Power Of Language In Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

In the essay, “Mother Tongue” author Amy Tan, discusses the “power of language – the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.” Tan began to explain that when she was speaking to a large group about her book, “The Joy Luck Club,” she suddenly realized the different “Englishes” she uses. As she proceeds, she mentions the time when she was walking down the street with her mother and husband discussing prices of new and old furniture, where she became aware once again of the switch in her English. She tells the reader that when she switches her Englishes to speak to her loved ones, their kind of English becomes their language of intimacy that relates to family talk and the language she grew up with. Tan later