Speaking at a meeting with University students on a recent visit to Uzbekistan, US secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, empathized with them as language learners.
“When I was about – probably about your age, maybe a little bit younger… I moved from the United States to France and I had to learn French, so I remember well what it’s like to learn another language” he said before promising “it’s a wonderful thing because it just opens your mind to .. to different things.”
Praising the students, who were all from the Uzbekistan State World Language University, for the level of English students used in their class presentation the Secretary of State added “and boy, I don’t think I would be able to say what you’ve said in English, never mind in for you, in a second language when I was your age.
It’s a wonderful ability to have to speak English, to understand English, and it’s something that we are very, very happy to share., “the Secretary of State said emphasising the English language projects the US was working on in the country including training local teachers and providing teaching materials “I think to date we’ve trained almost 10,000, and now there are English-language school books in about 10,000 schools here in Uzbekistan.”
“ In many ways, English is the most important export from the United States to other countries.” He added.
