/pag192290.pdf. For more information about Psychology and Aging visit the homepage at http://www.apa.org/journals/pag/.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Interesting stuff coming soon

Hello All,

I am about to begin my PhD program. I have interesting articles and study helps coming soon. AlSabr jamiil.

Jeremy