Mother Touge By Amy Tan Analysis

The author, Amy Tan is a fictional writer who is “fascinated by language in daily life” and inscribes her love for language into her work. As the article, “Mother Touge” progressed into the beginning paragraphs, she realized the different types of “Englishes” she uses. She was giving a speech to an audience with her mother in the crowd about her new book when she realized the language she speaks to the audience is different from her conversation with her mom. Then, later in the book she was walking with her husband and mother and noticed one of her “Englishes”. This type of English, “No waste money that way”, was a personal language that she only used around her family. She did not speak this “limited” language in public or professional settings because of judgment and disrespect. She

learned this “broken English” from her mother, but this simple, broken language did not justify the intelligence of her mother. Even though her mother was categorized with limited ideas by people because of her broken language, the narrator was able to cipher when to speak “academic English” or “broken English”. In the story, intelligence is perceived as your ability to speak. When the author was young she use to have to call people and speak as she was her mom in order to attain people’s respect. At one part in the story, she had to yell at her mother’s stockbroker for not sending a check, and there was another scene where her mother went to acquire her CAT scan results but was ignored and disrespected. Tan had to call the hospital where she was treated with respect and told that they would resolve the issue.
As the story progressed, Tan realized that the broken language of her mom has shaped her life and future which also applies for most other immigrant families.

During school, Tan would be persuaded by her teachers to focus in math and sciences rather than English. She understood that English was a greater challenge because of the environment she was raised in as a child. Tan scored in the lower percentile in English sections while scoring in the ninetieth percentile in math and science, but she was not discouraged and went against all advice from teachers. Tam changed her major from pre-med to English and decided to become a freelance writer. As time grew, Tan started writing fictional stories influenced by her mother. She wrote her stories for people like her with “broken” or “limited” English.
This short story does not directly apply to my life because I was born in the United States with American parents, but as a student at a university I can see the affects in other student’s lives. Most foreign students are treated different, and I can admit to treating these students different. Also, African Americans are usually associated with slang or thug talk which is not always the

case.
Even though I am white I still talk different to my family and close friends compared to talking to teachers or strangers, but this is more of a relaxed, personal language rather than “broken” English. As I talk to teachers, adults, or strangers, I use respect and talk in an adult manner. I could consider my relaxed language a “broken” English, but language is relative and all based on opinion.
African Americans are usually categorized into thuggish, uneducated people who speak “slang” or “ghetto” English, but blacks can do the same as Amy Tan from the short story and decide when to speak “academic” English or “slang”. Also, not all blacks fit into this category, because some choose to not select this lifestyle where they will be treated equally and looked at as intelligent. This language creates a uniqueness to blacks and gives them their own special language which should be respected rather than looked at as unintelligent. This “slang” is their culture and no one deserves to be judged based on who they are and how they speak.
As for foreign students or immigrant families, they are also treated different. Some people may disrespect or look down upon foreigners because of their skin color or “broken” language, but other people like me may treat them with higher respect and sympathy because you cannot understand them all the time so you show pity. Foreigners deserve equal respect as so does everyone else.
People must understand that there is no God or specific “rules” in the English language, and it can be spoken any custom way because this provides culture and diversity. Language allows us to learn from each other and innovate. We should be “fascinated by language in daily life.”