Tan Assignment

In page 1 last paragraph “But to me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It’s my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world.” This quote relates to me a lot because my mother got broken English as well, other people might not be able to understand her well and thought she was speaking partial Chinese or got accent but its my mother tongue and I fully understand her because that’s how I grew up listening to it.

In page 2 second paragraph “I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of empirical evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.” I honestly think it’s true because I’ve seen this happening in person. But for me some people might not know how to express their thoughts because they’re unfamiliar with the language. Having broken language does not make someone have imperfect thoughts, that’s just not how it works.

In page 2 last paragraph “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.” I perhaps agree with this because language really does play a huge role in a child’s mind and the way they speak a language.

In page 2 paragraph 3 “When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she.” I think this happens pretty often nowadays in this society because there are a lot of people who have broken language and don’t have the ability to communicate with other people so they have to rely on someone else to help them. 

In page 3 paragraph 4 “ I became an English major my first year in college, after being enrolled as pre-med.” I can never imagine myself enrolling in an English major but I believe If I did, My English would have improved a lot.