Amy Tan Mother Tongue Analysis

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Mother Tongue by Amy Tann introduces to us how the author feels about the English language. She seems go appreciate the language of everyday life. She grew up around different variations of the English language and she uses all of them. When she is around her family, Amy Tan uses a version of the English language that relates more to them. For example, there was a time she went to give a speech about her book; she realized how much her language changed when she was talking to people outside of someone such as her mother who was also there. The language seemed to be more complex, using a wider vocabulary, some words she had never used around her family. Her mother’s language, she feels, has helped her to make sense of the things around her and has helped her become herself. She gives use a look into how it seems her mother has her own type of English. She recorded her mother telling her a story, and it really seems to capture exactly how her mother speaks. During the conversation Tan’s mother uses phrases such as “Chinese age I was nineteen”(pg). Although her mother’s English was broken up, or sounded as if she didn’t understand the language, she read things like Forbes. It shows that she understands the language she just had her own way of speaking it. Tan’s friends vary in how much they understand her mother’s…show more content…
Although she doesn’t feel that’s the most positive word to use, she knew it wasn’t perfect English. Looking back on her growing up Tan says she remembers how people acted as if they didn’t understand her mother when she spoke. As a result, it would also make Tan ashamed when she spoke because of the way it was worded. She recalls on a past time when she had to speak for her mother because her own English was better. She felt like if she spoke she would get the better side of the argument than her mother and in return would get a better result on the

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