Amy Tan Mother Tongue Summary

Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” connects to many of us whose English is their second language specially if one’s coming from a different country than the USA. Amy Tan connects to us in such a personal level in which one starts to relate to her. Coming from a background in where language plays an important role in my life, I indeed started to relate to her in every way. Like Amy Tan, language defines the type of person we are and how it affects our lifestyle on our everyday lives. Although we come to this country and learn an English that is not perfect or “Imperfect English”, doesn’t make one less intelligent nor different from others.

I really enjoyed reading both essays, because they had a story to it I was able to paint a picture of what both authors wrote and I was also able to relate because English is not my or my families first language and I understand Amy Tan situation in mothers tongue because I have been in the same situation when I had to pretend to be one of my parents because I some people would take them seriously because of the way they spoke English. And for superman and me again I was able to relate because I was able to understand certain things in school when I first came to Haiti so I would answer a few question but the students that were from America didn’t like that I was answering the question, I feel like they expected to dumb, lost and keep quiet

Mother Tongue is a story that describes how Amy Tan’s mother was treated unfairly because of her “broken English”. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Tan faces more problems than her peers do. Her mom, who speaks “limited” English, needs Tan to be her “translator” in order to communicate with the native English speakers. Tan has felt ashamed of her mother “broken” language at first. She then contemplates her background affected her life and her study. However, she changes her thought at the end since she realizes things behind language might be more valuable than language itself sometimes. Through the various different literary devices and rhetorical strategies such as the ethos, pathos, and logos appeals, as well as a

“ When I was growing up my mother limited english limited my perception of her, I was ashamed of her english I believed that her english reflected the quality of what she had to say” ( Tan 8 ). In the article “ Mother Tongue” Amy Tan convey’s her central message by using pathos, Logos, And ethos to show how her mother was treated, and how it affected her growing up

Not all people whose English as a second language speak it in the same way. This argument made by Amy Tan in her story, “Mother Tongue”. In this essay, she successfully uses all three of Aristotle’s rhetorical styles such as ethos, logos, and pathos. Tan also notably balances each part of the rhetorical triangle and ultimately led to creating a very effective and thought provoking essay.

In the essay, “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, she narrates to her audience, people who are, or know someone ashamed of their English, that the English they, or anyone else speaks is still English and isn’t “broken.” Tan also explains, that your vocabulary doesn’t determine your intellect and you shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Also, she describes how language can create a barrier in communication, but you shouldn’t treat people poorly just by the way their English sounds. Furthermore, Tan puts an emphasis on how you shouldn’t put labels on your language since everyone’s language is perfect.

In “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan describes how her mother’s English impacted her views of the world as she was growing up, which made her experiences more valuable. With Chinese parents growing up in America, Tan noticed some issues her mother came upon with the English language, such as how society assumes that language and intelligence are equivalent of one another. Describing her mother’s English, she explains the struggles of others compared to herself as “Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese. But to me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It’s my mother tongue...vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery...that helped the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the

Re-reading Amy Tan's, "Mother Tongue", my conclusion has stayed the same. Amy Tan's goal(s) for me has stayed the same too. The article clearly shows their language differences from Amy's descriptions. Mother Tongue language barrier claims the struggles of being an immigrant having English as a second language. I assume that the author's goal could be to exploit other's prejudices (or some people might say "racism") in the US.

I enjoyed reading “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan. Tan states, “I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes”. This quote resonated with me because my grandma’s English is different from my English. My grandma came from Mexico and learned how to speak English. However, English was my native language. As a result, our English sounds different when we speak it. Just like Tan and her mother, when I speak English to my grandma it is more of a “broken English”. In other words, my English is not the same as if I were to be speaking to a professor. I tend to speak this way to my grandma because it is how we connect with one another. Tan also states, “that the language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families… plays a large role.” Reading

In her article “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan maintains that the inability to speak the “correct” English does not reflect intelligence; however most people believe it does. Tan’s mother experience shows how society treats a non-fluent English speaker. Tan, a daughter of a Chinese immigrant family who fled China’s Cultural Revolution, used to go with her mother to stores and banks; Tan admits. “ I was ashamed of her English” (78); people ignored Tan’s mother because “the way she expressed her thoughts were imperfect” because of her “limited” English (78). As a consequence, Tan “tried to distance herself from her ethnicity” (76). How can a person think of such a thing? Simple answer: because if you don't speak English, you are not intelligent; this

Amy Tan had an intimate relationship with her home language. It was a language that was close to her family. In the article, Mother Tongue, she states, “It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with.” Her relationship with the home language is emblematic with a family oriented recipe that is best made by someone’s mother. For instance, in my family, my mother makes a type of Bengali sweet that is unsurpassed by anyone or any restaurants. My mother’s recipe, which no one can ever replicate, has a different taste. Similarly, Amy found the love and closeness of her family through the usage of her home language.

Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” interested me; in being the first time I analyzed my communication forms. I communicate differently when I speak since I’m introverted, however when writing I’m solo and have the time to reflect, furthmore expressing my thoughts. In retrospect growing up, I conclude I was the one who “listened”, whereas my father “talked”. Recently my fiancé complained about how difficult it for her to figure me out, as I didn’t explain in more depth during conversation. I’m cognizant my ways of communicating verbally aren’t my strongest suit, therefore I responded by saying I find communication to be overrated. From the reading, I suppose I talk a bit fractured, leave out pertinent information to others primarily those who aren’t

“I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with,” says Amy Tan in her essay “Mother Tongue” (268). Amy is referring to the fact that she varies her type of language based on who her audience is. Once Amy Tan realized this, she began to write things with her different types of English, instead of just using one kind of English for writing books. Amy Tan’s personal life examples of different Englishes shows the idea that everyone has several different types of English of their own. Everyone tends to slant their language to appease different audiences.

I wrote my essay based upon the article, The Mother Tongue by Amy Tan (Tan, Amy, Opposite of Fate, by Amy Tan Copyright 2003 by Amy Tan.)

Dialect versus Intelligence Amy Tan, the creator of this language and communication piece, “Mother Tongue,” is a published writer and English scholar. This piece was published in 1989 and appeared in The Threepenny Review. It is aimed toward the general public and is based around the idea that English is still English even if it sounds broken. Amy Tan, a Chinese woman who throughout her youth lived with her mother, is speaking at an assembly of her peers. After this assembly, she is informed of the changes in her dialect that were present during her speech when her mother arrived.