Amy Tan The Impact Of A Language America Summary

Impact of a Language America, often referred to as the land of opportunity, is a challenging country to navigate for those not well versed in the English language. It is not only that differences in language create a communication barrier, but they also can impact those seeking a job, or something to eat, or result in a person being taken less seriously. The use of language can alienate and challenge the lives of people who cannot speak the language, but simultaneously language can bring people together and form a community. Navigating an English-speaking country is difficult. Amy Tan speaks about her experience with speaking two types of English. Her mother, while understanding the language well, spoke with an accent in a cadence different from a native speaker. For Tan, her mother's way of speaking was

Tan provides an instance in which her mother took a trip to the hospital and a benign tumor was spotted on the CAT scan, but the scan had been lost by the hospital. It was only after Tan’s mother put her on the phone that the doctors and hospital staff showed a desire to find the lost scan (Mother Tongue, Tan). This essay on Tan’s goes to show the way that non-native speakers, in this case of Asian descent, are treated. Despite Tan’s mother being well-versed in the language, people would hear her accent and strip her of the ability to be understood with authenticity. Instead, Tan’s mother had to go through her daughter, a native English speaker, to be taken seriously. This impacted the way her mother lived life in America. As Tan goes on to say, “I wanted to capture what language ability tests can never reveal: her intent, her passion, the imagery, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts” (Mother Tongue, Tan). Tan’s quote speaks volumes, not only for the clear love and admiration she has for her mother, but for the truth she speaks as