Aisha Ahmed
Ms. Nicole Wendt
Senior Composition
23 October 2017
Language is a way we communicate and way that the nation connect with one another. Nowadays, language has become one of the first problems that the society face everywhere in the nation. Amy Tan, a Majored English and Linguistics at San Jose State University state in her essay “Mother Tongue”. The experiences she went through as a second generation chinese immigrant and also the pain that her mother went through as immigrant being judged who she wasn’t. Knowing a perfect English or another language doesn’t mean that you are educated. Most of the people in America, especially the immigrant who cannot speak English language to perfection, doesn’t mean that they are not educated or they never went school in their life. Tan and I both came from different background and language is a big thing our families. Raising by immigrant parents who speaks English language poorly is a challenging thing I face, such as translating between languages and also being able to express yourself.
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My parent are both smart and intelligent individuals. As I remember, I was working as a translator for my parents when have doctor appointment or Government stuff . Amy Tan states, “ like others, I have described it to people as ‘broken’ or ‘fractured’ English” (Tan, 259). I have been present to every appointment with my parents and I wondered how other people think of my parents. Do they think that they are not educated? Being at the doctor’s appointments I was feeling embarrassed when I had to translate to my mom when the doctor told me something in English if not annoying. I feel that it is a duty that every child has to do in order help their parents in any way they can. If I imagine that I was the one instead of my parents, they would have helped me with no hesitation like the way I help
Smith compared the mastery of the English language among Hawaii’s non-haole children and Caucasian monoglots. The study’s result showed that non-haole children made more mistakes when
Its extremely common for uncivilized people to have less education, because in uncivilized places, grammar is the last thing on their mind and within the book a change can slowly be
Even when the speaker attempts to express their cultural identity in a language that is not their own, there can still be a disconnect in understanding. This reinforces the idea that language is a powerful tool for expressing cultural identity, but it can also create barriers when used to communicate across cultural divides. Overall, "Eyes" illustrates the importance of language in shaping cultural identity, and the complexities that arise when language is used to communicate across
In her writing, Tan often describes her experiences as the child of Chinese immigrants, growing up in northern California and living in American culture. Tan explains how she has learned to embrace the many Englishes her mother speaks and how her background has also caused her to have different Englishes. While others classify her mother's English as "broken" she finds no fault in it. In Tan's view, just because something is broken does not necessarily mean that it is in need of fixing. In her essay, author Amy Tan addresses the connections between languages and cultures in describing the different Englishes her mother uses.
The power of language We all have some form of language limitations, no matter where we come from and what our background is. “Mother tongue” by Amy Tan and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua both share similar themes in their stories that demonstrate how they both deal with how different forms of the same language are portrayed in society. In both stories they speak about what society declares the right way of speech and having to face prejudgment, the two authors share their personal experiences of how they’ve dealt with it.
In this article, Tan 's argue that her mother 's "Broken English" has caused unfairness, disinterest, and limitations throughout their life. Tan 's mother was discriminated a lot throughout her life, all because of her "Broken English". Growing up speaking "Broken English" has caused Tan 's mother to be treated unfairly. For example, in one body paragraph, Tan talks about her mother having her to call people on the phone pretending to be her.
Rhetorical Precis #4: “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan Amy Tan’s purpose in her article “Mother Tongue” is to show the influence of her mother’s style of english. She also relates this to a more broad topic of the idea that there are many different types of english that people speak that are tailored to whoever they are speaking to. She begins this piece by stating plainly that she is not an english scholar. Instead of decreasing her credibility it actually increases it and paints this piece as a more personal set of observations rather than a bland overview of the entire language.
In her essay "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan writes about the impact of her mother's limited English on her own writing and sense of self. She describes how envisioning her mother as a reader of her work encouraged her to write more authentically, because it forced her to consider the perspective of someone who was not a native English speaker. Tan writes that she began to see the value in using "simple, direct" language that would be accessible to her mother, rather than trying to impress readers and critics with flowery or complex prose. Tan appreciates the beauty of her mother's broken English and tries to preserve the unique qualities of her mom's speech like “her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her
But even when they didn’t learn English themselves, their children grew up speaking it. Thousands of first-generation Americans still strive to learn English, but others face reduced educational and career opportunities because they have not mastered this basic skill they need to get ahead. According to the 1990 census, 40 percent of the Hispanics born in the United States do not graduate from high school, and the Department of Education says that a lack of proficiency in English is an important factor in the drop-out rate. People and agencies that favor providing services only in foreign languages want to help people who do not speak English, but they may be doing these people a disservice by condemning them to a linguistic ghetto from which they cannot easily escape.
In Amy Tan‘s essay “Mother Tongue” (1999), she describes her life with her mother in America and how the broken speech of her mother has had an influence on her life. Amy Tan talks about the different “Englishes" she speaks to communicate with different people. Also, she tells us about her love for English and how she becomes a famous writer in America. In her essay she tries to shows us that language, culture, and education shapes us into who we are and the more you study English the more you learn and English will change your life a lot.
After reading Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, my perspective changed about the struggles for people who are not as good at English. All throughout this article Tan uses personal experience from her mom to show the readers the struggle while also using primary sources to back up her claim. All the evidence backs up her initial claim and as the reader your perspective changes after reading about how she personally was effected. The author 's main claim of Mother Tongue is to persuade people so respect people who struggle with English because she has serval personal connections, she has fact based proof, and she is an experienced writer on this topic and in general. All throughout the reading she uses many personal stories and personal experiences on how difficult it was for her mother to go through her everyday life.
Our identity is a place upon many attributes of a human being. Whether the person is someone who goes on promoting themselves to the world or not, and it shows how people communicate to others around them. Language is one of the main components that unveils the person’s identity in their everyday life, and they are many different ways to approach a person’s language. Relating to the article of Yiyun Li, “To Speak is to Blunder,” she knows two languages that has its positive and negative outcomes in her life. I to relate to her understanding of language, but a different view of what language means to me.
Language shifts In the personal narrative essay "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan she talks about how there is a variation of the English language all over the world. Tan explains about how her English is different from her mothers. Her mother’s English is described as "broken" or "fractured"(651). It was described as this because she does not understand all of the words and sometimes she misses words.
Summary of "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan In "Mother Tongue, Amy Tan writes about how her mother 's broken English affects her life. She begins this narrative essay by talking about the day she became aware of the different forms of English that she was using at home and during formal events. Amy says, "The talk was going along well enough, until I remembered one major difference that made the whole talk sound wrong. My mother was in the room. And it was perhaps the first time she had heard me give a lengthy speech, using the kind of English I have never used with her" (Tan 1).
My Experience As a kid, I never thought I would end up learning to speak English nor go to a foreign country for college. During my first semester of college, I read Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” which I found to be such a compelling essay. I am not much of an avid reader, but this specific essay had a bond that specified what my life has been for the previous seven years. In her essay she writes about her experience with English as a second language