Mother tongue

Essay by onvinhtanUniversity, Bachelor'sA, October 2004

download word file, 4 pages 3.4

"I believe that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say." Amy Tan. What do you do when you encounter a person who could not speak English fluently or has an accent. . If we just stop and reflect about all the people we meet that have this difference. About all of us do this? Most of the time when this happen we either make fun of that person or were most be likely to brush aside those individuals In Tan's essay "Mother Tongue" she talks about how her mothers displeasing experiences trying to communicate with other people. She explains how no one takes her mother seriously, for her inability to speak perfect or fluent English. I strongly believe with Tan that not being able to speak or write perfect English could sometimes cause dilemma for immigrants.

The essay talks about Tan's mother experiences in conversing with different people in everyday life.

That her mom sometimes struggles to get her point across with the other person that she talks to. For instance when she was a kid her mom told her to disguise for her, so just her stock broker will take her grievances more seriously. Also in a more critical situation when her mothers doctor loose and disregard to give her the results the CAT scan that will determine whether the tumor in the brain was benign or not. Also she talks about her friend who could not understand what her mother says when she speaks. Which totally don't reflect if you would see her mom's daily activities from reading various reading materials and watching English programs? This just show how the American society tend to neglects people with lack of skills in speaking English

However, for Tan her mother's language is clearly fluent...