Amy Tan, first, describes different Englishes she speaks under two scenarios. She talks with standard-form English in her speech to a large number of people, but uses language like her mom unconsciously during family conversations. The author thinks that her mom’s “broken” English limits both their daily life and her own potentials. During her childhood, Tan has to help or represent mom to communicate with
English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize her belief that there are more than one proper way (proper English) to communicate with each other. Tan hopes her audience to understand that the power of language- “the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth”- purposes to connect societies, cultures, and individuals, rather than to rank our intelligence.
Tan becomes more conscious of her language use in this essay. At work, she uses sophisticated English. At home, she speaks choppy English, so her mother, who has broken English, can understand her. Even though Tan possesses an extensive English vocabulary, she acknowledges her mother’s English skills. She shows this by telling her mother, “not waste money that way” when shopping for furniture. Tan is conscious of not only her own English skills, but also her mother’s English skills. This broken English shows that she acknowledges cultural diversity since she is also raising awareness that most immigrants struggle with knowing decent English in the process. According to Tan, language “suddenly seemed to me, with nominalized forms, past perfect tenses, conditional phrases, all the forms of standard English that I had learned in school and through books, the forms of English I did not use at home with my mother” (Tan, “Mother Tongue”). This English is the only English where she can successfully communicate with her mother. She could not speak this type of English with her husband or colleagues. As seen with Tan’s mother, is okay to live in the United States without extensive English knowledge. Tan did not force her mother to match her own English. Rather than doing so, Tan was willing to communicate with her mother by speaking in choppy English. Tan concludes that language is a tool that changes depending
Amy Tan is an author who was born in 1952 in Oakland, California. Her parents, who emigrated from China, encouraged her to study in a math or science career but she soon had an interest in English instead. From attending San Jose State University, she got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She wrote a story called “Mother’s Tongue” which describes the different ways of English forms there is to pursue. Her thesis is a discussion of language and how it can affect her profession in the long run. Her purpose for this story is to show that everyone has their own dialect around certain people. Tan mentions how she learned English and how it changed her. There is a relation between Tan’s writing that has me questioning things because of how I
The audience Tan is reaching are people who are very ignorant to the fact that others who speak broken English, regardless of race, know that they are taken advantage of and are not given the respect that a fluent English speaking person would get. The essay is also aimed toward people who can relate to the ?language of intimacy? (36), which is a different sort of English ...
Despite growing up amidst a language deemed as “broken” and “fractured”, Amy Tan’s love for language allowed her to embrace the variations of English that surrounded her. In her short essay “Mother Tongue”, Tan discusses the internal conflict she had with the English learned from her mother to that of the English in her education. Sharing her experiences as an adolescent posing to be her mother for respect, Tan develops a frustration at the difficulty of not being taken seriously due to one’s inability to speak the way society expects. Disallowing others to prove their misconceptions of her, Tan exerted herself in excelling at English throughout school. She felt a need to rebel against the proverbial view that writing is not a strong suit of someone who grew up learning English in an immigrant family. Attempting to prove her mastery of the English language, Tan discovered her writing did not show who she truly was. She was an Asian-American, not just Asian, not just American, but that she belonged in both demographics. Disregarding the idea that her mother’s English could be something of a social deficit, a learning limitation, Tan expanded and cultivated her writing style to incorporate both the language she learned in school, as well as the variation of it spoken by her mother. Tan learned that in order to satisfy herself, she needed to acknowledge both of her “Englishes” (Tan 128).
Both the brains and the hearts of the audience have been convinced. She also used many rhetorical strategies, like emotional appeal to convey her rough childhood to the reader. She gave numerous examples of being discriminated, and stereotyped because of their race. Tan’s audience reaches out to family members who speak broken English. Amy Tan also comprehends that although people may not be able to speak perfect English, they can comprehend what others are saying, and that you shouldn't discriminate others because of their race. A persons understanding of someone who speaks “broken-English” could be very limited, but the wisdom of the “broken English” speaker is
Her use of personal diction expresses the tone uniquely through her opinions and feelings. Amy Tan shows that this article is personal to her due to the anecdotes throughout her paper. One story Tan shared was “when I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone and pretend I was she.” At the age of fifteen she “was forced to ask for information or even complain and yell at people…” She felt “red-faced and quiet.” Amy Tan expressed her feelings to show that the topic she was writing about is personal; she showed her embarrassment and let the reader into a vulnerable part of her past. The stories Tan shared, adds to the tone of the article being personal, where readers could connect and get a feel for her situation. She states that, “I think my mother’s English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life … language spoken in family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child” and that is the reason she tells her stories. Along with telling her personal stories she adds in her own opinion on the topic, making the paper about what she thought could have happened or what she originally thought. Tan never knows how to explain her mother’s sp...
In the work of Amy Tan’s “Mother’s Tongue” she provides a look into how she adapted her language to assimilate into American culture. She made changes to her language because her mother heavily relied on her for translation. She was the voice of her mother, relaying information in standard English to those who were unable to understand her mother’s broken english. She tells about her mother’s broken english and its impact on her communication to those outside their culture. Her mothers broken english limited others’ perception of her intelligence, and even her own perception of her mother was scewed: Tan said, “I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mothers ‘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.” (419) The use of standard english was a critical component to Tan’s assimilation into American culture. Standard English was an element she acquired to help her mother but more importantly is was an element that helped in her gain success as a writer. Tan changed her ‘Englishes’ (family talk) to include standard English that she had learnt in school and through books, the forms of English that she did not use at home with her mother. (417-418) Tan realized the ch...
Although authors tend to cover different subjects and arguments many use the same strategies to do so. Literary strategies are constantly found in all forms of writing as they aid authors in presenting their argument to an audience.“How to Tame A Wild Tongue” is an essay by Gloria Anzaldua thats discusses difficulties that accompany Chicano Spanish. “Mother Tongue” is an essay by Amy Tan in which she discusses how her mother's Chinese language and “broken” English, and how her mother's language has affected her own. In their essays, both Anzaldua and Tan analyze language and their personal experience in relation to the subject. Both these pieces present different arguments about language while using similar strategies to do so. Although their subject is language and the arguments present differ, the point of view in which they present their arguments and literary strategies used to do so are the same.
Tan talks about how she uses broken English around her mother and other close family, saying that even though it’s broken they can understand each other perfectly. She bases her writing style off of this saying she pictures a reader to write for and uses her mother for that inspiration so the books are easier to read. Tan had said her mother’s broken English had probably hindered her in school because she thinks “that the language in the family, plays a large role in shaping the language for a child”(421).Tan’s teachers had pushed her more to the mathematic and science side of school and because she was rebellious
In the essay “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan, the author, gives a different, a more upbeat outlook on the various forms of English that immigrants speak as they adapt to the American culture. Using simple language to develop her argument, she casually communicates to the audience rather than informing which helps the audience understand what is being presented at ease. Her mother plays an important role in her outlook of language, because she helps her realize that language not only allows one to be a part of a culture but create one’s identity in society. Amy Tan shares her real life stories about cultural racism and the struggle to survive in America as an immigrant without showing any emotions, which is a wonderful epiphany for the audience in realizing
The purpose of Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue,” is to show how challenging it can be if an individual is raised by a parent who speaks “limited English” (36) as Tan’s mother does, partially because it can result in people being judged poorly by others. As Tan’s primary care giver, her mother was a significant part of her childhood, and she has a strong influence over Tan’s writing style. Being raised by her mother taught her that one’s perception of the world is heavily based upon the language spoken at home. Alternately, people’s perceptions of one another are based largely on the language used.
Tan uses different English language words when it comes to the academics. The discussion consisted of her writings, her life, and her book. For instance, Tan held a group discussion in regards to her new book and her mother was present during the discussion. Then she realizes her mother is listening to what is being said in the discussion. She begins to reflect on the English that is used when she talks to her mom. Her mother’s native language was chinese but understood little English. So the discussion lost her mom 's attention because she could not understand anything that was being said because the lack of use of English. When talking to her mom she said unto her mother when some new furniture caught their attention “Not waste money that way” …(634). Amy Tan 's husband himself doesn’t see a difference in the english that is spoken to tan 's mother. In fact, he understands the way Tan and her mother communicates so it actually became the way he speaks to his
(Tan 2002:3) As long as these examples of speech appear to be grammatically and stylistically correct, they seem to be irrelevant to the topic the article covers – a broken language. Hence, the first impression is deceptive and in this case these peculiar examples are used to illustrate how does the refined language of the author who is basically one of the characters in the story contrast with the language of her mother the reader will be exposed to further. The author is evaluating by evidence type of dialog, providing personal feedback, and justifying the word