Amy Tan Mother Tongue Summary

Language is an important factor of everyday life. For people who are not English efficient, this statement is self-evident. When one does not understand the world around them it is often difficult to comprehend and keep up with everyone else. People who cannot read, understand or talk to those around them face trouble because of their language barrier. While a lucky few have translators and English-speaking children available to aid them when needed, their shortcomings because of language of language are no less important than people who did not have help with learning English.
In “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan the author discusses her take and perception on certain struggles faced by bilingual individuals. Her article encompasses experiences …show more content…
We get to see just how limited her mother’s abilities in English are. From first impression, one could never imagine the mother of a published author would say anything along the lines of ”Du Yusong having business like fruit stand.” Out of context, it’s not understandable and clearly improper. The author digresses to point out that, despite her mother’s English, she understands much more than what her abilities in English foretell. Amy Tan mentions her mother frequents Forbes and Wall Street Week. This information can take aback anyone who has heard – or read – Mrs. Tan speak. This information is only telling us of her mother’s situation from a bird’s eye view; we see what’s happening but don’t know what is under the surface. The reader never receives any insight as to what her mother’s feelings on her broken English are. Mrs. Tan has to live with the struggle of knowing that unless her daughter is there, the people around her will understand little to none of what she says. Nothing is ever told from her mother’s side. One can only begin to imagine the frustration of having to put one’s daughter on the phone, knowing that they have to speak as if they were a complete adult while screeching in another language from the other side of the phone. While it’s stressful on the translator to know that without someone else there to translate their opinions and …show more content…
A master of English by comparison, one sees the person they have to translate for as the rest of the world sees them. As by the duty of the family translator, one has to answer business calls for their parents, order for them at restaurants, revise emails and translate random phrases they heard on television because they are the only one with somewhat if a grasp of English. These are things Amy Tan’s mom will no be able to do on her own, or at least not without some struggle. As Amy Tan points out, she become ashamed of her mother’s English. Surely her mother, too, must have had some shame in her English but this idea if never breached. Knowing that she had to rely on a child for basic communication, that others including her own daughter thought less of her for her ill-spoken English not once did the article hint that Amy Tan’s mother might have been affected by her broken English. How did Amy Tan’s mother feel knowing she could not go to school like her daughter did or even pursue a career in literature? What persuaded her to keep her head up and tolerate the prejudice of those around her? Or that, despite trying all she could, people ignored her effort to learn an entire language because her English was what Amy Tan would call “watered down?” It is difficult to imagine she could has not felt incompetent for her English