"You can speak here without embarrassment." How the Uzbek language conversation club in Tashkent works

“You can speak without embarrassment here.” How the Uzbek language speaking club in Tashkent works

An Uzbek language speaking club has been operating in Tashkent since this year. On Sundays, its members meet in local cafes to practice spoken speech. Gatherings over tea and games last an hour and a half to two hours. The club is run by teacher Abdulaziz Uzakov. Students call him “Aziz-ustoz” — this form of address can be translated as “dear teacher.”

Uzakov has been teaching Uzbek for about ten years. A lawyer by education, he did not work in his profession. He noticed that interest in learning Uzbek was growing, while Russian-speaking students sometimes found it difficult to find a teacher.

“Many people need to study Uzbek, but it is not taught everywhere at the proper level. There is a lack of teachers who are equally fluent in Russian and Uzbek. Paradoxically, it is now easier to explain Uzbek in English. My profile is Russian-speaking residents of Tashkent, and as a bilingual, I cope with this task,” says Abdulaziz Uzakov.

In 2016, he completed retraining courses at the Tashkent State Pedagogical University named after Nizami. Based on the knowledge gained, he created his own curriculum and continues to improve it. At first, Abdulaziz Uzakov worked in learning centers, but he believes that in large groups it is difficult to take into account the characteristics and pace of each student. Now he is engaged in private tutoring. In class, he tries to combine grammar with speaking practice and introduce students not only to the literary norm, but also to living speech.

“My program is tailored to get a person to start speaking. The grammatical foundation needs to be given, but it is not worth delving into it if there is no need — it is better to move directly to the conversational part. The language is rich and diverse, so you cannot teach only the literary version. A person needs to live, and in life they do not speak literary language,” he believes.

The idea of a speaking club arose after several students complained that they lacked speaking practice. Uzakov suggested gathering them in one group so they could communicate with each other. Previously, meetings were held irregularly, but this year they became permanent. Abdulaziz’s students come to the club with different backgrounds and levels of Uzbek proficiency — mostly from A2 to B1.

Participants choose meeting topics by voting in a general chat, and the teacher suggests games. According to Uzakov, everyday questions help best to get talking: what you bought, where you went, what you did, what you ate, what interests you, who you met. Such topics, according to the teacher, help practice the language in situations that participants encounter outside the club.

On Sunday afternoon, seven people gathered at the Bon cafe on Shota Rustaveli Street. At the beginning of the meeting, Abdulaziz asks everyone how their week went and whether they managed to speak Uzbek. Then the participants move on to a Q&A game and take turns answering them. In the next task, one of the players describes a profession, and the rest try to guess it. Afterwards, the participants discuss plans for the week.

The teacher tries to support those who are shy to speak and afraid of making mistakes. He explains that mistakes are a natural part of learning, and studying the language of one's country is a worthy endeavor.

If someone rudely corrects a student or shames them for lack of knowledge, this is no reason to blame oneself, says Abdulaziz.

“It is important to me that participants take away lightness and an understanding that they can speak Uzbek without embarrassment. So that they use what they study and feel that practice helps them communicate. Making mistakes is not scary. The one who tries makes mistakes, not the one who does nothing. If you stay silent out of fear of saying something wrong, you won't learn the language,” the teacher explains.

At the end of the meeting, participants talk about why they are learning Uzbek. Diana Pchelintseva realized that she needed the language in everyday life after returning to Uzbekistan in 2024. Before that, she lived in Russia for ten years.

“In Tashkent, many people speak Russian, especially people of my generation are fluent in it. But in everyday life, you still encounter Uzbek — in a store, a taxi, when communicating with couriers. I wanted to explain what I needed myself and understand the interlocutor, rather than wait for a translation and feel awkward due to not knowing the language,” says Diana.

The woman began studying the Uzbek language in 2025. At first, she tried to enroll in classes at a learning center, but in some places they didn't call back, and in others they failed to form a group. Later, she was advised to turn to Abdulaziz Uzakov. Now Diana studies with him three times a week and already feels progress.

Speaking practice was the hardest part for Diana. For the first six months, she was shy to speak, although she read and wrote well. Gradually, Pchelintseva began to practice with acquaintances and neighbors, and she set up a language exchange with a saleswoman from a nearby store: she helps her with Russian, and the saleswoman helps her with Uzbek.

“Once I struck up a conversation with a taxi driver. I didn't know Uzbek very well yet, but I tried to use everything I had learned. He encouraged me after every word and told me not to be afraid of an accent, because in Uzbekistan everyone has one depending on the region. After that, I started worrying less about mistakes and speaking Uzbek more often. People appreciate it when you try to speak their language, even if you are still hesitant,” she explains.

Pchelintseva herself suggested the idea of the speaking club: she looked for such meetings in the city, but couldn't find any and asked the teacher to gather those interested. Now she tries to come every Sunday. When speaking, the woman still thinks through phrases and sometimes cannot find the right word, but she already knows how to express a thought using simple constructions and understand her interlocutor.

“The classes give freedom in communication.

The more you speak, the easier it is to communicate in everyday life later.

There are interesting people here, each with their own life experience. We share news and have already become friends because we see each other often,” Diana shares.

Currently, Pchelintseva is studying remotely at the faculty of clinical psychology and, after graduation, plans to run a private practice, including consulting clients who speak only Uzbek.

Another club member, Zafar Kamilov, is ethnic Uzbek, but grew up in a Russian-speaking environment. At home, they spoke Russian with him, he attended a Russian-speaking kindergarten and school, and at the university, instruction was in English. The young man, although he understands the language, hardly speaks it. Two years ago, Kamilov was interviewed at a learning center that planned to launch a blog in Uzbek. His role involved communicating with the audience and appearing on camera, but he was not hired due to lack of language knowledge. This became the impetus to start studying.

At first, Zafar studied the language on his own: he watched movies and TV series, repeated phrases after the actors, and tried to communicate more in Uzbek with his family and friends. But over time he realized that this was not enough to speak fluently.

“I asked my relatives to speak Uzbek with me, but at home it only worked for a couple of days — then we returned to Russian, because it's easier for everyone that way. On the street, there isn't always an opportunity to practice either. When interlocutors notice that it's difficult for me to speak Uzbek, they switch to Russian themselves. Recently, for example, I took my car to an auto mechanic and tried to explain myself in Uzbek, but he answered me in broken Russian,” says Zafar.

Less than a year ago, he started studying with Abdulaziz Uzakov. Now they meet online twice a week. The young man learned about the club from his teacher, who suggested he come to the meetings. Over a month of attending, Zafar began to feel more confident. According to him, it helps that other participants are also learning the language and face similar difficulties. And different topics and situations allow learning words faster and applying them immediately in conversation.

“I come to the teacher specifically for practice. My problem is that I translate in my head from Russian to Uzbek, but that doesn't work: you need to speak more to memorize words and answer right away. Previously, I was shy and struggled to pick expressions, but now, even if I realize I'm making a mistake, I still try to speak,” Zafar concludes.