The Bonds of a Language

1058 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of culture, language and identity

The Bonds of a Language

Amy Tan is the author of several novels including The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife. She was born in the United States to parents who immigrated to California from China (Gruber 35). In her article entitled “Mother Tongue”, Tan focuses on the English shared between her mother and herself versus the English that she speaks with everyone else, and how it has affected her outlook on language. Through her examples, she presents to the audience the obstacles faced by her mother’s “limited” English. Tan demonstrates that no matter how much someone may change, the most important things lay back in their roots.

Tan directs this article in a certain way to allow for several people to relate. Even though she has the heritage of a Chinese culture, she did grow up in the United States, so she knows what catches people’s interest. She bases the entire article off of experiences that she has had with her own mother and the language barriers her mother has had to put up with. Someone who may not have experienced this first hand would probably not have as strong an argument. Tan also gears the article to a wide audience. Even if someone does not care about language or the struggles to be heard by people who can’t understand you, she throws in interesting stories that catch any reader for a small moment. A good audience for this article is people who deal with those who speak “broken” English, such as those in ESL programs.

Tan points out that even though her mother isn’t the best at speaking English, she still comprehends it. Many just assume that her mother’s intelligence is equivalent to her spoken English, which as Tan points out, isn’t true. That may also have been why Ta...

... middle of paper ...

...when you don’t know what they want or need, which Tan probably realizes.

In conclusion, Amy Tan allows the reader to see through her eyes and her mother’s eyes. Despite the obvious responsibility put on her shoulders from her mother’s English, Tan still feels a sense of intimacy in that “broken” language. It becomes more of a point that she’s showing the audience the importance of this bond between her mother and her rather than to make them feel sorry for her mother. If her mother spoke as well as Tan does now, then Tan most likely would have turned out different. She learned responsibility and it allowed her to feel passionate about helping other understand English enough to make it a career. It also was a good step in showing options for Asians outside of the engineering field. And lastly, Amy Tan’s mother appears to be very proud of her daughter.

Show More
Related

  • What Is The Theme Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    In her narrative Mother Tongue, Amy Tan speaks of how the English language has shaped her life, drawing from personal experiences in her early life, to her daily use of English in the present. Tan begins her narrative by identifying her own “mother tongue”, which is simply the broken English her mother uses and has been accustomed to. Tan says that due to her mother’s broken English some are unable to understand her, thereby limiting Tan’s mother to function properly in our English speaking society. Tan shows the reader how her feelings toward her mother tongue have changed throughout her life drawing out a personal experience from her adolescence.

    Read More

  • Amy Tan's View Of Language By Amy Tan

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tan makes an appeal to emotion with the connections she describes. A connection between a mother and daughter that is wrought with emotion is as relatable as humaneness is to a human. There is a soft declaration to be found in Tan’s statement, “I knew I had succeeded where it counted when my mother finished reading my book and gave me her verdict: “So easy to read.” Tan gains trust by appealing to emotion with something as understandable as the loving and more often than not tension riddled connection between a mother and her daughter. Tan incorporates the intimacy of the “broken” language in correlation to her husband with these words, “It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with” (Tan 1). Under the assumption that Louis DeMattei (Tan’s husband) has no prior history with the Chinese Language Tan makes an important point of the use of the “broken” language she learned from her mother. Demattei doesn’t inquire or correct Tan when she switches between the English she acquired from the vast expanses of English literature and the English she acquired from her mother. Tan says, “he even uses it with me,” there is an implied level of comfort within the relationship she has with her husband. Tan shares what is viewed as “broken” and in need of fixing with Demattei and he reciprocates, leaving them

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    I find the study of language and it 's impact on society an incredibly intriguing look into the human psyche. It is deeply touching when Tan speaks of how society 's perceptions impacted her relationship with her mother, and how it affected her own self-image. It reminded me of the many times I have seen someone is treated differently and considered to be less valuable, for not being able to communicate to the other party 's satisfaction. Her desire to try and change society 's perceptions fro the better is truly admirable and

    Read More

  • Amy Tan Mother Tongue Quotes

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the essay, Tan demonstrates: “Lately, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks.” “When I was growing up, my mother’s limited English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English.” “Fortunately, I later decided I should envision a reader for the stories I would write. And the reader I decided upon was my mother, because these were stories about mothers. So with this reader in mind, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English I spoke to my mother, the English she used with me, my translation of her Chinese, and what I imagined to be her translation of her Chinese. I wanted to capture what language ability tests can never reveal: her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech, and the nature of her thoughts.” So in this quote, it explains how she learned to accept her mother’s broken English and how they have benefited her. In this paragraph, we learned how Amy Tan conveys acceptance in her mother’s broken

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Mothers Tongue

    1123 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Mother Tongue by Amy Tan

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Amy Tan's 'Mother Tongue'

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    The problem started with her mother because she spoke broken English. She had a hard time during her life when she moved to the US because she couldn’t speak English well. The first reason was mixed the English with Chinese, and they used code. The family didn’t practice the language. On one day Amy Tan 's mother exposed to a lot of attitude and that’s bothering her because when she spoke to the native speaker some people understood 50% and the other did not understand her. Since she wants to order something they didn’t give her a nice service, or tried to ignore her, but Amy Tan always tried to fix the problem for her mother because she can speak the English clearly. Amy Tan 's mother felt depressing and Her daughter decided to make her mother glad, so she made a huge deal for her mother because she made her mother tried to speak English by explaining the English words to Chinese, and that’s made the English for her mother more easily just to be in touched with the American people. Even Amy Tan 's mother was struggling with English, but she plain in her life goal that’s mean nothing impossible to do it, and everything from learning could be possible. If anyone would something they

    Read More

  • Amy Tan's Mother Tongue

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amy Tan, in ?Mother Tongue,? Does an excellent job at fully explaining her self through many different ways. It?s not hard to see the compassion and love she has for her mother and for her work. I do feel that her mother could have improved the situation of parents and children switching rolls, but she did the best she could, especially given the circumstances she was under. All in all, Amy just really wanted to be respected by her critics and given the chance to prove who she is. Her time came, and she successfully accomplished her goals. The only person who really means something to her is her mother, and her mother?s reaction to her first finished work will always stay with her, ?so easy to read? (39).

    Read More

  • Mother Tongue by Amy Tan

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On Progeria

    1549 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome is one of the world’s rarest diseases. There have been less than a hundred reported cases worldwide. Although the cause of the disease has been detected, because of its rarity, there is still no known cure for the condition. The life expectancy of a child with Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome is 13 years. Many efforts have been made to help find a cure for this disease. The Progeria Research Fund is solely focused on raising funds towards the research for this fatal condition.

    Read More

  • Balancing First Amendment Rights in Schools

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    As known that completely being allowed to have your right to free speech and expression doesn't work in the classrooms, being limited and setting boundaries for what can be done should be addressed. “Exercising free speech” can see how people behave, but this doesn't mean “[…] everyone with opinions or beliefs […] may address a group any time” which is the problem the students can interpret, (Supreme Court of the United States 1). Arguments have been put against this saying how there should be no boundaries set to having your rights of free speech and expression. Being able to exercise free speech, as long as school functions or activities within the school aren't disruptive shouldn’t be a problem.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Amy Tan tries to spread a non-discriminatory message through her words; telling not judge people based on the way he/she speaks a language. Amy Tan also tries to impose her idea of language bringing people closer. The “broken” English that she invented, just like many immigrants, brought her closer to her mother, even though she was looked down upon in her community due to her ability to speak fluently. This is seen when she had to speak to a doctor when her mother was diagnosed with brain tumor and the doctor told her they had lost the CAT scans. The doctor at this moment was not cooperating with her mother due to her inability to speak English properly. When Amy finally talked to the doctor they were able to find the results and had to give her an apology. This along with many other examples in the essay show how Amy had to help her mother out to get her message across. Using pathos in her stories, Amy Tan is able to connect deeply with those who have encountered such people that speak “broken” English or have judged others in the past. This also makes the audience sympathize for

    Read More

  • The Power of Language in American Culture

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amy Tan is the author of the essay Mother Tongue. In this essay, she explains how the power of language has influenced her life through her mother and the experiences they have had together concerning her mother's English-speaking ability, or lack there of. She was born into a Chinese family where both Chinese and English were spoken. She is sensitive to and accepting of people's lingual differences. She talks about how the inability to speak English well in America gives others the wrong impression: "...everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker" (Tan 13). She is saying here that prolific English speakers place limitations on people who have limited English-speak...

    Read More

  • Amy Tan’s A Mother’s Tongue

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tan was born to a pair of Chinese immigrants. Her mother understood English extremely well, but the English she spoke was “broken.”(36) Many people not familiar with her way of speaking found it very difficult to understand her. As a result of this, Tan would have to pretend to be her mother, and she called people up to yell at them while her mother stood behind her and prompted her. This caused Tan to be ashamed of her mother throughout her youth, but as she grew, she realized that the language she shares with her mother is a “language of intimacy” (36) that she even uses when speaking with her husband.

    Read More

More about The Bonds of a Language

Open Document