Othering In Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

We are born into a very diverse world. There are so many different cultures and ethnicities that surround us. Almost everywhere you go, you can find someone or something new. This gives us the opportunity to learn, grow, and expand our knowledge; On the other end, it also allows space for prejudice, judgement, and othering. Othering is used to describe how those in a majority view and treat those of different races, cultures, and ethnicities. The way I would describe othering is referring to people as ‘they’ or ‘them’ meaning outside, rather than ‘we’ or ‘us’ which is more inclusive and says a group as a whole. This could also mean that othering is similar to discrimination or racism. There has been a lot that has changed about othering,
Language is something that has a huge effect on the way people view others. The term “broken english” is used to describe someone who doesn’t have good english. If they have heavy accents, or don’t say things as a native english speaker would, we are quick to judge. In Amy Tan’s article “Mother Tongue”, she talks about how the term “broken english” isn’t a fair term. In the discussion on week 4, Lilia Reynaga said the following about broken english, “I don't like the term broken English I know people use it often when they mention someone's English that has a strong accent or is barely learning English I do feel that term is unfair to use and limits a person, I always think of it this way how great would our speaking ability be if we learned their language, I am sure we would have strong accents. I feel that anyone who knows a second language is already more advanced and not limited.” I particularly like the last sentence that puts othering as a good thing. It’s showing respect and understanding towards others, rather than saying they’re at fault for not speaking correctly. Language is the primary way that we communicate, so when someone speaks a different language than us, we become quick to judge or quick to categorize that person as “other”. It is not right for us to judge people so quickly. In many other languages, they have very different sentence structures and way that they write and speak. Imagine going to another country that doesn't speak english, and they were quick to judge you and they were very unaccepting of you. That is how many people in America feel, who don’t speak english as their native language, when people don’t give them the chance to communicate or understand them. Language is something that can define a person, and when you insult their language, it is insulting them. In How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Anzaldua, she says: "If you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. I am