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Describe The Differences Between Zambians And Americans

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I was seven years old when I heard the news that my family was going to serve as missionaries in Africa. The news startled me to say the least, but I did not realize how drastically my life was going to change. As a child the experience shocked, exhilarated, and frightened me all at once. Once my family arrived in Zambia, Africa, we slowly began adjusting to life there. We quickly fell in love with the Africans and their culture; however, soon our time was finished and we came back to America. While some argue that Zambians and Americans are completely different; my experience indicates that the most misunderstood differences between Zambians and Americans are language and physical barriers.
Being a child in Africa is as exciting as it is terrifying, but what made it even scarier was the fact that the Africans kids and I spoke different languages. The local dialect spoken is Tonga, but they also speak limited English. The language proved to be a barrier that became difficult to cross. For example, when my family first arrived in Africa, the kids and I could only shyly smile and wave at each other because …show more content…

Tan writes this about her experience, “I found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her . . .My husband was with us as well, and he didn’t notice any switch in my language. And then I realized why . . . it has become our language of intimacy” (Tan 164). Here Tan is talking about how she and her family would speak a limited English that was familiar only to them and that that language had become intimate between them. During our time in Africa, we overcame the natural barriers that had been raised because of the language difference and became more intimate with our friends there through our limited Tonga and

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America and Guatemala are very different cultures; sometimes these cultures can be viewed in a poor light or it can be viewed in an interesting light, but I think these differences are very interesting and nice. One big difference that can be seen is that America loves upgrading technology and making technology to make life easier. In Guatemala, it is not like that. Guatemala does have some technology like smart phones and new types of cars, but if something is fine how it is, it is not upgraded and not much technology is made that would supposedly make their lives easier.

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Throughout the article, Tan uses a number of personal examples to show and support her point. These examples span from phone conversations and hospital visits to standardized tests. By using examples that cover a wide variety of topics, Tan is able to demonstrate the large effect that her mother’s style of english had and how it was woven into her whole life and not just a part of it. Particularly in the hospital example, Tan also brings in the stereotyping of people who speak “broken” english as not being very smart. In bringing this issue that is at the very root of our society, she darkens the tone to melancholy.

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388 Words | 2 Pages

In her essay “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan, Asian American writer whose writes Chinese American experience between her mom and her, claims that her mother’s broken English had influence her life. Tan notices the experiences that made her realized that the type of “Englishes” she uses. Tan’s first time aware of her “ Englishes” was when she giving a discussion about her book, and she notices that this is the first time she uses academic language that she learned from the book in front of her mother. Tan’s mother is from shanghai, China, and English is her mother's second language. Tan mentions that she speaks two types of English, which is the academic English that she learned from the book and the second language that she only used with her family.

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368 Words | 2 Pages

She also talks about how people who barely speak clear English call it Broken English even though to her its clear English it just lacks a certain wholeness and soundness but not broken. There is no such thing as broken English does not mean they are not bright. Tan bases the story on her mother’s broken English because she gets ashamed because people don’t take her

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943 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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525 Words | 3 Pages

By using this as an example of the “Power of language” it really shows how even if you don't speak the language clearly you can use words that help portray the idea you're trying to put out. Another phrase Tan uses throughout the story is “Different Englishes'' and she uses this to describe the different choice of words she uses for different kinds of people around her. Although there is only one English language, the way people interpret or understand certain words can also be used to define different Englishes. As Tan grew up listening to her mother's broken English she began to realize that there are people who need these certain ways of talking to help get their point across and one example she used was, “Not waste money that way.” Although she isn't using “Proper English '' she uses this form of “Different Englishes” to make her point and allow others to understand it very easily as well.

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517 Words | 3 Pages

In “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, Tan speaks about multiple experiences she had in which she felt a disconnect between the English she spoke with her mother, versus the English she speaks with others. She begins with speaking about a talk she was having about her book, The Joy Luck Club, in which her mother was in the room. While giving her speech, she realized she was using a type of English she never uses around her mother, which complex language and phrases the common person, especially someone with “broken” English, might not be able to understand. Then again, while walking down the street with her mother, she noticed another time she was being careful of the type of English she was using. While Tan uses perfectly crafted language at her discussions about her novel, she responds to her mother with phrases like “Not waste money that way.”

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544 Words | 3 Pages

Some differences between West Africa and America. Although they bear some superficial similarities, the differences between life in Africa and that of America is clear. Firstly, I would like to start with the weather. There are only two seasons in Africa; the rainy season and the dry season. The rainy season is generally the time of the year when the rain brings new life in the wilderness areas of Africa and bringing forth new growth.

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To be orphaned from my native language felt, and still feels, like a crucial decision” (Lin 6). Yiyun Lin is caught between letting go her native language and wishes she can speak both because they both identify her. She struggles on choosing one of them and having one of them as a memory or a dream. This not only becomes a struggle for her, but an eye open decision on solving the problem of how she can combine a private language into a public language. “English is my private language.

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1225 Words | 5 Pages

Cultural barriers prevent communication between people from all around the world, especially between the mothers and the daughters, and not necessarily figuratively. The language barrier between the mothers and the daughters can be symbolic. The lack of understanding and comprehension for one another creates a language barrier between the mothers and the daughters. “These kinds of explanations made me feel my mother and I spoke two different languages, which we did. I talked to her in English, she answered back in Chinese.”

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946 Words | 4 Pages

Two Worlds, One Girl There are many different cultures around the world, but you never really know what is like being between two different cultures, until you are experiencing it yourself. While growing up, I had the privilege and misfortune of becoming familiar with two different cultures: my family’s culture, from their birth country, Guatemala, and the culture of the United States of America. I say misfortune not because it was a disaster, catastrophe, or bad luck; I say it because sometimes you get so used to being in one culture that you start to forget about your family’s origin. Sometimes you even like something in one culture better than the other, and you feel guilty for having a preference.

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1081 Words | 5 Pages

This evidence supports my claim since she explained how Mrs. Tan 's version of English was what taught her to understand the language. Amy also said, "That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world" (Tan, 2006, p. 21). Without Amy learning the descriptive language that her mother used, Amy would be less expressive of herself and not as vocally involved in the

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312 Words | 2 Pages

Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue,” really moved me emotionally because of the way in which the piece was written, and the relevance of the situations to my own life. The piece is about how Tan had struggled with her linguistic identity, and explores her mothers broken english, and her relationship with her mother. The primary purpose of this piece was to show people that there is no right form of English, and that it comes in many different forms and as a result there should be no prejudice against these variations. Tan discusses how many people have very narrow minds and misconceived views on people of different cultural backgrounds. In the essay she had used the example of how people would not take her mother serious because of her broken English.

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1108 Words | 5 Pages

Tan along with her mother completely understood what one was saying to the other but if someone else was there with them they might not have understood. The same goes when a family is talking to one another, it can become some sort of secret language that only they will understand. “But I do think that the language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child” (Tan 60). While the language that the child is being taught at home may not seem to be efficient when used with other people, that child is able to understand what their family is

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233 Words | 1 Pages

Sam Xiang Professor Luis Orozco English 28 18 June 2015 Intimacy family language In the short essay "Mother Tongue" by author Amy Tan she writes about her struggle with her mother's broken English. Amy compares her English to her mother's english. Tan describes their language as the language of intimacy because they understand each other.

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