In the story “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan tells the story of her mother and how her use of English within the family affected her early in life. She describes how that limited use of English had the potential to affect Tan’s choice of careers and her influence on literature. She begins by describing how she assumed the role of translator for her Asian born mother‚ who spoke with “broken English.” She describes situations where she assumed the role of translator for her mother. She was thrown into adult
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major set back to progress and development. We are focusing on the wrong directions more than the correct ones and it is making things oddly difficult. In the stories‚ “Fences of Enclosure‚ Windows of Possibility” by Naomi Klein and “Speaking in Tongues” by Zadie Smith both show the difference of how paths can lead to alternate decisions. Naomi Klein’s story believes that the direction is all wrong and major corporations are blocking and maintaining the freedom of
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Please‚ I beg you: drop whatever you’re doing and read “Speaking In Tongues‚” Zadie Smith’s brilliant meditation on Barack Obama. The only thing that could make this wonderful essay better would be for it to be available as a podcast‚ too. That way‚ one could have the pleasure of enjoying it in both of the author’s beautiful voices‚ the speaking as well as the writing one. Many-voicedness is the theme of Smith’s piece‚ which is adapted from a lecture she delivered in December at the New York Public
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Mother tongue by Army Tan employs the aspects of simplicity to appeal to the audience. In her introduction‚ she brings herself to the same level as his audience which makes them attentive and desires to know more. The author uses easily understood English which makes the readers easily relate to what she is saying. The author employs the aspect of the flashback where she tells her audiences about her experience speaking broken English and where this makes today‚ her viewers curious and to listen
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on Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” it is evident that language has an affect on our lives. Language defines the type of person I am generally and it has had an affect on my choices as well as my lifestyle. Depending on my friends‚ family‚ and others I talk to my choice on language tends to vary. My decisions in life‚ sometimes‚ are influenced by the language I use and my surroundings. Language has become my way of seeing life in a different perspective. In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” she discusses the way
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Better the foot slip than the tongue What is a “word”? It is just a combination of sounds and letters. But let’s see. When mother says to her little daughter: “You are my sweetie” or “You are my charming princess” a little curious creature smiles and snuggles to the most tender person in her small and colourful world. But what about: “You are a very naughty girl. How could you tear your new dress!” crying her mother angrily. These word combinations cause an effect of blazing splashes of champagne
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In the article Tan shares how growing up with a mother who speaks very little English has shaped her life. Tan explains how she uses different Englishes when talking with different people. She makes her argument for the power of different Englishes by showing examples from her life and how the different ways the people close to her spoke influenced her life. Tan’s position is that she loves language and how it is used to impact people’s lives or change the way they think. Tan was determined to become
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Amy Tan’s excerpt Mother Tongue focuses on her use of different Englishes when she was surrounded by different people. When surrounded by strangers‚ Tan spoke fluently in grammatically sophisticated English. However‚ Tan referred to the English she used with her mother as being a broken down‚ limited version of the English language. Despite this description‚ Tan didn’t entirely agree with what these chosen adjectives suggested about her mother’s English & intelligence. Tan’s description of the different
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Lengualistic algo Speaking in Tongues: Its can be describe as a TED talk regarding the Spanish language and culture that can not be replace to the American language. The power of the Spanish language‚ that runs through our bodies with no exceptions. She sounds like a “Chola” from East L.A‚ by simple describing details of her “barrio”. Important quota‚ “cada palabra esta viva‚ y respira”‚ meaning every word live and breath in us. Idle? Know More: The young generation just knows what Twitter or Facebook
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Gloria Anzaldua‚ who was an activist and writer that grew up in Texas and endured several forms of oppression‚ covers several topics in her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” including her feelings on the social and cultural difficulties that Mexican immigrants face when being raised in the United States. Among one of the things Anzaldua describes Mexican immigrants must endure is the judgment from other Mexicans for
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