Analyse af Amy Tans 'Mother Tongue'

In the essay, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, she talks about her mother speaking ‘limited’ English and how it affects her childhood. Amy Tan is a Chinese American woman who has a mother who has immigrated to America. Because of the immigration, her Mother cannot speak ‘Standard English’ because of that, other people look down on her and thinks she is stupid. But in reality, the mother is quite clever, she is a stock trader. In the essay, she mentions an example where her mother is not being treated like Amy Tan just because of her ‘broken’ or ‘limited’ English as Amy Tan would describe it.

Analytical essay

We have all probably experienced, heard, or perhaps even been exposed to being treated differently. People look down on you if you are not good enough in their eyes. They start treating you differently and in the worst case, they demean you. In the essay, "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan, she talks about her mother is put further down in the so-called hierarchy just because she speaks “Broken English". She is treated variously, and other people think she is stupid only because she speaks ‘broken’ or ‘limited’ English as Amy Tan would describe it. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. Amy Tan is a very well-known Chinese American writer. She grew up in the United States with her immigrant mother. Because she grew up in the American streets, she went to school, etc. and learned how to speak ‘standard’ English. But she spoke more than one kind of English she also spoke ‘broken’ English, but most of the time she knew when to talk it and whom to talk it with. “I heard myself saying this: "Not waste money that way." My husband was with us as well, and he didn't notice any switch in my English […] I've often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me” Even though her husband might talk ‘standard’ English he has become a part of the so-called ‘broken English family club’ where it doesn’t matter to speak perfect English. Amy Tan described it as “It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that related to family talk, the language I grew up with” So for her, it does not matter if you speak ‘standard’ or ‘broken’ English. Yet Amy is saying that ‘broken’ English is approved in her world she is still covering her mother and her language while the mother is talking to other people. Since Amy was 15 years old, she has been helping her mother talk to people where it was Amy that had to dress up as her mother just so that they could get more ‘benefits’ out of it. “When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she. In this guise, I was forced to ask for information or even to complain and yell at people who had been rude to her”. This example may emphasize that even though Amy is used to her mother speaking broken English, Amy may not have fully accepted it as she still ‘covers’ her mother’s language as an adult.