Language: An Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

The essay ¨ Mother Tongue¨ by Amy Tan is an essay written in her opinion about language and about how we use it. If the essay were read and interpreted by people from Japan and the Netherlands the essay will be viewed differently because these people grew up with different cultures and customs. In Japan, Japanese people will be able to relate to Amy´s mother. The line “ the fact that people… did not take her seriously… pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her” could be a line that Japanese people find quite insulting. In school where they primarily learn the language English, they learn how to read and write the language very well, but when it comes up to speaking English that is when they have trouble. Japanese people may now consider thinking twice before talking to a person who speaks English because they might be treated disrespectfully. Then Amy explains what she had to go through because of how people treated her mother as she say’s “ In disguise, I was forced to ask for information or even to complain and yell at people who had been rude to her” which is a situation that Japanese people would not do forcibly, but …show more content…
The primary language that they speak is Dutch and many of them will come to disagreements with Amy’s essay. In the line where Amy says “ my mother's English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities” because she mentions that a person’s language is influenced by their parents. Many Dutch people will disagree with that line because in their youth they are surrounded by so much bilingualism. Many Dutch people know how to speak German and English very well and a bit know how to speak French. Dutch people will also be able to determine Amy’s personality as she say’s “ I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about me” as Amy is inferring to why she became an English