Tan Mother Tongue

Author Amy Tan, having grown up with a mother who did not have English as her first language, has experienced a very different set of circumstances than an average English-speaking household when it comes to communicating. In her article, “Mother Tongue,” she dives into her past, sharing the language struggles she saw her mother encounter, along with her own battles with finding her literary voice. What she found in the end was that we all, regardless of native tongue, use many levels to our language, and we shift between those levels, depending on who we perceive our audience to be at any given time. Tan tells us to be more conscious of our different uses of English throughout our lives, in order to focus ourselves on intent instead of complexity. She warns us through events of …show more content…
She thoughtfully challenges us to contemplate some stereotypes that many hold towards Asian-Americans, which could be related to their level of English spoken at home, potentially keeping us from experiencing their talent in the writing community. The article's theme of language reveals the struggles every person can experience in communicating, because anyone can mistakenly judge another's intelligence, anyone can naively stereotype a group, and at the same time, everyone can benefit from focusing on the intent behind someone’s words.
Being able to see and understand the different levels of language everyone uses is fundamentally the most important part of being able to follow