French and English at least partly understood by several people. Visa Everybody, except nationals of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen needs a visa to visit Syria. They're valid for only 15 days from the date of entry but can easily be extended, even up to 3 months. Visa fees depend heavily on your nationality. US Dollars are the preferred currency to bring.
Banks offer a worse rate than the black market, which is thriving.
Needless to say that the latter is illegal. Banks should charge no commission on changing cash, but will often short-change you a little by rounding the amounts. There will be a small commission on cheques. Credit cards are still of not much use. Only the fancier hotels and shops accept them at the moment.