Mother Tongue
Brittany Gardner
English 111
Fall 2009
The Effect of Language
Language is very important it is the most effective way of communication. Today it is very common to see language barriers between immigrants who have moved to America, and do not speak English. Even people from America who do speak English and move here to the south may have trouble understanding our dialect. What ever the case may be language is the strongest source of communication, and it can affect us privately and publicly.
In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”, she talks about her family’s language. Her family was from china. So Amy talks about her understanding of her mother’s English. She says “I again find myself conscious of the English I was using and the English I do use with her” (240). She wants to speak in the way that her mother can understand her, and feel comfortable. It is not that her mother does not understand, but that Amy just wants to use the language her mother knows. When I am around my family for a while (my great-grand-parents/ grand-parents) I find myself talking like them using all the slang in southern terms. All the word like un’es, ya’ll , ain’t. Amy Tan does this same thing around her mother. She gives us a example of these “We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I herd myself say “ not waste money that way” (240) . She uses a private language with her mother, just as I do with my older family members.
When people move here from another country or even from another part of America our language is different. Immigrants who move here, and do not speak English have a really hard time. People may thin k that they are not smart and that they should quickly learn our language. Some may think that they are not smart we may think little of them. Amy Tan even said “when I was growing up , my mother limited English limited my perception of her” (241) . This is they way I felt when I was younger because, my family always hired Spanish people to help on
English 111
Fall 2009
The Effect of Language
Language is very important it is the most effective way of communication. Today it is very common to see language barriers between immigrants who have moved to America, and do not speak English. Even people from America who do speak English and move here to the south may have trouble understanding our dialect. What ever the case may be language is the strongest source of communication, and it can affect us privately and publicly.
In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”, she talks about her family’s language. Her family was from china. So Amy talks about her understanding of her mother’s English. She says “I again find myself conscious of the English I was using and the English I do use with her” (240). She wants to speak in the way that her mother can understand her, and feel comfortable. It is not that her mother does not understand, but that Amy just wants to use the language her mother knows. When I am around my family for a while (my great-grand-parents/ grand-parents) I find myself talking like them using all the slang in southern terms. All the word like un’es, ya’ll , ain’t. Amy Tan does this same thing around her mother. She gives us a example of these “We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I herd myself say “ not waste money that way” (240) . She uses a private language with her mother, just as I do with my older family members.
When people move here from another country or even from another part of America our language is different. Immigrants who move here, and do not speak English have a really hard time. People may thin k that they are not smart and that they should quickly learn our language. Some may think that they are not smart we may think little of them. Amy Tan even said “when I was growing up , my mother limited English limited my perception of her” (241) . This is they way I felt when I was younger because, my family always hired Spanish people to help on