Amy Tan Mothers Tongue Analysis

Language is a tool humans use to communicate with each other. English, Spanish, and Chinese are few examples of these carefully crafted tools. Tools that were shaped in different ways, but for the same purpose. English in particular is a beautiful systematic sequence of carefully crafted words in a rhythmic pattern. But with the beauty of the language comes the complexity and it is difficult for immigrants from other countries to adapt to the language. In Amy Tan 's essay “Mothers Tongue”, she explains how earlier in her life she expressed disdain for her mother 's “limited English” (Tan 282). Amy felt ashamed, limited in her perception of her mother 's image, and feels her mother 's English dwindled the quality of her thoughts. The fact that “people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her [Tan 's Mother] seriously” (283) make Tan feels ashamed. Tan 's mother would have troubles when talking and expressing herself, and she knew people couldn 't …show more content…
This was very true for Tan 's mother who constructed imperfect sentences by using only imagery and descriptions. Amy felt ashamed that her mother 's English would give her troubles when talking and expressing herself, and even though she knew people couldn 't understand her, she still went about her normal day using Tan to talk to her affiliation as her in a guise. Amy felt limited in her perception of her mother 's image, because the person who raised her, looked up, and respected so much, was treated so unfairly just because of her limited English. Amy also felt her mother 's English dwindled the quality of her thoughts. Amy 's descriptions of “Englishes” (281) explains perfectly the fact that her mother 's english isn 't necessarily wrong, but it is broken and limits the quality of her thoughts, and this can cause a big problem for her and