Cole Biesterfeld
Professor Malordy
English 101-028
26 November 2014
Contextual Analysis Essay
Literacy and Language
From Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” it is evident that language has an effect on our lives. Language defines the type of person I am generally and it has had an effect on my choices as well as my lifestyle. Using “Mother Tongue” and my own experience with literacy, I can conclude that literacy helps us communicate and mature as human beings.
In “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan describes the many ways in which the language that she was taught affected her life. I can definitely relate to Tan’s essay because I too have had to deal with bilingual people and their societies throughout my life. Like Amy Tan, I am well educated and often serve as the main source of communication with people who don’t understand English, especially when traveling around the world. However, what makes us different is that it is …show more content…
As a child I traveled the world going to countries such as Mexico, Belize, Puerto Rico, and many others. Throughout my travels I often felt like I needed to create my own sort of language to communicate and get my point across to others. Many times while I was in Mexico, for example, I often used a mix of Spanish and English to help communicate with others. Having a timeshare in Mexico, when I was growing up, made me realize that we all have different ways of communicating and expressing ourselves through language. For example, although I never really spoke or understood Spanish very well I was still able to communicate with the natives by using a combination of English and Spanish to get my point across much like Amy Tan’s mother that described as using, “broken or fractured,” (Tan 59) English throughout the majority of her life. This taught me that sometimes we have to venture out from what’s normal in our language and society to communicate with
Professor Malordy
English 101-028
26 November 2014
Contextual Analysis Essay
Literacy and Language
From Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” it is evident that language has an effect on our lives. Language defines the type of person I am generally and it has had an effect on my choices as well as my lifestyle. Using “Mother Tongue” and my own experience with literacy, I can conclude that literacy helps us communicate and mature as human beings.
In “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan describes the many ways in which the language that she was taught affected her life. I can definitely relate to Tan’s essay because I too have had to deal with bilingual people and their societies throughout my life. Like Amy Tan, I am well educated and often serve as the main source of communication with people who don’t understand English, especially when traveling around the world. However, what makes us different is that it is …show more content…
As a child I traveled the world going to countries such as Mexico, Belize, Puerto Rico, and many others. Throughout my travels I often felt like I needed to create my own sort of language to communicate and get my point across to others. Many times while I was in Mexico, for example, I often used a mix of Spanish and English to help communicate with others. Having a timeshare in Mexico, when I was growing up, made me realize that we all have different ways of communicating and expressing ourselves through language. For example, although I never really spoke or understood Spanish very well I was still able to communicate with the natives by using a combination of English and Spanish to get my point across much like Amy Tan’s mother that described as using, “broken or fractured,” (Tan 59) English throughout the majority of her life. This taught me that sometimes we have to venture out from what’s normal in our language and society to communicate with