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Homework 3: âMother Tongueâ by Amy Tan
- What did you think of the piece? Did you like it? Or not? Why? Explain! (Donât worry my feelings wonât be hurt! Be honest!)
- What is it mostly about? Write a 2-4 sentence summary. What is the THEME? How does she explore the theme throughout the essay? Be specific. Refer to the text itself. Use quotes even!Â
- Amy Tan writes, âRecently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use.â What does she mean by this? What different âEnglishesâ does she use? When does she use them?
- What does Tan mean when she uses the term âmother tongue?â How does her âmother tongueâ shape her identity?
- How does Tan describe her motherâs English? Be specific! How does Tanâs perception of her motherâs language change when she realizes how her motherâs English is viewed by others? What does this reveal about the power dynamics of language?Â
- How does Tanâs own experience with English differen from her motherâs? How has her upbringing and education affected her relationship with language?Â
- Think about your relationship to the languages in your life. Describe at least two different languages or forms of language that you use either in speaking or writing. For example, when you text or email vs. when you speak. Or when you speak to a family member vs. a friend. Or a professor vs. a friend. Does it change depending on your audience? How? Why?
âMother Tongueâ by Amy Tan is a writing piece I really enjoyed. Being able to relate to an author makes me more interested in what Iâm reading. I liked how Tan was able to connect the message she was trying to get across to her personal experiences which made the writing piece more sincere and relatable to individuals like myself.
Amy Tan takes us into her life and her relationship with the English language, rather the different âEnglishesâ. Tan, as a writer, is able to express herself in proper English, while in contrast speaks âlimited Englishâ when she speaks with family and most importantly, her mother. Tan states, â…a speech filled with carefully wrought grammatical phrases, burdened, it suddenly seemed to me, with nominalized forms, past perfect tenses, conditional phrases-all the forms of standard English that I had learned in school and through books, the forms of English I did not use at home with my motherâ shows her understanding of the difference and code switch she experiences with the English language.
When Tan writes, âRecently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use.â, she is trying to express how there’s a different way she speaks english based on who she’s speaking with. The âproperâ English or the English she was taught in school is when she’s speaking to everyone else besides her mother. With Tanâs mother, she speaks a much rather âbrokenâ English that her mother perfectly understands.
When Tan uses the term, âMother tongueâ, it is often referring to the version of English that she and her mother use to understand one another. To others. They may view it as âlimited or broken Englishâ, but to Tan, itâs an important version of English to her as it is the language she uses with her mother.
Tan describes her mothers language as âlimited or brokenâ. Tan never realized the contrast in how people treated them when she was the one speaking up versus when it was her mother, until she witnessed it herself. Other people never took her mother seriously because she wasnât able to express her wants and needs in a way other people would understand. This shows how powerful the English language is and how you can be treated differently based on your abilities to express yourself and othersâ understanding of it.
Tan was able to learn âproperâ English in school with all its technicalities and rules while her mother didnât have the same opportunity as she did. During her upbringing, English wasnât one of her stronger topics in school and she believed that the version of English she speaks at home with her mother had an effect on âlimiting her possibilities in lifeâ.
I can relate to Tan in this writing piece because I too speak a different version of English when I speak with my peers vs. my parents. I often speak âTaglishâ or tagalog and English when i’m speaking with my parents. I donât do this because of the lack of knowledge of the English language, but rather to be able to practice my language from my motherland. Moving to America at a really young age, I grew apart from my roots and being able to practice my native tongue with my language with the occasional correction of how to properly speak it from my parents, is really important to me and something Iâve been doing for most of my life.
1) What I thought of the piece “Mother Tongue” was that it was very interesting and I liked it because I feel like people can relate to it.
2) The text is mostly about a mother and daughter and how the English barrier has impacted them. She started by explaining how with her mother she speaks a different type of English that she speaks with other people. The theme is that no matter the language barrier success can be guaranteed.
3) What she means by this is that she uses different types of English around different people. The type of English that she would use around her loved ones would be non formal but in a different environment she would use formal english.
4) What Tan means when she uses the term âmother tongueâ is that she understands her mother and thinks that she speaks perfect English. Tan said that it shapes her identity because it shaped the way that she saw things, expressed things and how it made sense of the world.
5) Tan described her mothers English by saying that its âbrokenâ or âfracturedâ and she used to be embarrassed by it. Tanâs viewing changed on her English seeing how she would get treated just because of the way that she spoke the language. What this reveals of the power dynamics of the language would be that you will be judged if you don’t speak a certain way.
6) Tanâs experience is different from her mothers because she wouldn’t get treated the same way because she didn’t have an accent and spoke the language fluently. Her upbringing and education affected her relationship with language because she was able to learn at a young age to speak it.
7) I would say that my language definitely changes depending on the audience because when I speak to my friends compared to how I speak to my professors they are very different. I talk formally and when it comes to speaking to my professors but with my friends I speak with Slang and catchphrases.
1.Mother tongue by Amy tan is a good piece of writing because a lot of people could relate to this writing and people could connection with the author about this piece of writing.
2.This piece of writing is about Amy Tan’s relationship with the English language and the ways she was growing up too. According to the article, itâs said, “I am a writer. And by that definition, I am someone who has always loved language. I am fascinated by language putong, the river east side, he belong to in daily life. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all-all the Englishes I grew up with.”This is showing how much Amy Tan loves to write and the love of the English language. The theme of the piece of writing “mother tongue” is how people in societies judge other people by the way they talk. From the piece of writing, it states: “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. And I believe that it affected my results on achievement tests, IQ tests, and the SAT.” This means that immigrant families are mostly likely to have problems with English.
3.When Amy Tan say âRecently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use.â Amy Tan is trying to say there is a difference in Englishes.
4.When Amy tan mean when she uses the term âmother tongue” Amy Tan’s mother’s English wasn’t that good, so it was a struggle for her to speak English. and when her mother spoke English, people couldn’t understand her. English is not her first language.
5.The ways Amy Tan described her mother in English were broken. from the piece of writing its state “the English I spoke to my mother, whichl for lack of a better term, might be described as “simple”; the English she used with me,which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”; my translation of her Chinese, which could certainly be described as “watered down”;
6.Amy Tan’s mother struggles with speaking English. That’s why Amy Tan always has to help her mother communicate with other people. But on the other hand, Amy Tan could speak English clearly.
7.I would say that the way I speak to people is completely different. The way I speak to my friends differs from the way I speak to my family members and my professors. When I talk to my friends, we cuss and we speak in slang, but on the other hand, when I speak to my family members and my professors, I speak professionally.
6 Amys mom struggles to speak English so Amy helps her mom communicate with other people because Amy has good English compared to her mother.
7 The way I speak to my friend’s family and teachers is very different from each other. When I speak to my family I speak to them in Russian because my family understands that language better and when I speak with my friends I use both languages because my friends understand both of them and as for my teachers I use English because most of them only understand English or another language I don’t understand
6 Amy tans mother struggles to speak English so most of the time Amy helps her mother communicate with others.
7 I speak to my professors with respect and in English since most of them only understand English. when i speak to my friends we curse and use inappropriate words. where as with my parents i speak Russian with them because it is like a tradition
1. This piece is alright, and I would say I liked it. The author had made certain connections with people through her experiences along the way. It’s very touching even, considering the frequency of this.
2. This piece is mainly about the authors perspective on the English language and also the limitations she had seen growing up. The theme of this piece is that the people can have certain views on you depending on how you talk in a certain language. An example of this is when Amy’s mother had to get her CAT scan results, when the results were lost her mother had claimed there was no empathy shown for this mistake.
3. In this statement, when Amy mentioned different “englishes” to use, she meant the certain kinds of English she would speak around certain people, like to her mother, or at school.
4. When Amy mentions “mother tongue,” she means the English that her mother speaks in, one that she can understand and talk in. It shaped her identity by having a great influence on how she spoke English overall.
5. Amy views her mother’s English as broken, even limited. Her perspective changed on her mother’s language over time from experiences with other people, she slowly considers it as not the best. This reveals that depending on how you speak English, you may be judged for it due to the way you might’ve expressed yourself.
6. Amy’s experience with English differs from her mother’s experience by not having similar circumstances in certain scenarios compared to her mother. Throughout her life, she was able to learn English in school, yet it wasn’t her one of her strong points. It could’ve been limiting on her if she had learned her mother’s English more and more.
7) Forms of language that I use to speak or write can differ whether I’m talking to my parents or peers amongst myself. Even so, it can also differ if I’m talking or texting, typing, etc. Sometimes, I just dumb down lots of messages when texting, regardless of if it’s English or Spanish. When I’m talking, it’s a lot easier to just say things how they are since it can be fast to pronounce or say out loud. It all depends on who I am talking to, I want to get whatever I want across. I simply just want to get a point across most of the time.
I think this piece was interesting because I do kinda relate to the story in the sense of how my mom speaks parents speak English. English wasnât my parents initial language and they have an apparent accent which some people may find it hard to understand but never has been an issue for me to understand similar to Amy tan description
The story is about language and how it has had a negative affect and a positive affect in Amy Tanâs life. Being that her mom English in which she used to refer to as broken limited her education in school in English particularly. And her overcoming and challenging herself which lead to her becoming an English major and writing her own story. I think the theme in this story is how her moms English influenced her perception and others because she constantly states how her mom would have bad interactions with people like her manager and the hospital managers due to her language but as soon as she steps up the problem is resolved, she also state show if influenced her education and limited her ways of English but later own acknowledged the beauty of her moms language, the passion, the intent and the nature of her thoughts which test scores couldnât measure.
What she means by that is that she became councouis in the different forms of englishes she uses in certain circumstances, she uses formal English and English that she is accustom to when she with her mother. She speaks formally with perfect grammar when sheâs in a public settings or speeches and she speaks the English that is influenced by her mother.
Whatâs he mean by âmother tongueâ is that her mothers language doesnât have an issue and itâs great as it is, she has her own perception of her language and filled with her own ideas, it shapes her identity because it shapes her as a Chinese person and overcoming challenges by external factors.
She initially described her moms English as broken and limited, I think it influenced her perception because she viewed her moms English as natural and suitable for her with imagery and observation but her perception change because she later sees other people point of view of her language and how it isnât to what they perceive to be proper which influenced Amy tan to strive for an aptitude in English
Amy Tanâs English experience differs from her mother in a way of interaction. As we know Amy tanâs mother was viewed negatively because of her broken English, interactions with other people didnât go well based on how she spoke, Amy Tanâs case was different on how she resolved her moms matters because of how well she spoke.
I think her upbringing and education affected her relationship with language because of her self perception and others perception, I think as she seen how people viewed her mothers language as broken it affected the way she spoke and that also led her to persist in her education of English and led her to view her moms language as beautiful.
I think the relationship in my language is a bit similar in this case because initially I never found an issue with my parents English as well and thought it was perfect and can understand everything they were asserting. Most of my friends were from the same country as well so they could understand well but as I grew older and viewed others perception on my parents language it influenced mine as well. Two different forms of language when I write and speak is probably standard and formal, occasionally I do try to speak formally and speak with appropriate words without grammar but itâs something Iâm not accustomed to and find it challenging but as I write I find it much more easier to assert in a much more formal way.
This piece of writing sucked, it was to long and from her writing and how she write I didn’t learn anything important. I hope we don’t get hw this long to read ever again. This piece of writing is about a Chinese women who love the art of speaking, she loves languages and the fact that how you speak using a language can create a high level of understanding or swaying and describing to an audience. the theme of Mother tongue is two worlds, where like the narrator is explaining her mother’s English and how bad it is. When Amy said she was eagerly aware of the type of English she used she meant her way of using English for example in the text in the second paragraph she said “Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with”(Tan 7) Mother tongue to Tan means she has taken her mother English this Shapes her identity in a way that it shows she is from her Chinese mother because she can speak to and understand her mother, although her mothers English is very incomplete many mistakes in her phrases, her perspective towards her mother changes because her mother English was bad and incomplete because so, she had to talk for her, the sad reality is that you can learn how to say words in a language but because you cant form the right words there would be no way everyone will understand your perspective or what you are trying to speak about. She didn’t have proper English literacy so she was treated as her mother did. just like tan I was a immigrant and I came to the US in 2016, I only knew one sentence to say to every ending of a sentence my ELA teacher spoke “what does that mean” after she would explain what it meant I knew that I wasn’t going to understand so I kept asking again and again in doing so I learned full English in just 3 months, while living in NYC I also learned to speak there Englishes knowing all the slangs and all the literacy they used everyday I knew how to speak in any environment just like that.
1) I liked this piece because all though I can’t relate to her, many other people can.
2)This piece is about Amy tan’s language barrier (she calls “Englishes) especially with her mother. She states how she uses an english with proper grammar and a more formal setting. She also uses an english that’s considered broken english when she speaks with her mother. The theme is that with enough effort, you can overcome any obstacle.
3) The different languages she uses are Formal(in professional setting), Non-formal (with friends/family), and Broken(with her mother).
4)Since english is not Amy tan’s mothers first language, she struggled with speaking fluent english that others could not understand. However, Amy had the ability to perfectly decipher what she says because she is used to it and can understand words in chinese when her mother doesn’t know the english translation.
5) Amy tan describes her mothers english as broken english. Her perception of this changes after others listen to her speak and they all seem to not understand a single word she is saying. This reveals that those who may not speak good english can be viewed as less intelligent simply because they don’t sound fluent.
6) Due to the fact that Amy tan grew up learning english in comparison to her mother, they both had different experiences with the language barrier. While Amy began to learn more and more english her mother was still speaking chinese and learning the language was a hard struggle for her.
7)In school I speak with manners and with respect, at home I speak to my mother and sister with respect but I could use slang that they would understand. Where as when I speak with my friends I can speak more vulgar and feel at most like myself.
1 Mother Tongue by Amy Tan is such a lovely piece. I like that I was able to relate to it
2 This piece is about Amy who realizes that she speaks 2 different kinds of English and that’s because her mother doesn’t either. The world sees her mother’s English as broken and most times don’t respect her.
3 She means she speaks 2 different kinds of English. The standard one is for when she’s at school or work and the broken one is for when she’s with her mum or husband.
4 Mother tongue is the way people from a certain place speak. For Amy Tan her mother tongue shaped her identity because that’s probably the way she learned to say/pronounce stuff
5 Tan portrays her mother tongue as broken or fractured. Tanâs view on her mother tongue changed when she realized how people would treat her mum. What this shows about the power of dynamics is that if you don’t speak âproper Englishâ youâre not respected /valued in the society.
6 Tanâs experience differs from her mothers because Tan grew up and went to school in America. Her mum on the other hand probably had to learn english at a much more older age
7 When I speak to my Nigerian-American friends I speak the âNigerian wayâ with my very thick accent and use slang words like âabiâ âehn?â âGod Abeg oâ but when I’m with my American friends my tone is softer and I use slang words like âlolâ âfor realâ and so on. I also try to speak carefully so I’m understood