ON THE PLANET OF LOVE AND LIGHT

On the planet of light that the hand of God blesses

there is no division and intolerance, there the sun of kindness shines,

reason reigns and words are all of love,

in the kingdom of wisdom with angelic souls, I live happily too.

Here the springs of smiles and harmony murmur,

tenderness dwells in warm hearts,

everyone speaks the language of humanity

and there is love in the fragrant air.

Kindred souls breathe with one breath,

universal empathy is the ruler of the entire universe,

and powerful songs of peace, justice and truth

resound through the sky with white angels.

We from the planet of light want to reconcile the world,

create a land without conflict, pain and envy

because we are all on the same path of transience

and the same heavenly bridges connect us.

We want to descend like stars to the earth without borders

respect for religions and nations to instill in stray souls

teach them that we only have one life under the same sun

and that only in love and peace can we survive.

GORDANA SARIĆ – Montenegro

EARLY PREVENTION OF DENTAL DISEASES IN CHILDREN: THE IMPORTANCE OF ORAL HYGIENE AND NUTRITION

Mansurov Abdulaziz Abdullox ugli

Student of Group 25-03 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dentistry Email: mansurovabdulaziz99@gmail.com

 Abstract: This article discusses the prevention of dental diseases in children. It provides a detailed analysis of how oral hygiene and dietary habits affect dental health. The importance of developing oral hygiene skills from an early age, consuming healthy foods, avoiding sweets, and undergoing regular dental check-ups is scientifically explained. The article also offers practical recommendations for parents, teachers, and healthcare professionals, emphasizing that healthy teeth and a beautiful smile are based on preventive care.

Keywords:
children’s dental diseases, oral hygiene, prevention, nutrition, dental check-up, healthy teeth, beautiful smile.

Introduction. Childhood is one of the most important psychophysiological stages of human life, and it is during this period that general health, lifestyle, nutritional culture, and hygiene habits are formed. Oral hygiene holds a special position among these habits. Because the oral cavity is not only the anatomical area where food intake occurs, but also the gateway to the internal environment, and the diseases that occur there may affect the overall functioning of the entire organism later in life.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60–90% of children worldwide show at least primary signs of caries by the age of 12 (WHO Oral Health Report, 2023). This rate remains high even in high-income countries. The high consumption of sugary products, the increase in sugar percentage in beverages, deficiency of essential minerals, and improper tooth care further exacerbate this problem.

Researchers classify dental caries in children as a “non-communicable epidemic.” Because although caries does not spread like an infectious disease, its prevalence is increasing globally at the speed of an epidemic. The reason is — despite preventive measures being simple, cheap, and fully available, most families do not effectively implement these preventive practices.

Caries is not just “one decayed tooth.” Clinically, it leads to impaired chewing function, delayed speech development, reduced self-confidence, shyness, and limitations in social communication. This ultimately reduces the child’s overall quality of life. Therefore, oral hygiene is not just a dental issue — but an interdisciplinary public health concern, touching pediatrics, psychology, and school hygiene.

The purpose of this article is to identify the scientifically proven importance of prevention in maintaining oral and dental health in children, to analyze the role of tooth hygiene, nutrition, family behavior, and dental check-ups, and to propose a complex multi-level approach based on advanced scientific evidence.

Methods. A mixed-method research design was employed in this study combining both qualitative and quantitative components. The qualitative part focused on thematic analysis of international guidelines and expert opinion sources, while the quantitative part relied on global epidemiological data and comparative cross-country statistics.

1. Literature Review A structured review of WHO, UNICEF, ADA, EAPD, and peer-reviewed Scopus/Web of Science publications published between 2020–2024 was conducted. In total, 180 papers were screened, of which 37 studies met inclusion criteria (focus: pediatric caries, prevention, sugar intake, oral microbiome). The PRISMA approach was applied in the screening process and relevant key concepts were extracted.
2. Comparative Analysis Health systems with strong preventive pediatric dental care (Scandinavia, Japan, South Korea) were compared to countries where dental prevention is weak and mostly treatment-oriented. Additionally, regions with school-based hygiene sessions were compared to those without such programs. This allowed identifying which systemic elements have measurable impact on caries incidence rates.
3. Statistical Monitoring UNESCO Global School Health Survey data was used to evaluate frequency of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. WHO global caries burden indicators were analyzed to determine prevalence dynamics across age groups. Secondary datasets from OECD and IHME were used to evaluate the economic burden of pediatric oral diseases.
4. Expert Opinions Semi-structured expert interviews with pediatric dentists, preventive dentistry professors and school health physicians were included. Their clinical observations regarding early onset caries, risk factors in preschoolers, and parental behavior patterns were coded and compared with the literature thematic cluster.

Results. The results clearly demonstrate that the prevalence of childhood caries is not a random biological phenomenon but rather a predictable socially constructed problem caused by modifiable lifestyle factors. Sugar frequency, weak hygiene culture, parental modeling, and lack of systematic preventive care emerged as the dominant causal determinants.

• Sugar Frequency – The meta-analysis from The Lancet Pediatrics (2021) proved that even small sugar doses consumed frequently are more harmful than larger doses consumed occasionally. The critical factor is “frequency of exposure”, not total daily sugar intake.

• Parental Behavior – According to Harvard (2020), parental self-discipline strongly determines children’s oral hygiene behaviors. Children do not imitate advice, they imitate behavior.

• School-Based Prevention – Scandinavian longitudinal data demonstrate that school dental check-ups twice annually reduce caries incidence by over 50%. Where this system is missing → treatment always dominates over prevention.

• Microbiome Dynamics – French medical academy data (2023) showed that Streptococcus mutans activity increases sharply 17–22 minutes after sugar exposure, which corresponds to rapid pH drop and demineralization phase.

• Economic Return – OECD (2022) confirmed that every dollar invested in early preventive dentistry returns up to 7 dollars in avoided future treatment costs and productivity loss.

• Mental Health Link – Frontiers in Psychology (2022) reported that children with visible dental decay suffer significantly lower self-confidence scores and social avoidance.

Discussion. The findings indicate that the current global dental model for children is structurally and conceptually misaligned with scientific evidence. Pediatric dentistry in most countries still operates within a reactive treatment paradigm — meaning that families visit dental services only when pain or visible destruction appears. This system reinforces a “disease-based” model rather than a “health-based” model. However, as EAPD guidelines emphasize, pediatric dentistry should be 80% preventive and only 20% curative. In other words, the primary goal must be to prevent caries from emerging, not to wait until it becomes irreversible.

Countries that have already reoriented to preventive health systems (Finland, Japan, Norway, Sweden) show that childhood caries burden can be drastically reduced through institutionalized school-based check-ups, systematic parental education, taxation of high-sugar beverages, and routine national screenings. These countries prove that the majority of childhood caries cases are not inevitable — they are the outcome of modifiable environmental and behavioral exposures. The challenge is not lack of medical technology, because early caries can be reversed through fluoride and remineralization. The real challenge lies in changing micro-behaviors: daily brushing routines, sugar frequency, parental modeling, and early-life diet patterns.

Furthermore, child oral health is not an isolated medical outcome — it reflects broader psychosocial determinants. Dental health correlates with socioeconomic status, parental education level, household nutrition habits, and school health policies. In this sense, childhood oral health should be viewed as a critical indicator of public health equity. A society where children continuously develop preventable dental diseases is a society that has not yet prioritized preventive public health.

Therefore, shifting from a treatment-based model to a prevention-based model requires multi-sectoral collaboration: families, schools, health ministries, public health agencies, pediatricians and dentists must act collectively. Only then can pediatric dentistry move beyond emergency interventions and become a scientifically-driven preventive discipline that protects children’s biological, psychological, and social well-being.

Recommendations. Family Level. Primary intervention must begin at the family environment. Twice-daily brushing, 2 minutes each, with fluoride toothpaste should be established as the biological minimum standard. Critically, parents must perform these hygiene rituals in the child’s visual field — because pediatric behavior is formed primarily through observational learning. Sugar-sweetened beverages should be reframed as a “weekend exception”, which creates a psychologically realistic boundary and reduces daily glucose/fructose acid load. A simple water rinse after every meal is one of the cheapest but biologically most effective micro-behaviors to neutralize oral acidity. Toothbrushes must be replaced every 3 months to maintain abrasive efficacy and hygiene quality.

School / Kindergarten Level. Educational systems are the second most influential behavioral ecosystem for children. Therefore, banning sugary drinks in school cafeterias is essential to normalize healthy consumption patterns at institutional level. Weekly 5–7 minute micro-lessons on oral hygiene can establish a continuous motivation loop and support knowledge retention. Integrating dental literacy modules into broader school health curricula will shift child oral health away from being perceived as a “dentist-only issue” into being part of general health literacy. Visual reminders in early grade corridors and bathrooms serve as daily behavioral cues and help reinforce automaticity.

National Policy Level. At the macro level, the adoption of a national pediatric preventive dentistry protocol is a decisive structural reform. Sugar-warning labels on beverages marketed to children can cognitively reframe consumption decisions away from marketing influence toward biological risk awareness. Integrating oral health education and counseling into prenatal care programs may have the highest long-term return on investment — because preventive behavioral patterns begin forming at the maternal stage, before the child even enters the healthcare system.

Conclusion. In conclusion, childhood caries represents a preventable, multi-factorial public health challenge that is strongly influenced by behavior, environment, socio-cultural norms and system-level health governance. The evidence collected demonstrates that biological vulnerability alone does not determine disease outcome. Instead, predictable modifiable factors — sugar frequency, family modeling, oral hygiene habits, and access to preventive dental care — are the primary determinants of risk among children. Therefore, reducing sugar intake, increasing parental involvement, establishing routine dental visits, and integrating oral hygiene interventions within school systems are not merely optional lifestyle recommendations, but necessary interventions backed by epidemiological, microbiological and economic evidence.

The research also shows that prevention is not only clinically superior, but economically rational. Nations that shifted from treatment-centered models toward preventive policies achieved dramatic reductions in caries prevalence while simultaneously reducing long-term healthcare costs. This highlights that improving child oral health is not only a dental task — it is a strategic public health investment with measurable returns in cognitive development, educational performance, psychosocial outcomes, and future societal productivity.

Based on current scientific data, childhood caries must be recognized as an avoidable disease. Its continuation at high prevalence levels is a reflection of systemic inaction, delayed policy response, and insufficient behavior change at household and institutional levels. Strengthening preventive dentistry and embedding oral health education into daily life routines will not only decrease caries burden, but also improve children’s overall quality of life, self-esteem, social participation, and long-term health trajectory.

Preventive pediatric dentistry is therefore not simply a clinical recommendation — it is an ethical obligation.

References

1. WHO Oral Health Report. 2023.
2. UNICEF Child Nutrition & Oral Microbiome Review. 2022.
3. Harvard School of Public Health. Parental Modeling. 2020.
4. The Lancet Pediatrics. Sugar Frequency & Caries Meta-Analysis. 2021.
5. Académie Nationale de Médecine. Oral Microbiome Review. 2023.
6. OECD Health Policy Studies. Preventive Dentistry Return. 2022.
7. European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry Guidelines. 2023.
8. Frontiers in Psychology. Oral Health & Self-Esteem. 2022.

Termez State Pedagogical Institute

Faculty of Preschool Education

Student of Group 104

AMIRQULOVA GULSEVAR 

Innovations in Education, Digital Transformation, and Pedagogical Technologies

ABSTRACT

In recent years, a large number of reforms have been implemented in our country, especially in the field of education. As a result of these reforms, modern teaching methods, digital transformation, and innovative pedagogical technologies have been introduced in all educational institutions, including vocational schools, general secondary and specialized secondary education institutions, as well as higher education institutions. Regardless of the type of education system, the state has created numerous favorable conditions for young people.

This article examines the essence, advantages, and disadvantages of the digital transformation process in education.

Keywords:

education system, innovation, digital transformation, innovative technologies, socio-pedagogical knowledge, educational innovations, educational process, effective organization of the learning process.

The education system plays a crucial role in the development of society. In the 21st century, digital technologies and innovations have brought education to a new level. Digital transformation refers to the introduction of digital technologies in all aspects of the education system and their effective application in the teaching and learning process. The impact of digital transformation on the education system leads to new forms of learning and teaching activities for both students and teachers.

Digital transformation is a process of fundamental reform of all sectors, including education, through the use of modern information and communication technologies (ICT). Uzbekistan is also one of the rapidly developing countries in this direction, where the widespread implementation of innovative technologies in education has become a priority of the national development strategy. The Presidential Resolution No. PQ-118 dated February 28, 2022, specifically emphasizes the development of the digital economy and the extensive use of ICT in all sectors, particularly in education. This has created a legal and institutional foundation for improving the quality of education in Uzbekistan based on modern technologies.

In the field of education, digital transformation involves the implementation of modern ICT at all stages of the educational process and the integration of traditional teaching methods with innovative technologies. This transformation contributes to improving the quality of education and developing students’ independent thinking, creative approaches, and problem-solving skills.

Digital transformation primarily simplifies the learning process and makes it more convenient, interactive, and learner-centered. For example, Learning Management System (LMS) platforms are used to deliver educational materials, monitor assignments, and conduct assessments through automated systems. This not only saves teachers’ time but also enables analytical monitoring of students’ learning activities.

Let us consider the advantages and challenges of digital transformation.

Advantages:

Access to education anytime and anywhere.

Opportunities for individualized learning.

Effective assessment and analysis.

Diversity of educational resources.

Challenges:

Uneven development of internet infrastructure.

Low level of digital literacy among teachers.

Reduction of face-to-face communication among students.

High cost of digital technologies.

Digital transformation in education also expands opportunities for open educational resources, online courses, and distance learning. Regardless of geographical or social barriers, students gain access to high-quality educational resources from anywhere in the world. This contributes to the democratization and inclusiveness of education.

However, digital transformation also presents certain challenges. These include insufficient internet infrastructure in some regions, limited professional capacity in the use of digital technologies, and inadequate ICT training among teachers. In addition, excessive reliance on digital tools may lead to decreased student concentration and a lack of real interpersonal communication, which can have negative consequences.

Digital transformation not only improves the quality of education but also enhances the intellectual potential of society as a whole.

Educational innovations refer to a set of forms, methods, and technologies applied to solve existing problems in the education sector or learning process through new approaches, ensuring significantly more effective results. Educational innovations are also referred to as innovative education. The concept of innovative education was first introduced in 1979 at the Club of Rome. Educational innovations can be classified as follows:

According to the field of activity: innovations applied in the pedagogical process and in the management of the education system.

According to the nature of changes introduced: radical, modified, and combined innovations.

According to the scale of changes: sectoral, modular, and system-level innovations.

According to the source of origin: innovations created or adopted directly by a collective.

The key difference between innovation and ordinary novelty is that innovation must have a flexible mechanism that allows for management and control. When discussing innovative pedagogical technologies, it is essential to consider the concept of pedagogical technology. The term “pedagogical technology” entered scientific use in 1872 in connection with technological progress and originates from the Greek words techne (art, skill, craft) and logos (science), meaning “the science of skill.”

Pedagogical technology represents the strategy for implementing information technologies and is based on knowledge related to the functional system laws of the “educational environment – learner.” The structure of pedagogical technology includes a conceptual foundation, the content of the educational process, and the technological process. Each pedagogical technology is based on a specific scientific concept. Its scientific concept encompasses philosophical, psychological, socio-pedagogical, and didactic foundations aimed at achieving educational goals.

The content of the educational process consists of general and specific objectives and the content of learning materials. The technological process includes the organization of the learning process, the activities of the teacher and students, methods of managing the educational process, and learning diagnostics.

Pedagogical technology is a field of knowledge in which values such as freedom of thought, loyalty, humanism, and patriotism are cultivated in both teachers and students. In modernized education, contemporary lessons are essential to consistently and comprehensively develop students’ knowledge and potential.

At the same time, extensive efforts are being made in our country to apply pedagogical and information technologies in the educational process. The scientific and theoretical foundations of this issue, as well as the specific features of each pedagogical technology, have been developed, and sufficient practical experience has been accumulated. Foreign organizations also provide close support in implementing pedagogical and information technologies in education.

In G.K. Selevko’s textbook “Modern Educational Technologies,” various technologies used in the educational process are compiled, along with their scientific-theoretical and methodological foundations, classification, and mechanisms for practical application.

References

Karimov, I.A. High Spirituality Is an Invincible Force. Tashkent: Ma’naviyat, 2008, 176 p.

Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “Digital Uzbekistan – 2030” Strategy and Resolution No. PQ-4883 dated October 5, 2020, on its implementation.

Abdullayeva, M., Komilov, F. Information and Communication Technologies. Tashkent: Science and Technology, 2021, 200 p.

Anarbayeva, F.U., Abdullayeva, M.V. Digital Transformation of the Higher Education System in the Context of the Digital Economy. The Journal of Economics, Finance and Innovation, 2023.

As white as snow, innocent
A pure heart, no dust
A waste of time
I have such a friend

Always on my side
Never gossips
A ungrateful help
I have such a friend

Never sold my secrets
Or told anyone else
Never told a lie
I have such a friend

A partner in joy and sorrow
No hostility
May fate grant it,
I have such a friend

Thank you for going, my friend
If you go, I will not be short of anything
My support and my support
I have such a friend

THE INFLUENCE OF MOTHER TONGUE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Uzbekistan State University of World Languages

English language and literature faculty 

Group-2406 student Abdurahimova Anora 

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8510-8065

Email: anoraxonabdurahimova@gmail.com                                                                    

+998 33 316 47 17

ANNOTATION: The article will scientifically analyze the mastery of English and the influence of the native language on this process. The mother tongue is one of the most important aspects that affect the acquisition of English, and it determines how perfectly we master this language. The advantages or disadvantages that the native language creates during the process of learning a second language are also clearly illustrated with several examples. The result of the study provides a comprehensive statement of the advantages of the native language and the disadvantages of the learners’ language learning process for English learners.

KEYWORDS: mother tonguage, second language acquisition, foreign language teaching, pronunciation difficulties, grammatical interference, bilingualism, positive and negative development, learning strategies, English language learning. 

ANNOTATSIYA: Maqolada ingliz tilini o’zlashtirish va ona tilining bu jarayonga bo’lgan ta’siri ilmiy jihatdan tahlil qilinadi. Ona tili ingliz tilini o’zlashtirishga ta’sir qiluvchi eng muhim jihatlardan biri bo’lib, u qanchalik bu tilni mukammal o’zlashtirishimizni belgilab beradi. Shuningdek, ikkinchi tilni o’rganish jarayonida ona tili yaratadigan qulayliklar yoki qiyinchiliklar bir qancha misollar bilan aniq yoritiladi. Tadqiqot natijasi ingliz tili o’rganuvchilarga ona tilining afzalliklari va o’rganuvchilarning til o’rganish jarayonidagi kamchiliklari haqida to’liq bayonot beradi.

KALIT SO’ZLAR: ona tili, ikkinchi tilni o’zlashtirish, chet tillarini o’qitish, talaffuzdagi qiyinchiliklar, grammatik aralashuv, ikki tilli, ijobiy va salbiy rivojlanish, o’rganish strategiyalari, ingliz tilini o’rganish.

АННОТАЦИЯ: В статье будет проведен научный анализ овладения английским языком и влияния родного языка на этот процесс. Родной язык является одним из важнейших аспектов, влияющих на овладение английским языком, и от него зависит, насколько в совершенстве мы овладеваем этим языком. Преимущества или недостатки, которые создает родной язык в процессе изучения второго языка, также наглядно иллюстрируются несколькими примерами. Результат исследования дает исчерпывающее представление о преимуществах родного языка и недостатках процесса изучения языка учащимися, изучающими английский язык.

КЛЮЧЕВЫЕ СЛОВА: родной язык, овладение вторым языком, обучение иностранному языку, трудности с произношением, грамматические помехи, двуязычие, позитивное и негативное развитие, стратегии обучения, изучение английского языка.

INTRODUCTION

Today, the desire to learn a language is growing, one of which is English. There are many problems that learners face on this path. For example, pronunciation problems, grammatical errors, difficulty understanding listening, low self-confidence, and inability to communicate freely. All of these problems are inherent in the native language of each learner, which means that the native language can have a positive effect on the process of mastering the English language and can help solve problems. It is clear that this article proves how effective the mother tongue is in teaching English and provides useful suggestions.

Nowadays, there are many opportunities for language learners, especially English learners. An example of this is that linguists who have achieved 7.0 and a high score in the IELTS exam in Uzbekistan have been reimbursed for the cost of the exam, and the opportunity for foreign universities to win a full grand can also open this very English. As our president explained: “it’s time to establish a new environment in which the future will be the foundation for teaching foreign languages.” Therefore, this article presents the results of effective, useful, and beneficial research towards creating this environment.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: The extent to which the native language affects the process of second language learning during this introduction has been determined through several methods:

1. Theoretical analysis: with the help of this method, an analysis of scientific works and articles, tutorials on the role and importance of the native language in mastering English was studied in depth. The research of researchers such as David Nunan, the valuable information they gave, the concepts were analyzed one by one.
2. Observational and applied research: the shortcomings or achievements of young people whose native language is other in the learning process of English have been meticulously observed, and the difference between the two has been clearly demonstrated.
3. Experimental group and control group: two other groups with the first language were selected and approaches and guidelines in their language learning process were established. The results shown were compared in each group.
4. Survey and evaluation: questionnaires were distributed and the results were compared to those who were knowledgeable and received about the impact of their native language on the second language learning process.

REVIEW OF USED LITERATURE

This topic is much more relevant now that the passion for learning a language is high. Also, the work of all the researchers who worked within the framework of this topic was analyzed one by one Also, the work of all the researchers who worked within the framework of this topic was analyzed one by one. Obviously, the problems of several language learners have also been solved in a positive way, but to this day no new ideas for the distribution of new methods, a separate group or teachers have been developed, depending on the native language of the students and to what extent they know the grammar of this language. It is very easy to find out from their result that the work of the researchers mentioned earlier was also thorough, consistent and negative.

Focusing on foreign sources Do Quoc Khanh, on the other hand, shares his experience with 100 readers in his article and touches on their origins, problems in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary. Another researcher Kuldashev Rustambek Avezmurodovich mentions that the native language plays an important role not only in language learning, but also in teaching, and focuses more on the useful aspects of the native language that the English language gives to the learning process. 

RESULTS

This section introduces the outcome of the above-mentioned experiences and compares young people with two different native languages. The results show that students who know languages whose grammar, position in the sentence structure English is the same, have a 20% higher language acquisition process efficiency than other learners. The role and significance of the first language is also felt when working with the group is given in this study. In addition, the results of a survey from teachers and students show that 80% of people have assessed that the learning process of English is influenced by the first language of the learner. The result of the study:

A total of 80% of people shown in blue and they consider their native language important in the language learning process. The people shown in yellow consider effort and exploration important in the process of learning a language. The percentage of people who prioritize motivation is in gray.

CONCLUSION

It is clear that the learner’s first language has an impact on their language acquisition process. The grammar, pronunciation, and word order of a learner’s native language can make learning a new language easier. It is clear that along with a passion for language learning, motivation, and relentless efforts, first language is important for language learning. The results of research, scientific works, and studies show that language is a social phenomenon, and the first language a learner acquires determines their subsequent language acquisition process.

We can say that the first language of the learner brings with it opportunities or challenges, depending on what it is. It is undeniable that each language has its own opportunities or challenges. If I offer suggestions and recommendations, the method of grouping learners based on their first language can facilitate the language acquisition process and provide several opportunities.

REFERENCES

1. Nguyen, M. T., & Do, Q. K. (2025). The influence of mother tongue on English language acquisition: A case study at Nguyen Tat Thanh University. American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.69980/ajpr.v28i1.38
2. Kuldashev, R. A., & Shabonova, S. B. (2024). The role of mother tongue in teaching foreign languages. Excellencia: International Multi-disciplinary Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.5281/
3. Nguyen, D. T. T. (2020). The roles of mother tongue in enhancing English language acquisition in English-policy classes. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 6(4), 109–115. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20200604.11
4. Raut, B. B. (2024). Influence of mother tongue on English language learning in the EFL context of Nepal. GS WOW: Wisdom of Worthy Research Journal, 3(2), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14542586
5. Kotipalli, N. D. (2025). A study on the role of mother tongue in English language acquisition among rural learners. International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, 6(8), 1499–1502. https://doi.org/10.55248/gengpi.6.0825.2914
6. Asad, M. (2025). The impact of mother tongue interference on English syntax: A case study of EFL students at Technical College, Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Language, Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 4(3), 13-30. https://doi.org/10.59690/ijlllc.v4i03.018

To My Beloved Wife

By Bai Gengsheng

About the Author: Vice Chairman of the China Writers Association, Member of the Standing Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Honorary Dean of the China Yulong Wenbi Dongba Culture Academy

Translator: Lan Xin (Lanxin Samei)

About the Translator: Internationally renowned writer and poet, the only female inheritor of the World Memory Heritage Dongba Culture, Dean of the China Yulong Wenbi Dongba Culture Academy, Winner of International Literary Awards

Thirty-three years ago,

I met you,

And set you on a lifetime of giving.

Back then,

I said I was an ethnic minority,

You said you had long yearned for that;

I said I was born in the great southwest,

You said you had always dreamed of its wonderful customs and scenery;

I said I was a man from the mountains,

You said you loved my calm and kindness;

I said I was just a worker-peasant student,

You said it was because the college entrance exam had not yet resumed;

I said my work would keep me in the fields,

You said that was the most down-to-earth;

I said I was penniless and had no luck with wealth,

You said having knowledge made me the richest man;

I said my profession had once seen many “rightists”,

You said that era was gone forever;

I said my Mandarin was not fluent,

You said your skill would help me speak with a Beijing accent.

Your figure was everywhere on the stage back then,

Your beauty was indispensable to the landscape;

Countless eyes were drawn to you,

Many hearts were set ablaze by you.

What did it matter that you were not from the mountains, an ethnic minority, from the great southwest, or a worker-peasant student?

Who made you stay true to your heart,

And walk with me for thirty-three years?

Thirty-three years passed,

You followed me through wind, frost, and toil.

My home expanded from eight square meters,

My salary grew from forty-nine yuan;

My academic career started with short articles,

My steps always measured the land of words,

My spirit always roamed the cosmos.

Yet I bore none of the burden of raising our daughter and caring for our parents;

You raised our daughter and cared for our parents, always shedding tears alone;

You found joy in those tears,

You endured illness and pain in silence,

You never doubted anything I did,

Firmly believing I would always stay true to my original heart:

Upholding one faith,

Cherishing one ideal,

Joining one political party,

Holding one nationality,

Pursuing one profession,

Earning one salary,

Needing one home,

Loving one woman,

Raising one child,

Not envying others’ wealth and many descendants.

Thirty-three years later,

I never took you to watch lanterns,

I rarely went to dances with you;

I never asked about daily chores or social status,

I never knew the hardship of cleaning and sweeping;

You always hoped my writings would outlive me,

You loved my calm and peaceful nature.

Your sweetness was lying down to hear me tell stories of “Wolf Grandma”,

Your comfort was singing a song softly or loudly,

Your encouragement was a sincere and true kiss,

Your love was a gentle smile without many words,

Your promise was to hold my hand as we grow old.

Ah,

My beloved wife,

Thirty-two years is not short,

Thirty-two years is not long;

How many black hairs have turned to white frost,

My beloved wife,

In this life and the next, I owe you more and more,

In this life and the next, I owe you more and more——

Yet I still have a heart full of passion,

Yet I still have a heart full of loyalty,

I can only move forward bravely,

I can only give you all my love.

My beloved wife,

I will never forget your days and nights under the stars and moon for thirty-three years,

I will never forget your hand in mine through wind and snow,

I will never forget your letters when I wandered far and wide,

I will never forget your heartbeat when I rose and fell in officialdom.

Thirty-three years later,

I will also never forget how you warmed me in the bitter cold,

I will never forget how you made soup for our family and stayed by my side;

I will never forget how you remained unstained in a corrupt world,

Like an orchid blooming quietly in an empty valley, exuding a faint fragrance.