The Call of Home

Sometimes silence speaks louder than words.

In distant lands, surrounded by the noise of foreign cities, there lives a quiet space in my heart. And within that silence, there is always one voice — the call of Home.

One day, walking through a crowded street far from my country, I caught the scent of freshly baked bread. At once, my heart trembled. It was not just bread — it was the smell of my childhood yard, the warmth of my neighbors’ ovens, my mother’s voice calling: “Come, my child.” In that moment, I realized: Home never leaves us, even when we are thousands of miles away.

Every person carries a homeland within their heart. For some, it is a mother’s lullaby. For others, the shadow of mountains, the scent of rain on thirsty soil, or the laughter of children playing in dusty streets. Homeland is not just a piece of land. It is memory, it is root, it is the voice that follows you wherever you go.

I remember the soil of my childhood yard, soft and warm beneath my feet. I remember elders gathering at dusk, their words weaving history into my soul. I remember the vast blue sky of my homeland, so endless that it seemed to embrace me. Those moments became more than memories — they became my homeland itself.

And I know this: when an American remembers his homeland, he may see golden fields stretching endlessly. When an Indian remembers, he may hear temple bells and the chants rising into the air. When an Uzbek remembers, he may smell the clay-oven bread and hear the songs of ancestors. Different, yet the same. For homeland is the place where your heart first learned to beat.

Homeland is not divided by religion, race, or borders. It is a sacred whisper that says: “You are of this soil, you are of this root.” Even if years and distances separate us, even if we live on the farthest shore, one scent, one song, one word can shatter the walls of distance — and in a single breath carry us back home.

Home is love.

Home is longing.

Home is the soil that shaped us, the sky that watched over us, the dream that never dies.

And today, once again, I smell that bread. I close my eyes, and I hear the birds of my childhood, the gentle prayer of my mother. And I hear it clearly, unshakably — the call of Home.

Dilnoza Bekmurodova Navroʻzbekovna – 13 years old, born on January 31, 2012. Currently, she is a 7th grade student at the Presidential School in Karshi, Kashkadarya region, Republic of Uzbekistan. Dilnoza is interested in writing poetry, reading books, drawing, making things, and teaching others. She has been interested in creativity since the age of 7, and has been writing poems and various creative works. One of her biggest dreams for the future is to send her parents on the Hajj pilgrimage, open her own educational center, teach others, travel to many countries, and publish her author’s works. She is very interested in learning languages, and currently knows 2 more languages.

Work Anxiety In the Lake District

First orders come from

above through murder holes

drilled into the floor where

the main bar sinks overflow

and the slop sinks leak.

The waitress is sleeping,

head down on the invisible

cellar bar while a rush of

patrons arrive, walking single

file down misaligned stairs,

chanting verses from a Pink Floyd

song, shouting out orders as they

pass into the well-lighted, unfinished

basement lounge. Second orders

come over the bar from everywhere

at once but all the bottle are

somewhere else, up flights of stairs

others are using, all the taps open

and free flowing but the glassware

is inaccessible in too tall, overhead

racks, in too low cabinets you have to

lie down next to in order to retrieve

what lies within, reaching hands

scraped and bleeding on rough hewn

wooden shelves, on the chipped and

broken glass, still more orders come

and there is no room to move,

the basement ceiling pressing down,

more murder holes being drilled,

delivering last orders from above.

Bleeding: a work anxiety dream

Finally dozing after being unable

to sleep. Anxiety dreams, immediate and intense.

No longer do they focus on undergrad

academic failure, flunking out, the unknowable end.

The end in those college days meant

a place like Vietnam.  Oddly, no anxiety

dreams of grad school, though the workload

was twice as bad, no sleep then, between

classes, assignments, working a late night

job. No sleep, then, for years; living on

beer, empty gas tank fumes and beer.

The anxious dream centers on the work-

place, introduces a wound, a glass cut

to the bone, blood in the ice.  No one

cares. It’s all about the bleeding self

carrying on, working, tending bar

one handed for ten hours without a break.

Everyone who sees the wound says

it needs stitches.  Lots of stitches.

The bleeding wouldn’t stop, the stained bar rag

slipping, hanging loose around the wrist.  

But there I am, building cocktails with my right hand,

deliberate, but carrying on, all fluidity lost

for the duration. No one cares how I feel,

if the wound is dealt with or not.

No one cares how I am unless the drinks

are tainted.

Abu Ghraib: a  work anxiety dream

That one where you are

transported to one of those

torture chamber prisons in Iraq

where they apply hoods with

no eye slits and strap you into

stress positions and play

repetitive bass line music/ noise

punctuated by a kind of bell so that

you feel as if you are only half-

conscious/passing out and a voice

accompanies the noise chanting

in a foreign language you think of

as Urban, not one recognizable as

an actual tongue but something

like one, endlessly repeating spat out

hate infused syllables so you plead,

“I’ll talk. I’ll tell you anything.”

But they don’t want you to talk.

They want you to suffer.

  Sleeper Awake: a work anxiety dream

I wake up in my dream though

I know I am still asleep.

I’m late for work even though

this isn’t time for my shift.

They must have called me in to open

the day after a night I closed.

This used to happen quite often

at The Rib when Linda was working

as she didn’t know where the bottles

went.  So I’m getting dressed and

it begins to feel like the Dali dream

sequence in “Spellbound” inside

the bar I have been transported to.

And then it is raining while I’m rushing

to the bus stop and my umbrella is

full of holes but I’m moving backward

instead of forward and I’m going to be

really late and wet which also used

to happen all the time at The Rib

as traffic was so bad I could never

cross Route 5 . But I’m not working

at The Rib anymore, even in the dream,

it’s The Tavern and one of the college

kids is already setting the place up,

so what did they need me for?

And he’s taking rolls of quarters,

like a hundred of them from some guy

off the street and giving him all

our big bills and the owner’s daughter

is cashing checks, so there is no cash

money at all in the drawer, just change,

more change than you could use in

a month but break a twenty? Forget it.

And the college guy is looking at me

like it’s all my fault and like, what good

was I anyway? I’m like way too old to be

working in a bar. So I perform a couple

of drink making, sleight-of-hand tricks

and he’s like Spellbound and I’m back

in that dream again, though it seems more

and more like that black and white flick,

“Kafka” and then the Welles noir, “The Trial,”

and I finally realize the only reason that I’m

   there at all is someone has to get shot in the end.

Half-Tone Beckett in Bar Light:

A Work Anxiety Poem

They went down to the cellar

with flashlights and returned,

filthy, bedraggled as hounds

left in the rain to wallow in

offal and mud.

They decamped, mid-bar on stools,

that scraped the foot scuffed floors

amid the remains of a night of

serious drinking.

Seen from afar, well above the bar,

light is refracted through green

bar bottle glass like shards of

misspent lives, dissembled as

hobo Hoover towns like hoarse

voiced village criers delivering

messages no one wants to hear

around camp fires in 50 gallon

drums.

All the garbage of their lives

amount to nothing more than

left-behind stogie stumps and

cigarette end prophecies that mean

nothing in harsh pre-dawn haze

waiting for what the new day brings.

Work Anxiety Dream: Stalker

After hours, lights down in the bar,

chair legs facing up on the tables,

only the EXIT lights glowing,

the click of the sound turned down jukebox

playing songs, no one can hear,

random compressors kicking on,

shutting off, the ice machine dumping

a new load of cubes on the mounds

in the deep freeze…

Down the worn thin, unevenly spaced

stairs, into the low ceiling cellar where

the walk-in coolers full of beer are,

the leaking pipes, frayed electrical

wires, the single too-low wattage bulbs

on pull chains are and the wooden, sagging

shelves packed with bar supplies,

used guest checks, register tapes and

the overwhelming smell of sewage,

the creeping damp from the cobblestone

floor, the standing water the sump pumps

can’t contain, where the footsteps not

your own follow yours in a hard-to-focus

gloom, each deep breath feeling like

the next to last one, as we move from one

shadow place to the next, opening long

forgotten doors into closets, new found

rooms that lead to other worlds, darker

places where the walls sweat and the all

in black man behind me raises his arm

holding the long wide bladed knife

as if to strike as another door opens

and a new phase of this hide and seek game

for keeps, begins.

IN THE MIRROR

In the mirror, through your own eyes,

you watch me.

You call to me.

You hide me.

You love me.

You close your eyes — to forget,

to stop everything.

But like water at the mill — it does not stop.

A wheel of liquid drops keeps turning,

life flows like a river.

I am born again in your eyes,

beneath your eyelids,

a love with which you cover

another love.

Forgetfulness comes when the mirror breaks.

But ours…

Ours is reborn each time —

when you look at yourself

and in your reflection recognize my eyes.

That is us:

connected by thoughts,

without meeting,

without touch,

without anything —

yet with everything,

in the fullness of feeling

that transcends words.

Maja Milojković was born in Zaječar and divides her life between Serbia and Denmark. In Serbia, she serves as the deputy editor-in-chief at the publishing house Sfairos in Belgrade. She is also the founder and vice president of the Rtanj and Mesečev Poets’ Circle, which counts 800 members, and the editor-in-chief of the international e-magazine Area Felix, a bilingual Serbian-English publication. She writes literary reviews, and as a poet, she is represented in numerous domestic and international literary magazines, anthologies, and electronic media. Some of her poems are also available on the YouTube platform. Maja Milojković has won many international awards. She is an active member of various associations and organizations advocating for peace in the world, animal protection, and the fight against racism. She is the author of two books: Mesečev krug (Moon Circle) and Drveće Želje (Trees of Desire). She is one of the founders of the first mixed-gender club Area Felix from Zaječar, Serbia, and is currently a member of the same club. She is a member of the literary club Zlatno Pero from Knjaževac, and the association of writers and artists Gorski Vidici from Podgorica, Montenegro.

Annotation: This article examines the role of technology in modern language learning. It highlights how digital tools such as online dictionaries, mobile apps, and artificial intelligence-based systems are changing the process of acquiring new languages. The research also discusses both the advantages and challenges of using technology in linguistics education. Examples from real-life practices are presented to support the arguments.

Keywords: language learning,technology, linguistics, digital tools, education,efficient,translate,learners,skills,multilingualism,artificial intelligence,globalization.

Introduction :In the 21st century, technology has become an inseparable part of education, especially in the field of linguistics. Traditional language learning methods such as memorization, grammar-focused drills, and classroom-based lessons are now being supplemented—or even replaced—by digital resources. The integration of technology into language learning is not simply a trend; it is a necessity brought about by globalization and the demand for multilingual competence. Unlike in the past, when learners relied heavily on textbooks and teacher-led instruction, today’s students can practice listening through podcasts, improve speaking skills with interactive applications, and enhance vocabulary with online flashcards. For example, instead of repeating words mechanically, learners now use applications like Quizlet or Anki, which apply spaced repetition algorithms to ensure long-term retention of vocabulary. This represents a significant shift from passive memorization to active, technology-supported engagement.Furthermore, the integration of technology into language learning is not simply a trend but rather a global necessity. Globalization has created an environment where multilingual competence is increasingly required. Students are expected not only to know foreign languages but also to use them effectively in international communication, business, and academia. Technology makes this goal more achievable by connecting learners with authentic resources and native speakers across the globe. For instance, video conferencing platforms such Zoom or Microsoft Teams allow language learners to attend virtual classes taught by instructors thousands of miles away.Another key factor is personalization. Traditional classrooms often adopt a “one-size-fits-all” approach, but digital platforms use adaptive learning systems to tailor content according to the learner’s level and progress. Artificial intelligence-driven tools, such as language chatbots or pronunciation analyzers, provide instant feedback, something that is difficult to achieve in a crowded classroom.Ultimately, technology has redefined the boundaries of language learning. It no longer occurs solely within the four walls of a classroom but extends to every part of a learner’s daily life—through mobile apps, online communities, and digital immersion environments. This combination of accessibility, flexibility, and global connectivity makes technology not just an addition to traditional methods but an essential pillar of modern linguistics education. The integration of technology into language learning is not merely a passing trend but rather a global necessity. In a world where communication transcends borders, the ability to master multiple languages is highly valued in business, education, and international relations. Technology plays a crucial role in bridging this gap.For example, digital platforms such as Duolingo, Memrise, and Busuu provide learners with opportunities to study languages interactively at their own pace. These tools adapt to individual progress and offer personalized learning experiences, something that traditional classrooms often struggle to achieve. The accessibility of these resources also ensures that people from different socio-economic backgrounds can learn languages without the barriers of cost or geography.

The Relevance of the Topic:The importance of technology in language learning lies in its ability to provide access, flexibility, and efficiency. Unlike traditional methods, learners today have opportunities to practice language skills anytime and anywhere. Mobile applications like Duolingo and Memrise allow learners to study vocabulary and grammar interactively. Online platforms such as Coursera or edX provide language courses taught by native speakers from across the globe.Another key aspect of relevance is the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). For example, AI-powered chatbots can simulate conversations, helping learners improve speaking and listening skills without fear of making mistakes. This demonstrates how technology not only supports but also motivates learners.Analysis with Examples

§ 

Ø Online Dictionaries and Translators

Digital dictionaries such as Oxford Online or Cambridge Dictionary give instant access to word meanings, pronunciations, and examples. Tools like GoogleTranslate provide immediate translation, though not always perfect, making them practical aids for beginners.

Ø Mobile Learning Apps

Applications such as Duolingo and Babbel turn language learning into a game-like experience. For example, Duolingo rewards learners with points and badges, which increases motivation. Research shows that learners using mobile apps practice more consistently than those relying solely on textbooks. Access to Authentic Materials.Learners can watch films, listen to podcasts, and read articles in their target language. For instance, a student studying English can follow international news through the BBC Learning English platform, which combines real-world news with structured language learning exercises.

Ø  Social Media and Online Communication

Social platforms like Facebook groups, Reddit communities, or language exchange apps (HelloTalk, Tandem) enable learners to communicate with native speakers. This offers real-life practice opportunities that traditional classrooms often lack. Interactive Communication:Virtual platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Tandem connect learners with teachers and native speakers worldwide. Unlike in traditional classrooms where interaction is limited to classmates, these tools allow real-time cross-cultural communication.

Ø  Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Assistants

Voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant can be used to practice pronunciation and everyday conversation. AI systems analyze the learner’s speech, detect mistakes, and suggest improvements. For example, ChatGPT itself can be a tool for practicing different aspects of language learning. Adaptive Learning and Personalization: Artificial intelligence-powered applications adjust lessons based on the learner’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, pronunciation apps like Elsa Speak use speech recognition technology to provide immediate feedback, helping learners achieve near-native accuracy in speaking.

Advantages and challenges 

v Accessibility: learning anytime, anywhere

v Motivation: interactive and game-based tasks

v Personalization: adaptive learning systems adjust to learner’s level

v Exposure: direct communication with native speakers

v Overreliance on technology can reduce traditional study discipline

v Not all online content is reliable or accurate

v Learners may face digital distraction instead of focused study

v Some students lack stable internet or devices

 Importance of Technology in Linguistics: From a broader perspective, technology enhances not only language acquisition but also linguistic research. Linguists use digital corpora to analyze language patterns, study dialects, and explore sociolinguistic trends. Speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP) tools also contribute to advancements in translation, language preservation, and artificial intelligence.For example, endangered languages can now be recorded, digitized, and shared globally. This ensures that they are preserved for future generations and made accessible for study. Similarly, online collaboration platforms allow linguists from different countries to work together on projects without geographical limitations.

    Conclusion

Technology has redefined the boundaries of language learning and research in linguistics. It offers accessibility, personalization, and global connectivity, which traditional classrooms cannot fully provide. Far from being a simple supplement, technology has become an essential pillar in modern education. By embracing digital tools, linguistics not only adapts to the demands of globalization but also empowers individuals to communicate effectively across cultures and societies.

The future of linguistics lies in the synergy between human expertise and technological innovation. As artificial intelligence and digital platforms continue to advance, language learning will become more efficient, inclusive, and interconnected than ever before.

References

1. BBC. (2025). BBC Learning English. https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish

2. Busuu. (2025). Busuu Language Learning App. https://www.busuu.coom 

3. Duolingo. (2025). Duolingo. https://www.duolingo.com 

4. Elsa Corp. (2025). Elsa Speak. https://elsaspeak.coom.

5. Godwin-Jones, R. (2018). Emerging technologies: Language learning and technology. Language Learning & Technology, 22(3), 2–11.

6. Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2020). Mobile-assisted language learning. Routledge.

7. Memrise. (2025). Memrise App. https://www.memrise.com 

8. Warschauer, M., & Kern, R. (2000). Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice. Cambridge University Press.

BBC Learning English (https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/) BBC Learning English – Learn English with BBC Learning English – Homepage

About BBC Learning English

Contributor Abigail George would like to share a new project of hers: a blog called Mentally Sound that features articles, updates, a magazine, poetry, and uplifting music. In this day and age, so many things can affect our mental health. Please feel free to join the blog and blog about your own experiences or loving someone who has a mood disorder or an individual who is suffering from depression. Log in, blog, do read the posts and leave comments to inspire our growing community!

Now for this issue’s theme: Layers Upon Layers.

For we are all bound in stories, and as the years pile up they turn to stone, layer upon layer, building our lives. – Steven Erikson

This month’s contributions deal with the complexities of nature, history, culture, language, or even the psyche of a single person. Everything we choose or experience builds upon itself to make us who we are, even short-lived experiences.

Yucheng Tao’s poetry collection April No Longer Comes, published by Alien Buddha Press and reviewed by Cristina Deptula, explores moments of love and beauty that are wonderful and transient, like the season of spring. Sean Lee’s poems remind us that even fleeting moments can be meaningful and beautiful. Jian Yeo’s poetry touches on the pain and beauty we can find in mortality. Mykyta Ryzhykh contributes surreal images of life, death, and the cycle of modern existence. John Grey’s poetry explores comings and goings, presences and disappearances.

Yoonji Huh presents nature, family tenderness, and humor with a color scheme that looks historical and weathered. Gwil James Thomas speaks in several tough-minded pieces to memories and dreams and our sources of inspiration. Sean Lee’s artwork evokes the power of the imagination to illuminate daily life. Alina Lee’s poetry suggests that our pasts and futures comprise layers of each moment in which we find ourselves. JK Kim’s poetry looks at summer scenes with a calm nostalgia, after events have passed. Alexis Lee’s poems probe what we choose to value and remember, what we invest in and find beautiful. Olivia Koo probes the nature of memory, how multiple moments combine to craft a mental impression and feeling. Ah-Young Dana Park’s poetry comments on our changing memories and perspectives as time passes and we age. Chloe Park’s art revels in exquisite detail, probing culture and memory with intricacy. Sally Lee provides poetic snapshots of moments in time, considering whether they have meaning or value without context.

Seoyun Park’s visuals speak to how we observe and confront life, the dangers we face and those we pose. Ethan Lee’s poems remind us of the underside of our world: the everyday grotesque and the many layers of the ordinary. Irene Kim’s work explores the strain and melancholy that can permeate ordinary moments. Austin Chung’s poetry illustrates various kinds of disorder and dispersion as Taylor Dibbert vents his annoyance at the common problem of loud museum patrons. Lauren Kim stays with a single scene from everyday life for an entire poem, probing its layers. Haeun Regina Kim’s poetry examines ordinary objects and animals in depth, sharing details and language to create an off-kilter feel.

Brian Barbeito also explores deeply, focusing in on the flora and fauna of an Aruba resort. Debabarata Sen celebrates the verdant beauty of Costa Rica. David Sapp’s poetic speakers become waylaid by the arresting color and beauty of nature. Dylan Hong’s pieces present a gentle, abstract, even whimsical peek at nature. Grace Lee’s poetry crafts dreamlike, gentle, floating scenes. Terry Trowbridge’s pieces on peach harvests evoke the challenging economics and natural realities of farming. Mahbub Alam reminds us of the innate rough wildness of nature: storms, volcanoes, huge predators.

Jacques Fleury translates Dr. Jason Allen Paissant’s poem “Treeness,” about threats humankind poses to trees and the natural world, into Haitian Creole in a collaboration with Dr. Rachel Rome to provide music and poetry for the Boston Public Garden.

Sayani Mukherjee evokes the rhythm of a public piano played for big city pedestrians in a rainstorm. Eva Petropoulou Lianou waxes poetic about the beauty of the moon. Noriniso Kasimova shares memories of spring in her hometown and her father’s love. Chinese poet Su Yun collects a group of short poems from elementary school students, mostly impressions of natural scenes. Dhani M.’s artwork stylizes natural scenes to create emotional senses of calm, curiosity, and wonder. Jinwoo Brian Park’s art suggests that we can re-incorporate the old into the new, the natural into the artificial.

Mark Young contributes a fresh set of fanciful geographies. G. Emil Reutter humorously describes noisy construction’s impact on local residents. Erin Kim’s artwork explores the upsides and downsides of civilization’s technological progress. Katie Hong’s work critiques our isolation and obsession with technology as Xushnudbek Yakubov warns of the dangers of online misinformation. Sophie Yoon’s art critiques our complex relationship with consumption and the natural world. Eugene Han’s art explores who we are and where we’re going as humans, and our relationships with nature. Shabbona Abdurashidova highlights the importance of sustainable ecology in Uzbekistan. Jahin Claire Oh’s work speculates on how the world’s other creatures might see us: mimicking and learning from them, drifting into or penetrating their environments.

J.K. Durick speaks to new, wild, and real frontiers in modern nature and technology, commenting on our efforts to understand and control them. Pulkita Anand evokes the mental and physical disorientation brought on by the colonization of one’s land.

Ahmed Miqdad calls the world to action to help suffering civilians in Gaza. Patricia Doyne also calls the world’s attention to starvation in Gaza. Stephen Jarrell Williams speaks to the numbing, mindless destruction of war.

Poet Eva Petropoulou Lianou illuminates themes of patriotism and sacrifice in Algeria’s quest for independence in Turkia Loucif’s fantasy novel The Legend of a Squirrel. Yuldasheva Xadichaxon outlines themes of resilience and patriotism in Resat Nuri Guntekin’s novel The Clinging Bird.

Abdisattorova Xurshida highlights the contrasting legacies of Genghis Khan and Amir Temur. Abdisattorova Hurshida reflects on her admiration for Uzbek martial artist Abdulbosit Abdullayev. Maftuna Rustamova and Chorsanbiyeva Gulnoza poetize in honor of the military personnel who serve and guard Uzbekistan. Zumrad Sobirova celebrates the poetic beauty and pride of her Uzbek heritage. Jumaniyozova Nazokat encourages Uzbekistan’s young people to develop a greater appreciation for their heritage by visiting points of historical interest.

Nilufar Moydinova’s essay highlights language’s inextricable interconnection with thought, life, and culture. Mauro Montacchiesi creates a dialogue of philosophical thoughts and poetry between Dr. Jernail Singh and Rabindranath Tagore. Federico Wardal speaks to his long admiration for artist Andy Warhol and director and screen writer Federico Fellini. Orolova Dinora explores layers of meaning in Antoine St. Exupery’s The Little Prince as Surayyo Nosirova celebrates the heritage of Uzbek author Alexandr Faynberg.

Reagan Shin revels in the comfort and ecstasy and happy memories she finds in books. Mushtariybegim Ozodbekova highlights the power of books and stories to transcend time, culture, age, and space. Panoyeva Jasmina O’tkirovna highlights ways language teachers can help students develop fluency through relevant speaking and grammar practice. Turg’unov Jonpo’lat explores techniques to help children of all abilities to learn foreign languages. Nafosat Jovliyeva and Dilshoda Jurayeva illustrate gamification and other creative strategies for language learning. Rahimova Dilfuza Abdinabiyevna discusses ways to improve student competence with writing and speaking. Hilola Badriddinova outlines strategies used throughout the developed world to teach foreign languages.

Linda S. Gunther contributes a craft essay on “interviewing” your characters to better understand them as a writer. Paul Tristram’s poetry explores the heroic narratives we create through our writing and our lives. Gloria Ameh evokes the visceral sensations of writing on topics close to the bone.

Abigail George writes a stream of consciousness essay on her vulnerabilities from mental illness and just plain existing as a female-bodied person and how enduring them inspired her to write. Soumen Roy also connects beauty to vulnerability, speaking to the fading Mona Lisa and the union of joy and sorrow as fellow travelers.

J.J. Campbell reflects on disillusionment, loss, and the eternal quest, against all odds, for love. Mesfakus Salahin speaks evocatively of his quest for love and freedom. Baxtiniso Salimova’s poetry tells an epic love story. Mirta Liliana Ramirez relates intense grief at the loss of her lover. Dilnoza Islomova expresses her gratitude for her mother’s tender care. Bill Tope and Doug Hawley collaborate on a love story that turns unexpectedly tender. Urazaliyeva Sarvinoz shares an emotional tale of jealousy, love, and forgiveness between two twin sisters. Sarvinoz Orifova expresses gratitude for her parents’ constant love and care. Wazed Abdullah expresses his love and gratitude for his mother. Ozodbek Narzullayev expresses his love for his mother and invites her to share her life struggles with him for support. Xurshida Abdisattorova shares the story of a mother’s complicated grief for an imperfect husband and father who passes away in a sudden accident. Shoxrukh Fayzulla o’g’li Dusmatov speaks to his mother’s love and care and how wealth alone matters little without compassion and humanity.

To’raqulova Pokiza Sanjarovna speaks to the need for human compassion, wisdom, respect, and personal development. Hamza Kamar’s poetry expresses his powerful hopes for a transcendent hero. Bhagirath Chowdhary expresses his determination to avoid the next life until he has finished roaming this world, offering blessings to others. Charles Taylor’s short story probes our ethics and the extent of the compassion we owe our friends and fellow humans.

Julia Kanno reminds residents of the USA that most Latino immigrants are hardworking people with lives and dreams. Bill Tope presents a tale of a survivor’s search for justice for a sexual assault that shattered her psyche. Abdisattorova Khurshida presents a tale of thievery exposed.

Graciela Noemi Villaverde shares a poem on the joy of community and diversity and welcoming special education students. Haeun Regina Kim’s artwork explores unity and acceptance of others, as well as harmony among rural and urban areas. Nabijonova Madinabonu outlines how sharing coffee can help us build building friendship and community. Khudoyqulova Shahzoda highlights Uzbekistan’s programs to enhance economic opportunities for low income women and families and the disabled.

Nazarova Moxiniso looks into discipline and student character development as part of Uzbek preschool education. Ulsanam Ulmasovna outlines Amir Temur’s contributions to the Uzbek education system. Islomov Inomjon describes the Geoment, a device to teach mathematical reasoning to children with low or no vision.

Bozorboyeva Iroda offers encouragement for young people to find and follow their own dreams. Khudoykulova Shahzoda points out consequences of and solutions to youth unemployment.

Abdurayimov Faxriddin suggests strategies for teaching music practice and theory for children. Colombian philosopher and author Dr. Tayron Achury interviews Dr. Alexander Klujev, professor of musicology, about the increasing role of human personality and feeling in modern classical music.

Greg Gildersleeve’s pieces speculate on how small individuals can claim agency in a large world. Akramov G’ulomnazar’s poetry asserts his courage and resilience. Ashirova Dilrabo Ermatovna urges us to stay motivated and persevere towards our goals.

Various contributors celebrate notable people who should be better known, or highlight important research work. Sobirjonova Rayhona outlines the career and accomplishments of Uzbek woman mathematician and teacher Shodmonova Hilola. Eshmurodova Sevinch highlights the need for training for employees in Uzbekistan’s banking industry in digital technology to modernize industry. Muslima Olimova highlights strategies corporations have used to adapt to stay on top in a digital world. Jo’rayev Ulug’bek outlines engineering techniques for strengthening concrete structures. Mirzaolimov Mirabbos probes the medical relationship between diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Ostanaqulov Xojiakbar speculates on how to improve web search engine optimization to improve online communication and website findability. Orozboyeva Mohina Nuraliyevna outlines the role and history of psychology as practiced in Uzbekistan.

On a more psychological level, Duane Vorhees’ poetry covers and highlights human complexity: different aspects to our personalities, different choices we can make, how we can change with time. James Benger’s poetry explores the fear and tension underlying our individual existences, the danger from geologic pressure, storms, raw meat – and how we sometimes find hope to carry forward.

Andrew Ban shares restless, random thoughts, finding commonalities with all humanity while acknowledging the need to protect and defend himself if needed. Dongeon Kim’s work presents scenes of intense human and natural energy while Texas Fontanella revels in the pure sound of non-representational language. Dennis Daly wanders through a variety of human feelings, from nostalgia to frustration to faith. Michael Robinson shares his journey and heritage of faith, how he found a spiritual home and refuge in Christ and the church. Muhammad Sanusi Adam speaks to struggle, resilience, destiny, creation, and faith.

Gaurav Ojha seeks out meaning in a confusing and vast world, ultimately affirming everyone’s ability to find their own truths. We hope that reading this issue helps you to find a smidgen of truth for your own life.

In his crisp and taut collection April No Longer Comes, poet Yucheng Tao evokes fragile, transitory moments of elegance that seem to fade away even as the speakers appreciate them. 

A speaker recollects a museum visit with his now-deceased sister to see a Rothko exhibit. He later imagines a blue horse carrying her from her casket “to a spring which never ends.” Spring, and specifically the month of April, show up later in the collection in some very short pieces on butterfly wings and in “Fever,” a longer piece on a speaker’s recovery from illness. The winter imagery of snow and mist in many other pieces (“Snow,” “We,” “The Glory of the Snow”) becomes a counterpoint, burying or shrouding beauty in a way that is itself graceful. 

Tension and a subtle melancholy permeate many of Tao’s works, even those otherwise vibrant and full of life. In the first poem, “The Fading Light of Dead April,” about a couple enjoying a pizza dinner at a restaurant, Tao shows us the delicate bubbles in clear soda, yet ends lines with “bitterness” and “cutting off the clarity,” leaving readers with confusion and angst. In “The Glory of the Snow,” the speaker watches a beautiful woman dance, with picturesque imagery of her red lips against the white mounds of flakes, but then, ‘a clumsy dancer,’ she falls to the ground. 

Death makes an appearance throughout the collection, directly in “Mr. Raven” and elsewhere as an aspect of our existence. In “Arrival Before the Rose Dream Ends,” a man eats out with his girlfriend in Portland, Oregon, the city of roses and the shadow of Mount St. Helens’ past eruption, and dreams of the volcano when he passes away in his sleep. In “Mr. Raven,” the speaker’s ticket to the afterlife “is written in the age spots on his hands.” Even an inanimate scarecrow (“The Scarecrow”) becomes less alive as bored teenagers and the weather wear down its body. 

Coupled with the many natural images in the collection, mortality here seems as natural as the change of the seasons, whether characters choose to drift away peacefully or beg for more time. As Tao says in “We,” “Things shift, change, and transform: birth, death, and beyond.” 

Our hopes, dreams, and identities here can be as fragile as our physical bodies. In “Where,” a speaker searches a rose garden looking in vain for a particular flower, comparing himself to Adam and Eve cast out of Eden when the blossom remains out of sight. The protagonist in “Untitled” puts on the face of a clown to cover his emptiness after his reflection, his identity, falls all around him with the shards of a broken mirror. The very last piece in the collection, “Mary’s Secret,” shares the story of a little girl rescued by loving people from an abusive situation, who attempted to bring spring into her heart. 

The short lines and reserved, non-grandiose language of the poems in “April No Longer Comes” ground the sentiments in reality and make the motifs of the book more universal. Many readers can relate to “lost Aprils,” times beautiful yet delicate, now fading into memory.

Yucheng Tao’s April No Longer Comes is out now from Alien Buddha Press and available here.

PROBLEMS ARISING IN THE PROCESS OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND STRATEGIES FOR THEIR SOLUTION
Olimova Muslima Odiljon qizi
Andijan State Institute of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Intelligent Control and Computer Systems,
Student of the Information Systems and Technologies Department

Abstract:
This scientific thesis explores strategies for addressing problems in the process of digital transformation.
Keywords: Global economy, transformation, ecosystems, internet, platforms.

Digital transformation is a key theme in the global economy, yet what it truly means for established companies continues to puzzle both academics and practitioners. Here, we identify three main tensions at the core of digital transformation—products, platforms, firms, ecosystems, people, tools—and describe their underlying economics, driving forces, and counterforces. These tensions help frame the strategic alternatives for global companies. Overall, we argue that digital transformation is not an objective state but a strategic choice among various options made by leaders.

Digital transformation has become a vital topic of global strategy as born-digital firms like Google, Booking.com, Alibaba, and Amazon—as well as billion-dollar startups like Uber, Pinduoduo, Airbnb, and TikTok—have dominated collective imagination. Many of these digital reinventions of traditional industries, which often resist global boundaries, have led to the widespread belief that “digital transformation changes everything.” Officials are warned: “Disrupt or be disrupted.” This has led some to believe that digital transformation is establishing an entirely new world order. More data, connectivity, and digital intelligence are expected to eliminate global boundaries and reinforce new industrial frameworks.

However, a closer look at established firms undergoing digital transformation reveals a more complex story. For instance, Danish shipping company Maersk uses blockchain not to reinvent itself, but to perform its existing job—delivering goods more efficiently worldwide. Dutch beverage company Heineken uses digital transformation to better interact with customers, create products, and compete, yet still brews beer and delivers it by truck (Furr, Garlandt, and Shipilov, 2021). Even in digitally dominant industries such as media and travel, traditional firms continue to coexist—and even thrive—alongside digital disruptors: for example, The New York Times and Huffington Post continue to coexist.

Today’s rapid technological advancement is revolutionizing the work environment across all sectors. Even traditional organizations are experimenting with cloud analytics, human digital connectivity, sensor technology, and smart devices. This digital transformation compels companies to rethink not only their technology use but also their core models for creating and capturing value.

Shifting to digital, platform-based business models is often not easy, as it introduces a host of challenges that may be entirely new to many corporations. This research aims to understand the digital transformation process in traditional industry settings through a single qualitative case study. It focuses particularly on the challenges an organization might face during digital transformation and the digital strategies that can be employed to advance and benefit from it.

This study offers two theoretical contributions:

1. A new foundation for understanding the problems of digital transformation
2. A detailed description of the digital transformation process and the different management tools applied at various stages of the transformation

These contributions are also practically significant, as they can be used to assess and plan digital transformation processes. The empirical findings of this study suggest that current digital strategy literature may focus excessively on individual transformative digital initiatives, often overlooking the importance of digitizing traditional business processes to build a solid foundation for digital innovation.

Furthermore, existing literature places heavy emphasis on internal change problems, whereas in real-world cases, the most significant and challenging issues lie within the organization’s rigid institutional environment.

References:

1. Farkhod Mulaydinov. Digital Economy Is A Guarantee Of Government And Society Development. Ilkogretim Online, 2021; 20(3): 144–1479.
2. Yuldashev U.A. Use of Video Lesson Creative Technologies in the Process of Electronic Education. Scientific-Methodical Journal – T 2021.
3. Saidov Jasur Doniyor o‘g‘li, Saydullo Payzievich Allayorov, Said Xalilovich Islikov. Criteria for Assessing Professional Competence in Creating Databases. Scientific Progress. 2021. №1. URL: Andijan 2024.
   https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ma’lumotlar-omborini-yaratish-bo’yicha-kasbiy-kompetentligini-baholash-mezonlari (Accessed: 02.06.2022).
4. http://tsue.uz/uz/raqamli-iqtisodiyot-yangi-ozbekiston-taraqqiyotining-yangi-davri/
5. Abdullayev M., Saidahror G., & Ayupov R. (2020). Digital Economy – A Pressing Direction in Personnel Training. Archive of Scientific Research, 1(23).

Born on August 7, 2007, she is a student at Andijan State Institute of Engineering in the Faculty of “Intelligent Control and Computer Systems,” majoring in Information Systems and Technologies. Despite her young age, she is a talented programmer, writer, and youth leader who has achieved numerous accomplishments.

She is the founder of Muslima Academy, through which she leads thousands of young people toward knowledge, technology, and global opportunities. As the Uzbekistan ambassador of the Wakelet community, she actively contributes to the development of international scientific cooperation.

As a result of her academic research, she is the author of numerous articles, theses, and books. Her works are currently sold in over 30 countries, and she has signed international contracts with several foreign publishing houses. She has made a significant impact on the development of more than 1,000 young people.