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Tajikistan’s president says English and Russian are as important as mother tongue

"Time will come when every Tajik citizen will speak the Russian and English languages as their mother tongue," President Emomalii Rahmon said in his address to the parliament

Tajikistan’s President Emomalii Rahmon Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian presidential press service/TASS

Tajikistan’s President Emomalii Rahmon

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian presidential press service/TASS

DUSHANBE, January 20. /TASS/. All children in Tajikistan should study foreign languages, especially Russian and English, the Central Asian country’s President Emomalii Rahmon said on Wednesday in his address to the parliament.

"I always stress the need to teach children to speak foreign languages, especially Russian and English," Rahmon said. "These languages are most widely used around the world and only the knowledge of these languages can help develop new technologies and the country’s economy."

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"Time will come when every Tajik citizen will speak the Russian and English languages as their mother tongue, such practice is accepted around the world and we must not lag behind in the development," the president said.

Tajikistan’s leader has called on the country’s education and culture ministries, and also the higher institutions educating foreign language teachers to take the respective steps.

The Tajik leader has repeatedly underlined the importance of extending the spheres of using the Russian language in the country and intensifying the training programs for the Russian language specialists.

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