LONDON: The US State Department has appointed a fluent speaker of Urdu and Hindi as a spokesperson in London to establish better communication link with the South Asian linguistic communities.
Margaret MacLeod speaks Urdu and Hindi fluently and her vocabulary is impressive. She has vast knowledge of India and Pakistan which she gained during her stay as a diplomat in these countries.
MacLeod had been posted to Pakistan since 2010 and has been able to explore several cities across Pakistan, focusing on Pakistani historical sites of great interest to historians.
She began taking Urdu lessons in the United States as part of a requirement for a diplomatic position, but was able to refine her skills through direct interaction with Urdu speakers in Pakistan and India.
The US diplomat said that learning Urdu, coming from her background, was difficult at first, but “it’s a beautiful language”. He is also fluent in Japanese and Gujarati.She shared: “For me, it was difficult to pronounce many Urdu and Hindi words and do certain deliveries of vowels and words but I did a lot of hard work and practised with my Urdu-speaking friends. I continue to work on my Urdu and Hindi.”
Margaret MacLeod is now posted in the US Embassy’s International Media Hub which engages South Asian, Dari and Pan-Aran media, especially India and Pakistan.
