"Mother Tongue" Summary and Response

                                             "Mother Tongue" Summary and Response

            Amy Tan, a Chinese American writer, in her narrative, "Mother Tongue", argues that language should not be perceived as a limitation to someone's speech and instead should be seen as a tool that magnifies a person's intent and nature of his/her thoughts with every word that he/she is able to use. Amy Tan supports her argument by providing the reader with her family's cultural background and describing how her mother was discriminated by stockbrokers and doctors merely because her English seemed "improper". Tan's purpose is to make her readers aware of her internal language that she shares with her mother and convince them that language does not have to be complex, uniform or perfectly structured to be understood.  Language can be understood through words that are simple, yet filled with meaning, intent, and passion. Mother Tongue is an example of that. Amy Tan, a daughter of Chinese immigrants, admitted that at a certain point in her life, she viewed at the language that her mother spoke as broken and embarrassing to listen to. Her perspective immediately changed when she realized that her mother's language was being attacked. Her mother was being discriminated against because of the way she spoke. That was when Tan slowly and unknowingly accepted this language as her own as well. To Tan, this language was not broken or improper. To Tan, this language was not a language. To, this "language" was simply her way of communication with her family. To Tan, this was her Mother Tongue. Tan establishes a relaxing and relatable tone/setting throughout her narrative and she does this by using simple yet vivid wording in order to attract an audience of all ages and all races and to prove that language can be transcended with simplicity and meaning alone.

            As a reader, I looked at this text as a revelation. This text gave me a sudden realization that I too share the same background as Tan and that I too have a mother tongue of my own. The text was very relatable in my perspective. Growing up, I've experienced events similar to the ones Tan spoke of. I remember my father being scolded by the owner of a deli across the street that he was stupid, cheap, and that he should go back to China based on his irregular English. I also remember my mother being turned away during parent teacher conference because the teacher simply did not want to bother with my mother's English. My mother and father was not taken seriously just like how Tan's mother was not either.

            Although I can relate to the author very much so and agree that language should not serve as a barrier to the way we try to understand or be understood by each other, many other people may disagree. Many people do not have thick and choppy accents like Chinese Americans. Not many have the ability to see the image that Tan is trying to convey: the idea of a language that speaks to all also known as her Mother Tongue. Tan also does not consider the fact that many people may not have their own Mother Tongue or that English may have been their first language. Therefore, they may not be able to understand that Mother Tongue is not simply, just another language. It is another language with structure and vocabulary, just like any other language. It seems that Tan originally wanted to gain an audience of all nationalities, but I believe that there will be a more limited amount of readers and more Chinese American readers than any other because they can relate the most out of this text.

            Overall, I agree with Tan. I agree with her that language is about meaning/intent and not solely based on perfect vocabulary or perfect speech. At the end of the day, the Mother Tongue is just another language and every language has its own way of interpreting meaning and passion. I also agree that the Mother Tongue is something important and something that should be valued, but I need to address something as well. I believe that the Mother Tongue is much more than a language spoke between you  and your parents/family. The Mother Tongue is a way of speech that defines you and your cultural background and given that it is something of value, it needs to be protected. The Mother Tongue isn't something to be ashamed of, but instead, should be something that should be embraced and protected.