Mother Tongue is a story about a mother-daughter relationship between the writer and her mother and the difficulties that they had to face as immigrants in a foreign country. The story also centers around the difficulties that her mother had with English and how she evolved her own dialect that later became part of their relationship. At the beginning of the story‚ Tan makes it clear that she was not much of an enthusiast of English making her claim that she was no expert on English. “I am not a
Premium English language Second language French language
After reading the strongly written “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan‚ it shows a great deal of strength from the Asian American culture. Throughout the reading it showed how hard it was and still is for Asian Americans to work through the difficulties of the English language. The essay talked first about the different languages of English that this young lady learned and used through her life. The second part was about the difficulties that she had through school because English wasn’t here strongest subject
Premium Second language French language United States
I believe Amy Tan’s purpose for "Mother Tongue" was to make others aware of the different forms of English Language that has been translated by different cultures‚ specifically the Chinese translation. I arrived at that decision because she clearly expresses personal emotions‚ opinions‚ life events‚ and observations. I don’t believe the author’s goal changed throughout this analytical process. I found one other key point while conducting active reading on my selected article. On page 21 the author
Premium
United States of America‚ is a melting pot and with us we bring our own identity such as: language‚ culture‚ religion‚ and traditions. Losing any of these traits could results in losing who you are‚ as we read in‚ “Speaking In Tongues” by Zadie Smith and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldùa. Smith and Anzaldùa both shared a similar problem. They were afraid that they may lose or already lost their voice/language. While Anzaldùa did everything to prevent that‚ “I had to “argue” with one
Premium
After reading Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”‚ I realized how many different “Englishes” I have spoken or used‚ as well as how many I have heard in my life-particularly while in the military. For example‚ how I speak with authority figures versus friends‚ and how I speak with my daughter as opposed to “educated” adults. Although the English I speak with friends and coworkers is often filled with slang and swear words‚ I would never speak like that in many other settings. One of those times is‚ when
Premium English language English people Dialect
and granted them "honorary wonder" status. [pic] The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II supposedly created the terraced gardens around 600 B.C. at his royal palace in the Mesopotamian desert. It is said the gardens were made to please the king’s wife‚ who missed the lush greenery of her homeland in the Medes‚ in what is now northern Iran. Archaeologists have yet to agree on the likely site of the hanging gardens‚ but findings in the region that could be its remains
Premium Great Pyramid of Giza Ancient Egypt Mesopotamia
go a day with our phone which for most of us is how we get the information so that we can live our lives. However‚ since we have access to so much information that it can be hard for us to choice what information is important to us. In Speaking Tongues by Zabie Smith‚ she talks about the power of using different voices when talking to different people and why people and what people gain from changing their voices. In Strange Creatures by Susan Blackmore she talks about the what it means to be human
Premium Mobile phone Sociology Communication
Archetype: The Garden The Garden is a mythological archetype that is well known as one of the famous four archetypes. The Garden is a representation of peace and sanctuary‚ because of its holy essence. This archetype has been portrayed for many years as a place of sanctuary and solitude for the fact that there was a place needed for people of all kinds to live in peace. The word paradise is also used most commonly to describe the setting of The Garden‚ it is most commonly known as a place where
Premium Fertile Crescent Garden of Eden
what you thought was the perfect life and it suddenly seemed to turn upside-down? Would you jump to your death or climb back up? “The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window” by Joy Harjo is a poem about a women who is lost in this big world we live in and trying to find herself while hanging from a thirteenth floor window. While this woman is hanging there she starts to have flashbacks about her life starting from her childhood up until now. The author goes into detail about why this woman
Premium Rhetoric Woman The Reader
A Mother’s Tongue is that words are more than just words‚ sometimes you have to look behind them and read in between to understand the true meaning. For example‚ her mother did not speak perfect English‚ but the points and ideas she was trying to get across are what really were important. Not all people who speak the English language speak it the same way. A language can be subdivided into any number of dialects which each vary in some way from the parent English language. Mother Tongue‚ is an article
Premium Second language English language Dialect