Amy Tan Mother Tongue Analysis
Transitional Phases
"Mother Tongue" written by Amy Tan shows the many differences between immigrant families and non-immigrant families. Amy Tan describes the difficulty of growing up in a Chinese home and the transitions that she had to overcome to "fit in" to an American society. Personally, the transition between living above the Mason-Dixon line and then moving below it, was similar to that of Tan's situation. Even though mine and Tan's experiences vary from cultural and ethnic backgrounds, we both had the difficulty of changing our linguistic roots. Amy Tan's experiences growing up were confusing and discriminate. She had the pressure of speaking fluent and understandable English to co-exist with her peers and American society. Her mother spoke Chinese, but also "broken" English, which is unclear, and mixing of the Chinese and English language. Tan often felt embarrassed of her mother, because often American society would not take Tan's mother serious. Many times Tan would have to talk on the phone and pretend that she was her mother, because that would be the only way they could get anything …show more content…
I was born in Flint, Michigan and spent my first 14 years learning the custom ways of living in the North. I learned that from September to April I needed to wear a coat and gloves, and when it had snowed 4ft that I still had to go to school. I learned that society was more fast paced, and when driving not to let anyone out in front of you. When I was 14 and a half, my family decided to move to Aiken, South Carolina because of a job opportunity for my father. The transition from North to South was overwhelming. I wondered how people can move from country to country and cope with the change. Starting school, many of my classmates thought I was stuck up, and that I had a very annoying accent. I often felt like an outcast, similar to what Amy Tan felt
"Mother Tongue" written by Amy Tan shows the many differences between immigrant families and non-immigrant families. Amy Tan describes the difficulty of growing up in a Chinese home and the transitions that she had to overcome to "fit in" to an American society. Personally, the transition between living above the Mason-Dixon line and then moving below it, was similar to that of Tan's situation. Even though mine and Tan's experiences vary from cultural and ethnic backgrounds, we both had the difficulty of changing our linguistic roots. Amy Tan's experiences growing up were confusing and discriminate. She had the pressure of speaking fluent and understandable English to co-exist with her peers and American society. Her mother spoke Chinese, but also "broken" English, which is unclear, and mixing of the Chinese and English language. Tan often felt embarrassed of her mother, because often American society would not take Tan's mother serious. Many times Tan would have to talk on the phone and pretend that she was her mother, because that would be the only way they could get anything …show more content…
I was born in Flint, Michigan and spent my first 14 years learning the custom ways of living in the North. I learned that from September to April I needed to wear a coat and gloves, and when it had snowed 4ft that I still had to go to school. I learned that society was more fast paced, and when driving not to let anyone out in front of you. When I was 14 and a half, my family decided to move to Aiken, South Carolina because of a job opportunity for my father. The transition from North to South was overwhelming. I wondered how people can move from country to country and cope with the change. Starting school, many of my classmates thought I was stuck up, and that I had a very annoying accent. I often felt like an outcast, similar to what Amy Tan felt