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Amy Tan Mother Tongue Essay

1290 Words6 Pages

Language holds immense power and fascination, evoking emotions, images, and ideas in unique ways. Amy Ruth Tan, an American author of Chinese heritage, presents the idea of social constraints that defective English can impose. In her essay “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan explores how this richness of English can contribute to literature. As someone who has multiple cultures around my daily life, I believe, it’s crucial to accept and keep different ways of speaking, appreciating how they make literature and society more interesting. We shouldn't just stick to strict rules imposed by standardized norms. In her essay "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan reflects on her experiences with language, especially the English she uses at home with her mother. Drawing from …show more content…

Tan vividly describes her mother's expressive command of English, which defies the limited understanding of others. Tan explains “That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world.” (Cohen 648) This realization helps Tan recognize why some find it challenging to comprehend her mother's speech. Although some find it difficult, Tan can deeply appreciate her mother tongue as perfectly clear and natural. She recognizes it as her own language of intimacy, connecting her to family talk and her cultural …show more content…

Though I haven’t been affected (yet) because of my English skills, early on in my wife’s college career, she was placed in a lower-level English class because of her placement test score. She didn’t let this get in her way as she took two more English classes to complete her perquisites and is now in her last year for her bachelor’s degree. These tests are computers and not real people which is why English should be thought of free flowing and not ‘right or wrong’. If we can achieve this, more readers and writers of different cultures may continue their journey into American literature. My wife and her family can speak better English than some of my friends, but because of her accent and different ways of thinking, she is docked points in the test that is life. It is through these interactions that I have come to appreciate the beauty and depth of diverse languages and the stories they carry. Amy Tan's essay "Mother Tongue" serves as a powerful reminder of how language and cultural influences shape our sense of

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