Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” Tan grew up in a home with her Chinese mother who spoke English that she considered “broken”. It was difficult for others to understand what her mother was saying. Tan then realized that when she was with her mother that she spoke English differently than she did. She was trying to figure out how her background affected her life, such as her education; but she eventually learned to except her background. At the same time Tan wanted to become a writer and she found that by spending time with her mother who again spoke “broken” English. Even though she was told that writing was her worst skill by her boss, she was determined to make it work.…
Amy Tan’s story “Mother Tongue” starts by the affirmation that she is not a scholar of English or literature. She is just a writer and the person who understand the power of language. From Tan’s observations from her daily life, she realizes that there are different types of English that she uses. The first time Tan notices the difference is when she gives a speech on her book “The Joy Luck Club” using academic English, the one that she never uses to talk with her mother. The second time is when Tan talked using “fractured” English unconsciously with her mother when walking down the street. After that, Tan recalls her memories from her early age: the phone call for her mother to the stockbroker, the meeting with a doctor in the hospital for her mother’s CAT scan result to demonstrate her mother’s realization of “limited” English. Then Tan agrees with the idea that language spoken in…
Amy Tan is a well known Chinese American writer who is famous for her major work, The Joy luck club. She usually writes about the mother and daughter relationship. The essay “Mother Tongue” was originally published in The Threepenny Review in 1990 and also included in The Best American Short Stories 1991, edited by Joyce Carol Oates. In this essay, Tan is likely to reach out to immigrant families that went through similar hardships on communication that she and her mother experienced.…
Mother Tongue, written by Amy Tan, is a short story about her family. Amy’s family is Asian Americans, whom came to America later in their lives, the reason why they do not speak English very well. In her short story, Mother tongue, She emphasizes the idea that we all speak different languages without being consciously aware, and that we are categorized by the way we speak. Amy Tan said that she begin to realize the unusual differences that goes on with language, at least her own, because of the Chinese her mother grew up speaking and the English her mother now uses as her "second language," Amy's uses this version of her mother's English, and uses her own perception that her mother's…
"Mother Tongue" written by Amy Tan, the author reveals that there's bias in spoken and written language when communicating. The speaker herself says she uses different Englishes when speaking to her Chinese immigrant mother whose second language is under developed compared to hers. Ms. Tan alternates between different events that support a change in her own awareness involving forms of English, such as when speaking to a group about her herself, she notices herself saying, '"The intersection of memory upon imagination" and "There is an aspect of my fiction that relates to..."' while confessing that this is not her daily language when conversing with her mother or husband, that it’s a language of intimacy, which I believe is to be more vulnerable…
Amy Tan, the author of “Mother Tongue,” gives the audience a new outlook and better understanding of the struggles that every immigrant who lives in United States had gone through every day. Amy Tan gives the audience the positive view on the “broken” English speakers by using herself and her mother as an example. Her mother did not get respect from the hospital and also the stockbroker due to her limited use of English. In contrast, Amy Tan was treated very well because of speaking proper English. This shows that there is discrimination between people who speak proper English and people who do not. Further, Amy Tan points out that although her mother speaking is not fluent, her comprehension is really good. The author argues that people should not judge the others (especially immigrants) based on their spoken language successfully because she uses most of rhetorical appeals pathos, ethos, and logos to show that language is not a credible indicator in measuring individual’s competency.…
In her story "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan describes her relationship with her mother, who speaks "broken" English. Essentially, Amy ending up changing her style of writing because of her mother, who changed Amy's perception of language. In the beginning of her life, Amy was always ashamed and embarrassed because of her mother; her mother, in speaking broken English, would often sound weird and not be understood by people in every day affairs. As an attempt to get away from this side of her heritage, Amy--once she becomes a writer--writes with great English and diction, and she uses a plethora of vocabulary. However, she soon realizes that she is being someone she is not; Amy eventually fully realizes her true relationship with her mother, and subsequently allows that newfound knowledge to affect her writing. Their relationship is one of wonderful love and comfort, one where they can speak broken English ("mother tongue") and have it mean something very special. Essentially, Amy Tan becomes authentic and true to her roots; inspired by her mother, she begins to right so that the 'common man' can understand…
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 and lastly the problems that arose for her because of the way her mother spoke English. Having English as a second language for Amy was difficult at times, but through her faults and triumphs she overcame and succeeded when no one thought she could.…
Mother Tongue is about the authors struggles with her linguistic identity, her mothers "fractured" or "broken" variation of english and the relationship with her mother. At the beginning of the piece we are told about the different types of english she would speak with her mother and with everyone else; we are then told how english wasn't Amy's strongest subject and later on we are told about the difficulties her mother experienced because of the way she spoke english and the prejudice she faced.…
Throughout this essay, Tan describes the different kinds of English she uses with her family, friends and colleagues to show us how there are more important things than the structure and word choice of our language. What really is important in our language is effectively communicating our ideas, conveying our feelings without explicitly stating them, and the rhythm of our thought process. Tan uses an example of her mother going to New York to yell at her stockbroker, after not receiving her check from cashing out her portfolio, to show us that even though her language skills were sub par, she could still very effectively communicate her feelings and ideas. All of these qualities of our language seem to get lost when someone speaks in a "fractured" language, even though their thoughts are as well structured as someone who was born speaking the language. This gives us, the readers, the task of deciphering exactly what message they are trying to convey, or the imagery and passion being used. Tan wants us to focus on the words behind the words, the meaning as it was meant to be understood, and the feeling or passion of the author. Although Tan uses many different kinds of English in her life, some may be called broken, fractured or simple, the messages being communicated all have equal value. This is why one message we can all understand and learn from as a result of reading "Mother Tongue" is that words have a deeper meaning that…
After reading “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, it was rigorous for Asian Americans learning the English language. The article discusses the different languages of English that Tan had learned and frequently used throughout her life. Then the difficulties that she had learning in school because English wasn’t her best subject. Additionally, were issues that follow along her, due to the way Amy’s mother spoke English. English as a second language for Tan was very difficult, but through her mistakes, she succeeded. When she became a writer, it got easier after she realized the variety of languages she had already spoke throughout her lifetime. She constantly used diverse languages with multiple people and had absolutely no idea she was. It became easier for Amy to differentiate and correct herself. Tan’s life was hard for her to become the aspiring writer she wanted to be. As an Asian American, to succeed in something that no one believed she could was foolish. And even though English wasn’t Amy’s first language, in the long run it changed her understanding of the English language. Tan’s purpose was to show us how language can separate, unite, or isolate those who don’t speak perfect English. Literacy should have no limitations on how people view other people.…
In the essay “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan describes the limited English skills of her mother, a Chinese immigrant, noting that “my mother had long realized the limitations of her English” **Tan citation here**. Tan goes on to describe how her mother had to compensate for these limitations throughout her life.…
There are thousands of languages in the world, such as Spanish, French, Chinese, English…However, No one can do better job in the second language than their mother language. In the article Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan emphasized her idea that we speak different languages unconsciously and we are categorized by the way we talk. The author talked about her mother who is a Chinese emigrant wanted to provide her daughter a better environment to grow up and spoke “broken” and “limited” English, but anyway, Amy can still communicate with her mother without obstacles. Throughout the story Amy Tan uses pathos and ethos to tell us that how hard to gap the Asian American culture and still is for Asian Americans to work through the difficulties of the English languages. As a Chinese people having English for the second language, Amy Tan was difficult at times, but still. She overcome all the barriers and succeeds when no one thought she could.…
Tan starts with speaking to a group that had her mom in it. This provided details of how she felt with the way all speak in different situations. Another situation was when she described her having a conversation with her mom on the phone. Her mom uses very broken English and I felt like I was standing there listening to both sides of the conversation. I made me remember times talking with my grandma and a couple of her saying. When Tan uses “tell him front of his boss, you cheating me” made me laugh because I connected that to my grandma’s favorite saying “stupidest thing I never saw.” Simple things that bring it to live and gives the reader a detailed picture of what she is relating to.…
Many people speak different languages, but every person speaks their language in two forms. As in the story "Mother tongue" by Amy Tan. The children start to use this strategy to make others feel comfortable, and not be judged by others. This language comes naturally to those who use it. There are some appropriate moments to use each English, and there are moments that are not so appropriate.…