Prof. Jessica Penner | OL12 | Fall 2021
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Amy Tan writes, “Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use.” What are these different Englishes; when, where and how does she use them? What does this piece illustrate about Tan’s responsibility to and feelings about her different communities and the way she moves between these groups?
Professor: Jessica Penner
Email: eng1121.citytech2@gmail.com
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 AM – 1 PM. I’ll be available through Zoom and will send an invitation via email that you should keep all semester. Try to join my meeting at the start of the hour, not at the end—since I may be talking to other students or have another appointment after the hour is up. If those times don’t work with your schedule, we can schedule a different time. This means you’ll have to schedule an appointment in advance via email. I suggest you have multiple times in mind, since your schedule may not mesh with mine!
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The different Englishes which Tan use could be separated into her work English, home English and business English. The first her work English was demonstrated in her discussion about her book, where she noted the usage of a different kind of descriptive language for her audience. The second her home English mentioned, as she speaks of the intimate way she speaks to her mother and spouse. The third her business English mentioned when she speaks of the phone call she has with her mother’s stockbroker, one that’s more direct and demanding while at the same time seeming ‘educated’ to get the point across to the stockbroker that she is not ‘uneducated’ and able to be scammed, nor does she intend to be scammed. This piece illustrates that there is equal an importance for all forms of her English, while needed at different times, and scenarios.
In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” I can extract two types of English. Formal English which she uses for her speeches. She has to speak clearly and professionally because her audience is wide, and not everybody could understand her if she would speak in her own way. The second type is informal English that she uses with her mother. Based on Amy’s story about a conversation with her mother broker, I’m assuming that she was close with her during childhood and adolescence. That’s why she switches her English subconsciously in the presence of her mother.
In this article called Amy Tan’s mother tongue describes how Amy categorize her English depending on where she’s talking. It relates to what we were discussing last class about the phrase or different types of English we use in our daily life. For example, when Amy is at work she uses her proper English with all those vocabulary words whereas when she is in phone talking to the stockbroker, she is in a very strict voice where she changes her languages because now she is seeking some answers from that guy. On the other hand, where she is home she uses her normal english language or broken because she is with her mother or husband. She uses that types of language because her family members are also used to it just how we all are when we are with our family members. This illustrates how she switches up her language depending on the surrounding. This piece shows us that how it is normal to use all form or types of English because there’s nothing to be embarrassed for. This also shows we should stick to our roots meaning we should not forget our mother tongue neither we should feel ashamed of the way we use the language English.
The different types of English she uses at home and outside her home. She would use simple, broken, and proper English. This piece illustrates the different ways to speak English and to communicate with different people.
One English Amy Tan describes is the English her mother used with her which was the “Broken” or “Fractured” English. Amy spoke back to her mother in “simple” English to be understood by her. It didn’t contain the prefect tenses, careful wrought grammatical or conditional phrases that she learned from school which she called “watered down” English. Amy noticed herself using this English when she was giving a speech in front of an audience about her writing and life. When Tan was younger, she had also translated her mother’s limited English into perfect English to be better understood by a stockbroker.
In the essay “Mother Tongue,’ Amy Tan begins by discussing a few very distinctive types of English. Then, she offers a couple of examples from her speech to illustrate that she used a sophisticated English kind. However, the two styles seem to be a lot more important to her than others. One of those types of English is the one she uses in her everyday professional life, such as when she is giving a speech. The other type of English that Tan discusses is her mother’s version of English, which seems to be a collection of short descriptive phrases without the smaller words to connect the terms. Tan notes that those short, descriptive phrases encouraged her to write fiction in English by showing her how language works to produce an image.
These divisions matter to Tan because each of these “Englishes” uniquely contributes to forming Tan. As a writer, this exposure to all of these “Englishes” has affected her greatly. She no longer focuses on writing to the readers who can understand English perfectly. Instead, Tan’s understanding of the multifaceted “Englishes” present in our nation allows her to get her message across to a larger audience.
Tan is aware that the literary audience will have a higher expectation of her writing. Therefore, she does not write about how her mother would speak (“broken English”). However, throughout her essay, any reader, whether an English scholar or student, would easily understand what Tan is trying to convey through her writing. For example, in her article, Tan states: “Fortunately, for reasons I won’t get into today, I later decided I should envision a reader for the stories I would write.
When she writes “different Englishes,” Amy Tan is referring to the word choice and sentence structures she uses with different audiences. When she is with her mother, Amy uses her “simple” English, to make sure every word is understood, without losing any meaning. When she is giving a speech, she uses “proper” English to impress her peers in academia.
As a writer, Amy Tan feels a responsibility to give all the Englishes their due. She is convinced that each of them has a place in literature, and that there is no such thing as “broken” English.
The different English used would be her business way of speaking and her comfortable way of speaking. When speaking to people who are strangers or your colleagues the way she spoke was very proper and correct. The way she spoke to people and family that she was comfortable with was more laid back and free. She believes that all the ways to speak English are important in their own way, and serves a purpose.
Amy Tan discusses few Englishes in the passage, specifically, the type of English she uses in her professional life, the English she uses in her personal when she speaks to her mother and husband, and the English she uses when addressing someone over there phone regarding her mother when she was talking to her mother’s appointment representative. Due to these different Englishes Tan has been exposed to, it gives her the advantage to reach a more diverse audience when she speaks because just as she can speak to her mother as a mothers tongue, she can also relate to the professional field with her sound vocabulary.
Amy Tan uses two types of English a formal type in which she uses less broken English and a lot more proper words and she used this when talking to stranger or people who have an established business relationship with her and she has an informal English which is a lot more lax and uses her broken English a lot more she uses it when talking to her mother or husband or people who she is comfortable around. This pieces illustrates Tan’s understanding of how she is perceived and how well people understand her when she is using these different types of English. She also knows that each of these types of English are just as important as their counterparts and may be key parts of life for others like her.
Writer Amy Tan acknowledges that she changes her tone and attitude while speaking English when she’s communicating with her mother versus everyone else. She doesn’t like to refer to her mother’s English as broken English. She believes that her mother’s English is perfectly fine. She speaks differently to people at offices, banks, etc. She does that subconsciously. Despite Tan’s disapproval of her community growing up, she has come to terms with them.