Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan
Mother Tongue I think there are two points in Tan’s essay. One main point is that her mother’s language has the power to shape not only Tan’s identity, but also the relationship she has with her mother. Her mother’s language helped shaped the way she saw things, expressed things, and made sense of the world. Though her mother’s English was broken or limited, she had no trouble understanding it, because she grew up with this language and she has adapted her mother’s way expression. She took part of what her mother said about a wedding as an example to show that this is intimacy. Words like “Du Yusong having business like fruit stand. Like off the street kind” cannot be understood by all. Because of her mother’s limited English, which the author believed reflected the quality of what she had to say, she was ashamed of her mother. She provided plenty of evidence to support her perspectives: the fact that people who served her mother did not respect her. Furthermore, Tan thought her mother’s English almost had an effect on her possibilities in life. She provided some examples that also applied to most Asian
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Americans that her true abilities lay in math and science, but never in English. Then she expanded her first point to Asian Americans, most of whom are enrolled in engineering, wondering if they also had teachers who were steering them away from writing. She does think that “language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child” (Mother Tongue, 714). An experience that I have had with language happened not long after I came to Seattle. One day I met a girl who was also waiting for the same instructor whom I intended to meet outside her office. We chatted for a while, and then I asked her where she came from. She said a place, somewhere near Seattle. I nodded and replied, “I could tell it from your accent.” She seemed a little surprised and said, “Accent? I do not have an accent. I come from a place where there is no accent.” I explained that I could tell she was a native by her American accent. She understood and replied jokingly, “Be careful not to tell people who are from the same place as me that they have an accent next time.” I was also surprised by her words because it was obvious that she did not take accent as an honorable thing. She was even embarrassed when she was said to have an accent. At that time I realized that not all people consider an accent as an honor. c This experience reminded me of one thing happened when I was in Shenzhen, which is the first city in China to perform Reform and Opening policy, and one of richest cities.
Due to its special location, near Hong Kong, people in Shenzhen think highly of themselves and emulate people in Hong Kong. Last time when I was on a bus back to hotel, I could not understand what the ticket seller said in Cantonese, so I asked her to call out the stops in Mandarin. She cast a glance at me and spoke Mandarin very reluctantly. The same situation happened again when I had dinner in a local restaurant, where waiters and waitresses spoke Cantonese. They did not take me seriously after they distinguished that I was not a native, just like what Tan’s mother experienced. This is my first time to feel that my accent embarrassed me. I realized that accents could incur
prejudice. Studies have shown that perception of the accent, not the accent by itself, often results in negative evaluations of speakers, which we call accent discrimination. Accent discrimination is similar to racial discrimination, and the only difference is that they have different causes. The former is caused by accent, and the latter is caused by race. I could not understand why southern people despise northern people. My mom told me that it was because people in southern part are richer than people in northern part in general. However, I have a different understanding of accents. Accent is an identity that one belongs to a specific region. I always feel close to those who have a similar accent with me, which means we come from the same place. It represents an intimacy. Besides, accents, or dialects, which also represent the diversity and the beauty of languages, are in fact various languages limited to certain regions. They characterize the culture, the people, and customs of the regions. So I think accents should not be avoided. Instead, they should be maintained and respected.
Americans that her true abilities lay in math and science, but never in English. Then she expanded her first point to Asian Americans, most of whom are enrolled in engineering, wondering if they also had teachers who were steering them away from writing. She does think that “language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child” (Mother Tongue, 714). An experience that I have had with language happened not long after I came to Seattle. One day I met a girl who was also waiting for the same instructor whom I intended to meet outside her office. We chatted for a while, and then I asked her where she came from. She said a place, somewhere near Seattle. I nodded and replied, “I could tell it from your accent.” She seemed a little surprised and said, “Accent? I do not have an accent. I come from a place where there is no accent.” I explained that I could tell she was a native by her American accent. She understood and replied jokingly, “Be careful not to tell people who are from the same place as me that they have an accent next time.” I was also surprised by her words because it was obvious that she did not take accent as an honorable thing. She was even embarrassed when she was said to have an accent. At that time I realized that not all people consider an accent as an honor. c This experience reminded me of one thing happened when I was in Shenzhen, which is the first city in China to perform Reform and Opening policy, and one of richest cities.
Due to its special location, near Hong Kong, people in Shenzhen think highly of themselves and emulate people in Hong Kong. Last time when I was on a bus back to hotel, I could not understand what the ticket seller said in Cantonese, so I asked her to call out the stops in Mandarin. She cast a glance at me and spoke Mandarin very reluctantly. The same situation happened again when I had dinner in a local restaurant, where waiters and waitresses spoke Cantonese. They did not take me seriously after they distinguished that I was not a native, just like what Tan’s mother experienced. This is my first time to feel that my accent embarrassed me. I realized that accents could incur
prejudice. Studies have shown that perception of the accent, not the accent by itself, often results in negative evaluations of speakers, which we call accent discrimination. Accent discrimination is similar to racial discrimination, and the only difference is that they have different causes. The former is caused by accent, and the latter is caused by race. I could not understand why southern people despise northern people. My mom told me that it was because people in southern part are richer than people in northern part in general. However, I have a different understanding of accents. Accent is an identity that one belongs to a specific region. I always feel close to those who have a similar accent with me, which means we come from the same place. It represents an intimacy. Besides, accents, or dialects, which also represent the diversity and the beauty of languages, are in fact various languages limited to certain regions. They characterize the culture, the people, and customs of the regions. So I think accents should not be avoided. Instead, they should be maintained and respected.