Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan
Mother Tongue I think there are two points in Tan’s essay. One main point is that her mother’s language has the power to shape not only Tan’s identity, but also the relationship she has with her mother. Her mother’s language helped shaped the way she saw things, expressed things, and made sense of the world. Though her mother’s English was broken or limited, she had no trouble understanding it, because she grew up with this language and she has adapted her mother’s way expression. She took part of what her mother said about a wedding as an example to show that this is intimacy. Words like “Du Yusong having business like fruit stand. Like off the street kind” cannot be understood by all. Because of her mother’s limited English, which the author believed reflected the quality of what she had to say, she was ashamed of her mother. She provided plenty of evidence to support her perspectives: the fact that people who served her mother did not respect her. Furthermore, Tan thought her mother’s English almost had an effect on her possibilities in life. She provided some examples that also applied to most Asian
…show more content…
Due to its special location, near Hong Kong, people in Shenzhen think highly of themselves and emulate people in Hong Kong. Last time when I was on a bus back to hotel, I could not understand what the ticket seller said in Cantonese, so I asked her to call out the stops in Mandarin. She cast a glance at me and spoke Mandarin very reluctantly. The same situation happened again when I had dinner in a local restaurant, where waiters and waitresses spoke Cantonese. They did not take me seriously after they distinguished that I was not a native, just like what Tan’s mother experienced. This is my first time to feel that my accent embarrassed me. I realized that accents could incur
Due to its special location, near Hong Kong, people in Shenzhen think highly of themselves and emulate people in Hong Kong. Last time when I was on a bus back to hotel, I could not understand what the ticket seller said in Cantonese, so I asked her to call out the stops in Mandarin. She cast a glance at me and spoke Mandarin very reluctantly. The same situation happened again when I had dinner in a local restaurant, where waiters and waitresses spoke Cantonese. They did not take me seriously after they distinguished that I was not a native, just like what Tan’s mother experienced. This is my first time to feel that my accent embarrassed me. I realized that accents could incur