Reflection on “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan
Mother Tongue, prepared by Amy Tan is about a woman who comes from a household of Asian Americans who traveled to America later in their lives. The origin is dictates their first language or mother tongue and is the main reason why they do not express themselves in English remarkably well. Language is a dynamic aspect of culture that is different depending on the perception of people. According to Tan’s article about mother tongue, language strongly influences the first language that a person is accustomed to in the developmental stages. It will influence pronunciation and expression of ideas towards different concepts.
In the second paragraph, she talks about her writing skills and love for English language since it is such a prominent language appreciated internationally. The author states that people will always apply different approaches to language organization depending on the audience. For instance, during the presentation of speeches, Amy Tan would use correct grammatical English, but when with family members, the organization would change to a nonprofessional’s usage of words. This is an idea that many people face in the daily use of English language because of mother tongue disruptions. The author calls unstructured English as “broken” or “fractured” English, which lacks meaning or importance. Tan believes that the broken English needs fixing to make it logical and appreciated than the local languages. Her mother understands English better than she can express herself in it, but still uses broken English. However, to her mother, Amy believes that the English is not broken because it is her mother’s own approach of English and according to her, it is faultless.
I believe the central notion of Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” is to emphasize that just because somebody cannot communicate in the English language to precision, does not make them less intelligent than somebody born in America who comprehends and speaks English confidently. However, what makes people different is the uniqueness of getting two people speaking similar English. I still believe that experiences in life can shape a person as well as their language because as depicted in the story, Amy Tan explored her personal journey with language. This has clearly shown the readers that it takes determination to overcome cultural obstacles and explore modern concepts of exposure. This is because the America society identifies more with individualism; it is expressly tough for aliens to incorporate themselves with the inhabitants, thus highlighting the hardships that Tan’s mother must have endured. In the entire piece, Tan uses some rhetorical strategies such as logos and pathos to show readers that a restraint in language does not affect someone’s hopes of becoming influential in the society.
This article demonstrates the relationship between Amy and her mother and all the challenges and embarrassments that she faced because of English language. It motivates me to take life positively and appreciate people’s culture and family relationships. This shows that language is an avenue of communication and should unify people and bring them together rather than act as a substance for perceiving people.
Tan stresses that identification with and recognition in a community is not the only outcome of language acquisition. Her Asian community faces discrimination because of their accents and mode of expressions, yet some of them still pursue English language careers. This book is an appropriate way of showing respect and significance of appreciating a person’s origin in a diversified American society.
