Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

And I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

This program is designed for English learners

so we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases especially written for people learning

English.

On today's program, John Russell reports on a piano player who is blind.

Katie Weaver reports on the most recent Nobel Prize. Schools teach citizenship on the education report, and finally, the

lesson of the day. But first, Taku Songbapongen could see until he was 14 years old. He has been blind for the 13 years since. But nobody would know that by watching

Pongen perform on the piano. Pongen perform on the piano.

Pongen said playing the piano helped him after he lost his sight.

It opened a window to see the world.

It gives me energy and hope to go forward, he said.

Recently he performed at the Briant Piano Festival in Bengaluru, the capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Pungen plays by Ear.

He taught himself to play, assisted by piano training on YouTube that he began using in

2020.

He said he would like to be a professional musician someday.

But he is having difficulty finding a place that teaches piano to people with sight or vision problems.

Pungen first noticed his vision problems at school.

He could not see clearly enough to read words on the blackboard in the room. Then he remembers having

difficulty seeing the small glass balls called marbles that he liked to play with.

...