According to the author, Leanne Hinton, who has written the article, “Bringing our Languages Home”, explains that speaking an endangered language at home is the core of language revitalization. She has visited clans conference of which Tlingit tribes is among the clans. The article addresses a specific family within the clan of Tlingit, Mischa Jackson, her husband and her ten month old daughter, Michaelyn. The two parents have the ambition to ensure that their daughter grows up knowing the indigenous language. Jackson says that she did not have enough time with her parents and even grandparents to learn the language. Her intention is to overturn that which she never experienced as she grew up and make it happen with her daughter. They speak
In the world today, there are more and more multicultural people who can speak different languages; and they need to choose different tongues to correspond to the immediate community they belong. Language makes people remember their own cultures and contribute to their own identity. In “Mother Tongue,” a short story written by Amy Tan; she strongly narrates the stories about her different experiences and life comprehensions based on varying types of English she speaks throughout life. Wandering on two different languages; Amy discovers the importance and power of language: “the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth” (Tan 38). As human beings, language is the tool that contains the mighty powers; it forcefully affects people’s lives, personality, and lifestyles. Moreover, language is the “bridge” of communication between people. However, for Amy, the views on mother’s language are changing from the sense of shame into pride; as she is feeling the effects that two different types of English are giving to her as well as their respective symbols in her mind.
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.
Demetria Martínez’s Mother Tongue is divided into five sections and an epilogue. The first three parts of the text present Mary/ María’s, the narrator, recollection of the time when she was nineteen and met José Luis, a refuge from El Salvador, for the first time. The forth and fifth parts, chronologically, go back to her tragic experience when she was seven years old and then her trip to El Salvador with her son, the fruit of her romance with José Luis, twenty years after she met José Luis. And finally the epilogue consists a letter from José Luis to Mary/ María after her trip to El Salvador. The essay traces the development of Mother Tongue’s principal protagonists, María/ Mary. With a close reading of the text, I argue how the forth
The mother fears that her daughter might not get the full effect in her language. So, she wants to wait to communicate in her daughter's language because she wants her to comprehend the love and intentions that she has for her. "‘You want me to be someone I'm not! I sobbed. "I'll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!"
Hark! A Vagrant, by Kate Beaton is a collection of her most famous cartoons. The topics of these cartoons range from American Presidents to parodies of Nancy Drew. They view history through a modern lens that bluntly puts important historical events in the author’s perspective. The comics are no longer than fifteen panels, but no shorter than three. If they have similar topics, they are placed sequentially. They are read from left to right, then top to bottom by page (some comics continue over two pages).The titles of each comic are often puns that pertain to the overall message of the comic. All of them are in black and white, and often have grey backgrounds.
Many parents believe that it is better not to speak English. When this happens the students will not receive the practice that they really need. The student must know their parents’ language it is imperative to the student’s cultural identity and has to maintain a healthy relationship with their family. Parents’ have concerns about using their native language with their children include: learning another language is too difficult it will delay their language development; the child will not be able to master either language; they will not be as proficient as the students who know one language; confusing the two languages will happen; and they will communicate in English with an accent. The school should address these concerns before the school year begins.
In Jennifer Egan’s “Pure Language,” the characters of this chapter exemplify the tensions between those who see technology as beneficial and collaborative and those who see it as corruptive. This chapter surrounds Alex, the protagonist, who has a young daughter, Cara-Ann. Alex and his wife try to shield Cara-Ann from the use of mobile phones, but despite their best efforts she eventually becomes familiar with her father’s cellphone. While Rebecca sees this as corruptive, Alex is indifferent. To Alex, technology also has its benefits, which are shown through his successful mission to find promoters for a concert, with the help of a young, technologically savvy assistant, Lulu. Egan exacerbates the tensions between characters like Lulu and Alex with significant generational differences in this chapter to argue that early, prolonged exposure to mobile phones can be harmful and lead to arrogance.
The film “The Linguists” follows linguists Gregory Anderson and David Harrison on their journey to learn about and document endangered languages in Bolivia, India, Arizona, and Siberia. Through their quest, they are able to interact with some of the few remaining speakers of languages that are near death and they manage to make an impact on how these communities view their heritage language. Focusing on the moribund languages of Siberia and Arizona, it becomes evident that speakers of the heritage language feel a love for the language and the culture it represents, but went through periods of oppression and embarrassment for being speakers of a minority language that ultimately shaped their attitudes on the language.
In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” she speaks about the influence of her mother not speaking what is considered Standard English as she was growing up. Tan being a bilingual child, was often embarrassed of her mother was also bilingual but spoke “broken” English. In this essay Tan’s views explain that although her mother did not speak standard English, it was the points, thoughts, and ideas her mother was trying to get across that were really important. Tan, often being embarrassed about her mother’s English as a child, has now come to realize that just because her mother can’t speak perfect English that doesn’t make her an inadequate human being. She as well as people from department store to restaurants, thought that because her English was limited
For many immigrants, in America, language barrier is one of the many obstacles that they have to face. Ashima encountered this barrier when she was at the hospital for Gogol’s birth. “Patty smiles, a little too widely, and suddenly Ashima realizes her error, knows she should have said “fingers” and “toes.”” Ashima realized that she made a mistake. This hurts Ashima because she tried hard to learn English like many other immigrants. Immigrants not only have to worry about learning another language but they also have to worry about teaching their kids their native language. Usually, when people move and have kids in America, the kids have a hard time learning their parent’s native language. Ashima and Ashoke wanted to avoid this problem so they sent Gogol and Sonia to Bengali language and culture lessons every other Saturday because it failed “to unsettle them that their children sound just like Americans, expertly conversing in a language that still at times confounds them in accents they are accustomed not to trust.” This shows the language barrier between the parents and the kids. When Gogol and Sonia speak they sound American
her mother has a hard time communicating with other because of what she calls her
The article titled “Language Use in Family and in Society” written by Lee Thomas and Linh Cao, is about how language can affect a single family in a terrible way. Thomas teaches linguistics at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Cao is an English teacher at Sparks High School located in Sparks, Nevada. Cao has much background information on the topic because she herself is part of the family discussed in this essay. Their concern with a language barrier is that it leads to confusion and frustration within the family. They give examples of families becoming more distant due to miscommunication and their sense of loss. Imagine trying to speak with your mother and only understanding half of
I believe the reason why he does not want to hear his daughter’s words is because he feels that they are two separate languages. The languages should not combine to make one. The meanings of one language are not meant to be torn apart and mixed. The language should be held as importance to other and its culture.
The way we write today has evolved into something most people think is “killing” our language. Take for example the conversation I was having with my friend, Leah: so wyd Me: lol my aow wbu Leah: sucks to suck, I’m watching Gossip Girl lmao Me: ._. Leah: Ahhaha. As I was looking at what we were saying I noticed we aren’t really laughing at anything because nothing we’re saying is funny, as showed on Ted Talk Lol has evolved into something that people say to fill in the conversation. It has slowly gained no meaning in the “txting world”. So is texting killing the way we speak? No, it isn’t because I would never say “Lol” when I’m having a normal conversation with someone, I would also never shorten “because” into “bc” or “are into “r”. No one
Language plays an important role in communication by bringing people together and enriching their relationships. Language can also alienate those who do not speak it properly, or at all, from those who do. The essays, Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, best known for her book, The Joy Luck Club, and Se Habla Espanol, by Tanya Barrientos, delve into the many powers that language holds. These essays reflect how by not speaking a language in proper form and by not speaking a language at all, affects the lives of the subjects of the stories.