In the essay, “Mother Tongue,” by Amy Tan she discusses the “different Englishes,”: Nonstandard and Standard English. Her view on the “different Englishes” is that she loves to use Nonstandard English because it is a family language as opposed to a standard, which she refers to as “burdensome.” According to Amy Tan, Nonstandard English is what you will use at home and create an “intimate” language, as opposed to Standard English that takes the special connection away such as Tan, uses when she writes and speaks. I do agree with Tan’s view of Nonstandard forms of English as it plays a role bringing uniqueness and creating a different way of viewing the world.
Tan is right in preferring Nonstandard English because it creates a family connection through uniqueness. She describes the connection as “intimate” creating an effect that generate a great connection and bond with family. When I was at school in teacher parent conference in every single, even to this day. I remember me and
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my dad always walking in and speaking our language which was Spanish and we just enjoyed ourselves because it wasn’t something you saw a lot. Everybody else was scared to show themselves because it was school and there was a standard people thought must have existed. Me and my dad bonded just laughing doing our conversations going from English to Spanish and then back. That moment my dad and I were us gave us a real connection: we were just us being us the way we were at home and that was what our language brought to us. It wasn’t formal it was us, it was unique and that’s what made us stand out and gave us pride in who we were and came from. The use of Nonstandard English also goes far to create a different way of viewing the world. Growing up with immigrant parents when my parents helped me in homework as a little kid I got frustrated because I could not understand how they were coming up with the answer such as in math, however, they kept trying and trying. The reason I was so confused was because they were explaining it in Spanish and when they said it in English it made no sense. Looking back at it now I see how they were trying, it wasn’t them explaining it great it was me not accepting the fact that there was another way of speaking. The way that Nonstandard English changes the world is that it helps you understand the world that there are many different things in the world to understand but they all come back to the same answer. My parents knew what to do and they tried to imprint it on me but it wasn’t until now were I see that their use of English was more to show me their thought process. They were straight to the point such as Tan’s mother in the essay. What this symbolizes is that English is a way to connect to people and that the different forms are everyone trying to understand each other so thus that creates an understanding of every individual. Nonstandard English brings a sense of character to a person and shows a lot from where that individual came from.
In society now it is not unusual to witness a person use Nonstandard English, especially in my neighborhood because we all have familiar backstories. If we lose trace of our roots such as in Richard Rodriguez’s essay, we lose all forms of “intimacy” with family, and that is something that should never be lost. Richard Rodriguez is a prime example of why we should have one, because it is something that separate a family from a seminar just as Amy Tan’s life. I do support Tan that in her view that all forms of English are essential as they play a huge role in connecting family and creating a different way of viewing the world. Amy Tan herself said that her mother’s language helped inspire her to become the writer and speaker she is today, so we need to appreciate our family language, our nonstandard form of English, otherwise we can end up as miserable and disconnected as
Rodriguez.
Tan’s essay on Mother Tongue depicts a story of a daughter who grew up learning different type of “Englishes” (510). The latter described as the kind of English wherein on may regard as “simple”, yet she fondly refers to as her “Mother’s English”. In addition is the “broken English” or Tan’s mother’s communication style with her. Lastly is Tan’s own translation of her mother’s English that she described as “watered down.” An impression that is distinctly different from Tan’s loving description of her Mother’s English, Rodriguez connotes feelings of detachment. Rodriguez’s childhood consist of traditional catholic educators who expected a non-native speaker communicate in English. As a result, the young Rodriguez socially withdrew which prompt the nun teachers to approach the parents regarding the language issue. Since then, life has changed for Rodriguez, thus the beginning of what seem to be a detachment from his own family. Unlike Tan’s warm story of her Mother’s broken English, Rodriguez’s childhood experience connotes feelings of
In “Se Habla Español,” the author, Tanya, talks about her personal experience with dealing with language issues. Tanya was born in Guatemala and moved to the U.S when she was only three years old. Tanya’s mother did not want her to speak Spanish, because they believed that when they moved to the U.S speaking only English would help her blend in. For so long Tanya believed that speaking Spanish went hand in hand with being poor and speaking only English made her feel superior. After many years she has tried to learn Spanish but has found it quite difficult because although that is her native language it was like trying to learning a whole new language for her. In “Mother Tongue,” Amy’s explains how she has come to the realization that she speaks more than one “English,” meaning that the way she speaks in front of a crowd is different than the way she speaks with her mother. The way Amy speaks with her mother is still English although it is not proper. Amy expresses how she does not really like the phrase “broken English,” because if something is broken it needs to be fixed and she does not feel that her mother’s English needs to be
The essay starts off by talking about a common belief shared by many parents now about how students miss out on “a great deal by not being taught their family’s language”(Rodriguez 525). But the author states that this isn’t always true especially considering the children who are socially disadvantaged in any way, they more than likely consider their native tongue or the language used at home to be just that a private language that should only be used around or with the family, he also highlights how odd it was that his childhood classmates
Language is an important part of who we are. It influences the way we think and behave on a great scale. However, sometimes it is forced upon us to go in different directions just so we can physically and mentally feel as if we belong to the society in which we live in. Just as we see in Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez’s “A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, both authors faced some challenges along the way by coping with two different languages, while still trying to achieve the social position which they desired.
The Essay written by Amy Tan titled 'Mother Tongue' concludes with her saying, 'I knew I had succeeded where I counted when my mother finished my book and gave her understandable verdict' (39). The essay focuses on the prejudices of Amy and her mother. All her life, Amy's mother has been looked down upon due to the fact that she did not speak proper English. Amy defends her mother's 'Broken' English by the fact that she is Chinese and that the 'Simple' English spoken in her family 'Has become a language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk' (36). Little did she know that she was actually speaking more than one type of English. Amy Tan was successful in providing resourceful information in every aspect. This gave the reader a full understanding of the disadvantages Amy and her mother had with reading and writing. The Essay 'Mother Tongue' truly represents Amy Tan's love and passion for her mother as well as her writing. Finally getting the respect of her critics and lucratively connecting with the reaction her mother had to her book, 'So easy to read' (39). Was writing a book the best way to bond with your own mother? Is it a struggle to always have the urge to fit in? Was it healthy for her to take care of family situations all her life because her mother is unable to speak clear English?
Some relatives have strong relationships. They stay together, having their own language which accompany them to grow up. Personal language expresses their life. Their language can be understood by each other but can not be understood by strangers. It can not be captured by language test; it also can not be understood easily by language research. It is like mother’s speaking, only being captured by sons and daughters, can not be understood by teachers, professors, and researchers, “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 thoughts.” (Amy Than 139) Author, never expressing her love and feeling by writing, uses personal language to show her affection to her mother, since personal language is more genial than normal communication language, and witness the growth of each
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...
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.
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).
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.
If you are not fluent in a language, you probably don 't give much thought to your ability to make your personality attractive, to be in touch with the people and be understood in your world, that doesn’t mean you are an underestimated person. Every person has something special to make them more unique, remarkable, and gorgeous between people. The opinions could lead towards success, or those opinions could be one that is losing, and have a negative impact on how people connect with you. In Amy Tan 's “Mother Tongue” she made this book for several reasons. She had started her life by learning language, and she always loved to spend her time to learn language, but this story focuses about Amy Tan 's mother with her terrible English,
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.
There are billions of people that speak different languages (or different Englishes), but they learn Standard English so they can communicate with more people. There are also many other languages that come close to the popularity of Standard English, so they should be just as valuable. Amy Tans mother learned Standard English so that she could communicate with the people around her: since most people she knew spoke Standard English. When my family came to the U.S we weren’t obligated to learn English but it was practical to learn it (but we still could talk to many people in the U.S without knowing English). The reason we learned it is the same reason Amy Tan and her mother learned it: in order to communicate with a wider audience. Most people learn Standard English to broaden the groups of people they can talk
When looking at dialects, it is also important to be aware of the differences between Nonstandard English and Standard English dialects. According to Ross Burdette in his article, Developing Language in the Classroom, “the language spoken in schools, media outlets and the government, tends to be what is referred to as ‘Standard English’”. This is what we have come to know as “proper” English. However, whil...
It is necessary to form standards based upon all varieties of English because the goal is clear, pragmatic communication and preservation of individual culture. Not all countries are exposed to the same degree of English speaking fluency which leads to multiple dialects of English. For example, in Japan there a there is not a high concentration of native speakers, or people who have learns English as a second language, making the variety of English spoken there much different than the English spoken in countries where English is more prevalent (Bolton, 2000). In other words, their command of English is further from native command. Due to this, the main focus of implementation will be teaching basic language skills necessary for clear, pragmatic communication across intercultural boundaries, taking into consideration the multiple versions of the English