February 21 is celebrated as International Mother Language Day. On this occasion, an interesting event was held in the state of Utah, USA.
Medianews.az, citing Publika.az, reports that the event was organized on the initiative of the Azerbaijan-Utah Friendship Society and was dedicated to the promotion of the Azerbaijani language. The event, held at Brigham Young University, saw active participation from the university's students, who were remembered for their interesting speeches in Azerbaijani. Esmer Garay, the main organizer of the event, told Publika.az that Americans have great respect and love for Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani language:
"Brigham Young University is one of the reputable universities in the USA. Also, it is the only place in the USA where the Azerbaijani language is actively taught. We started this work in 2023. In the first semester, 11 students were involved in Azerbaijani language classes, and in the second semester, 6 students participated. Along with the promotion of our language throughout the teaching period, other events were also held. I can particularly mention the event dedicated to 'Victory Day'. In addition, our national dances and traditional cuisine were presented to the Americans, and we witnessed great interest from them in our dances and cuisine.
Imagine, an American female student cooked bozartma from our national cuisine. Concerning our event dedicated to International Mother Language Day, it went very well, and hearing young Americans speak in our language was very pleasant to us as well. I should also say that there is great interest from American students towards the Azerbaijani language and, in general, our country. Therefore, we plan to continue teaching our language.”