The essay “Mother Tongue” describes a writer who grew up with a mother of Asian origin and the limitations created by her mother’s speech. The author, Amy Tan, defines her mother’s English as “broken” and that it created communication barriers. For example, when Tan’s mother would need to call her boss about work, she would rely on her daughter to make the phone call and use proper english. When Tan decided to go into English in college, it seemed foolish since she was more skilled in math and science. The author also mentions how not everyone’s speech is the same, but that is not a bad thing. Tan decided to start writing fiction, and write a book in a way her mother would comprehend. Though the writing was harshly critiqued, Tan knew she…
Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” Tan grew up in a home with her Chinese mother who spoke English that she considered “broken”. It was difficult for others to understand what her mother was saying. Tan then realized that when she was with her mother that she spoke English differently than she did. She was trying to figure out how her background affected her life, such as her education; but she eventually learned to except her background. At the same time Tan wanted to become a writer and she found that by spending time with her mother who again spoke “broken” English. Even though she was told that writing was her worst skill by her boss, she was determined to make it work.…
Amy Tan’s story “Mother Tongue” starts by the affirmation that she is not a scholar of English or literature. She is just a writer and the person who understand the power of language. From Tan’s observations from her daily life, she realizes that there are different types of English that she uses. The first time Tan notices the difference is when she gives a speech on her book “The Joy Luck Club” using academic English, the one that she never uses to talk with her mother. The second time is when Tan talked using “fractured” English unconsciously with her mother when walking down the street. After that, Tan recalls her memories from her early age: the phone call for her mother to the stockbroker, the meeting with a doctor in the hospital for her mother’s CAT scan result to demonstrate her mother’s realization of “limited” English. Then Tan agrees with the idea that language spoken in…
In my journey of learning English, I found difficulties in every twist and turn. Learning every concept with a grain of salt, in the hope of composing a correct combination of word-by-word. The only thing I found familiarity with was math, where understanding was much more comfortable even with the language barrier. Learning English or even a new language, I found it challenging because it appears there was always more than one answer while also wary of following the correct grammatical format. For Amy Tan, the author of Mother Tongue, she too confronts with difficulties in understanding the English language.…
Human beings are similar to animals in their need to survive. Most would say we, humans are superior because we can strategize and think past our instincts. I would like to argue that we have just learned to adapt at a faster pace because of the technologies we have access to. As we grow we learn there are different ways of expression our opinion when we are at home, school, work, or even when we are with friends.…
"Mother Tongue" written by Amy Tan, the author reveals that there's bias in spoken and written language when communicating. The speaker herself says she uses different Englishes when speaking to her Chinese immigrant mother whose second language is under developed compared to hers. Ms. Tan alternates between different events that support a change in her own awareness involving forms of English, such as when speaking to a group about her herself, she notices herself saying, '"The intersection of memory upon imagination" and "There is an aspect of my fiction that relates to..."' while confessing that this is not her daily language when conversing with her mother or husband, that it’s a language of intimacy, which I believe is to be more vulnerable…
I enjoyed “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan and disliked “But what Do You Mean?” by Deborah Tannen. I enjoyed “The Meaning of the Word” because it felt casual while still telling an interesting experience. “But what Do You Mean?” felt very structured and had no story. When reading “Mother Tongue” was about Amy Tan defining the way in which she speaks to people in different situation and as certain roles.…
Language is developed to allow people to interact in communities and it allows oneself to create an identity. In “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, she writes about how her mother’s broken English, and about the extent that it affected her language. She writes this piece in a method that is easy to understand, and she simply expresses her personal opinion: That whenever someone doesn’t speak proper English they are susceptible to criticism and bad treatment. Amy Tan expresses how her mother is treated unfairly by people just because she cannot speak proper English. Throughout this reflection Amy mentions a troubled past, one that too this day the author is seen to struggle with. Many Americans…
In Amy Tans's short store "Mother Tongue", readers are introduced to Tan who is the…
I have read through two articles and I have my own thought about them. The two articles author, Amy Tan (Mother Tongue) and Gloria Anzaldua (How to Tame…) both discussed the topic about the language and life. They have many common points such as they all born in a bilingual family, and it brought a great change in their lives. The difference is two articles have different focus. “Mother Tongue” Focus more on the change what the bilingual family culture has brought to her, in other words, how this change her life. Amy Tan uses a neutral tongue in the article simply just to how the change take place. “How to Tame a Wild…
“So easy to read”(p.4). Amy Tan ends her essay, “Mother Tongue” with this short and even grammatically wrong sentence. She tells us this mother’s brief review is a proof of success of her writing. Why does she think that easiness is an essence of her writing? She suggests answers to this question by her essay.…
In the book, “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan asserts that language is a tool of communication.…
Recently, in my College Writing II class, I had the opportunity to read, “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan. I enjoyed reading the essay so much that I decided to write my own analysis. “Mother Tongue” is an essay based on the power of language and the will to communicate. However, the essay is not just about language itself, but also about the relationship between a mother, Mrs. Tan, and her daughter, Amy Tan, who moved to America for the possibility of getting a better life and living the American dream. Mrs. Tan encountered difficulties fitting in society because of her spoken “broken” English. “Mother Tongue” is also about changing but at the same time keeping your culture, heritage, and roots. In the essay, Amy talks about her experiences and feelings about the use of the English language. Without the use of Standard English, a person is known to be a foreigner and sometimes misjudged.…
In “Mother Tongue”, Tan mainly talks about her realization of the existence and effects of the “broken English” of her family. She takes her mother’s talk that is full of grammatical mistakes and conversation with the stockbroker as examples, which gives us an impression that her mother is not well educated. Yet the truth is, her mother grasps better in English than her speaking ability and can easily read high-level papers and documents. “Mother Tongue” reflects on the misleading illusion that language can represent one’s education level. Amy’s mother has intelligent thoughts and is just hard to express in understandable words when special situations occur.…
In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”, she narrates how her mother’s “broken” English affect her life and her career choices. She talked about the “kind of English” her and her family uses all the time. Tan mentioned her difficulties and struggles she had to deal with, when she was in school because her English wasn’t perfect. For her, learning English wasn’t easy. It wasn’t her strongest point. She was complimented with how well she does with Math and Science, but her English skill was never good enough. She even mentioned her experience dealing with people that are not taking her mother seriously because of her “limited” English. She would be on the phone, pretending to be her Mrs. Tan. Then, her mother would be in the background telling Amy what to say, and she would be the one talking using her skills in English, which is better English than her mother. People would apologize to Amy since they understand her point. But her mother never gets any of the apologizing part from people; since she doesn’t speak English fluently they never take her seriously. Tan then realized, instead of discouraging herself to better her English, she pursue English Major from being Pre-Med. She loves challenges. In this case, she succeeds. Amy Tan became a popular writer because of her unique style of writing. She uses her mother’s way of expressing thoughts, her “broken” or “limited” English.…