Institute to launch online Chinese language learning platform
AMMAN — The Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organisation (TAG-Org) will launch an online portal to teach Chinese in 2013, Tareq Hammad, director of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Confucius Institute, said on Tuesday.
The portal, which is being developed by TAG-Org, will enable those who want to learn Chinese to learn the language online regardless of where in the world they live, Hammad told The Jordan Times.
TAG-Org will sign an agreement with Hanban, the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, in December to start preparations for launching the portal, which is expected to be operational next year, he said.
"The need to learn Chinese is on the rise across the world. The online portal will make it easier as those who want to learn will be able to take online courses at home and at their convenience, as the portal will be operational 24 hours a day," Hammad added.
The portal will include interactive videos and will allow students to be in direct contact with teachers, he added, pointing out that demand for online education is increasing worldwide.
Hammad noted that more than 1,100 people have completed courses in Chinese at the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Confucius Institute, which was established in September 2008 to promote Chinese language and culture.
http://jordantimes.com/institute-to-launch-online-chinese-language-learning-platform
23 окт 2012
Startup funding initiative extends application deadline to August 26
22 Aug 2012 11:05 PM
by Mohammad Ghazal |
AMMAN — Science and technology business ventures in Jordan and the Arab world have until the end of this month to submit applications for an initiative that provides startups with up to $1 million in financing.
One of the organizers of the "Commercialisation Tour" initiative said on Saturday that the deadline for applications had been extended from July 31 until August 26 to allow more start-ups in the initiative’s five target countries to apply.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organisation (TAG-Org), told The Jordan Times in an e-mail Saturday that since June, the initiative has received 22 applications from Egypt, 21 from Jordan, 14 from Palestine, four from Lebanon and two from Saudi Arabia, for a total of 63.
Applicants will compete for investments ranging from $100,000 to $1 million from regional investors.
Judges from the selected states will be in charge of evaluating the applications and selecting 10 from each country.
The 50 winning ventures will be announced in early October, after which they will have the chance to meet with investors from their countries and the region who are ready to invest in their projects.
The initiative is implemented in cooperation between the Economic and Social Council of West Asia (ESCWA), El Hassan Business Park, TAG-Org and the Licensing Executives Society-Arab Countries.
According to ESCWA, the initiative will be launched again in 2013 to cover other Arab states.
Small- and medium-sized enterprises in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt contribute about 50 per cent to each country’s gross domestic product and create about 60 per cent of all jobs, according to figures from ESCWA.
http://jordantimes.com/article/startup-funding-initiative-extends-application-deadline-to-august-26
22 авг 2012
Arabic web encyclopaedia to launch in December with 500,000 articles
by Mohammad Ghazal | Aug 21, 2012 | 23:10
AMMAN — TAGpedia, an online encyclopedia conceived with the aim of increasing the amount of Arabic content on the web, is scheduled to launch in December with about 500,000 articles in Arabic.
The Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), which is producing the encyclopedia, has already compiled 400,000 items from across the Arab world on a variety of sciences and other topics, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, TAG-Org. chairman and CEO, said in an e-mail to The Jordan Times earlier this week.
“The target is to have the largest databank of Arab content ever,” he said.
Currently, only 2 per cent of all web content is in Arabic, although Arabic speakers account for 5 per cent of global Internet users, according to Google.
In the Middle East, there are an estimated 78.62 million Internet users, a number that grew by 2,293 per cent between 2000 and 2011, according to www.internetworldstats.com.
About 65 per cent of Arabs using the Internet surf the web in Arabic and look for Arabic content.
The encyclopedia will be similar in format to Wikipedia, although users will not be able to edit it, and will feature content about Arabic and Islamic culture in addition to science, according to TAG-Org.
The organization is currently working on reviewing the content already collected and gathering more content for the encyclopedia before it launches later this year, Abu-Ghazaleh said in the e-mail.
http://jordantimes.com/arabic-web-encyclopaedia-to-launch-in-december-with-500000-articles
21 авг 2012