The Kitchen Gods Wife, By Amy Tan

Amy Tan the best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen Gods’ Wife and other titles, gives insight into growing up in a household with a predominately Chinese speaking mother. She discusses her realization that, because of this, she tends to use multiple “Englishes” depending on who she is with. Tan points out that while education is key in forming how one communicates, there is a tendency to modify language, tone and inflection depending on comfort level, environment and those spoken to, these modifications extend to how one expresses themselves when writing. Speech tends to be unconscious and natural based on comfort and familiarity. With those known well there is a type of shorthand created.

We were talking about the price of new and used furniture, and I heard myself saying this: "Not waste money that way." My husband was with us as well, and he didn't notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It's because over the twenty years we've been together I've often used the same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses with me. (20)
Here Tan recalls the moment when she realized that she had started communicating with her husband in the same way that she does with her mother. She then gives an example of how a change to a more formal setting lead to another automatic change in her English. Her speech naturally altered during a public reading of her

The author addresses this by discussing the importance of education in the evolution of language. The world is a melting pot of mixed cultures, languages and influences; thus, certain ethnicities have been placed in categories of preconceived strengths. Consequently, some teachers guide Asian-American students to focus on mathematics instead of language based fields of study as was the case with her. This can be due, in part, to the challenges some students face with having a home environment where English may not necessarily be the first language: “And this makes me think that there are other Asian-American students whose English spoken in the home might also be described as "broken" or "limited." And perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and into math and science, which is what happened to me” (Tan 23). The author makes a valid point that brings attention to the tendency to categorize people based on the environment in which they are raised as opposed to who they are as individuals. While home influences are a factor in who a person ultimately becomes, this is not an overwhelming testament regarding their potential. Regrettably, the authors view can be substantiated by the lack of Asian-American authors in mainstream