Amy Tan Mother Tongue Summary

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The story of the, "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan, expresses a unique perspective on the English language in various people's perspectives of English. As a daughter of a Chinese immigrant, Tan writes about situations where she saw limitations imposed upon her mother because of her language skills. She also discusses the perceptions and judgments that people make when spoken to with imperfect English. Tan stresses in her essay the huge effect that her mother’s language had on her identity as a person and a writer. In the essay “Mother tongue”, Tan emphasizes the powerful link there is between language and identity through her experiences growing up in an immigrant family.
In the beginning of the essay Tan describes when she was giving a talk about

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