Jonathan Mushrush Mother Tongue

Amy Tan was born in 1952 in Oakland California. Amys parents fled to California in the late 1940s to get away from Chinas Cultural Revolution. Being immigrants Amys parents had to learn English, but because it was their second language they spoke very limited or broken English. Any learned at a young age that having her parents not knowing English as well as other kids in school, that she would have a disadvantage all through her schooling. Amy Tan loved to write and loved language in general. Amy originally wrote Mother Tongue in 1990 and was published in the Threepenny Review. By this time Amy had written her first novel The Joy Luck Club, in addition she had written other small stories and essays. Amy is known as a gifted storyteller and within five years she had written two other novels The Kitchen Gods Wife in 1991 and The Hundred Secret Senses in 1955. Amy states that she was recently made very aware of the different Englishes she uses. With the different English that was spoken in her home compared to when she was at school, Amy says I think my mothers English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well. Sociologists and linguists would probably say that the language you develop is influenced more by your peers. However, Amy argues that the language spoken in the family and especially that of an immigrant family plays a large role in their language they develop. Any talks about how she and perhaps other Asian American students are pushed or persuaded to pursue a career or major in the areas they are best at, such as math or science, but typically not English. Amy explains that growing up in a house here in the United States where English is not the Mother Tongue you tend to have a disadvantage. When you only have your friends or while youre at school to help you learn English, it takes much more practice and studying. When I was in the fourth grade I remember having a couple friends who were in this exact situation, they were Asian Americans and their parents spoke little to no English. When I would

go over to their house all I heard was Vietnamese or Chinese, their parents usually wouldnt even try and speak English when we were over there. All I usually heard was yelling in another language, and I always wondered what they were yelling about. Every house has their Mother Tongue, it just depends what language its in. Amy gives specific examples of how she speaks when around her family or giving a speech in front of her peers or even just in the company of her friends. Her first example of when she noticed she was speaking much differently than she does at home is when she was giving a talk, the same talk she had given to half a dozen other groups. The talk was about her writing, her life, and her book The Joy Luck Club. Amy states the talk was going well enough, until I remembered one major difference that made the whole talk sound wrong. My mother was in the room. Amy goes on and gives another example of when she was walking down the street with her mother and her husband and she noticed that she was speaking with her mother the same way she always has. Amy asked her husband if he had noticed any change in her English and he had not. Its like if you are hanging out with family from out of town that may hav e a slight accent or speak using certain words that are common from their home town or state, and you find yourself starting to use the same language or trying to mimic their accent. I find that I have a tendency of doing this with certain friends or family. Amy states that when you grow up speaking a particular way in your home with your family it becomes habit to continue to do so even if you are an English major who has written a few novels and other literature works. Amy gives a great specific example with a contrast of how different her family speaks with one another. She videotaped and transcribed a conversation she had with her mother about a political gangster in Shanghai. Heres what she said in part: Du Yusong having business like fruit stand. Like off the street kind. He is Du like Du Zongbut not Tsung-Ming Island people. The local people call putong, the river east side, he belong to that

side local people. That man want to ask Du Zong father take him in like become own family. Du Zong father wasnt look down on him, but didnt take seriously, until that man big like become a mafia. Amy gives this great example of how English was spoken in her house and with her family in general. I think its great that she uses this in her essay to show th e difference of how a lot of immigrant families spoke English. She later goes on to give examples of what her mother reads to show that it wasnt that she didnt understand English but that speaking it was broken up or limited to how they understood it. I would have to say that if you are reading the Forbes report, and listening to the Wall Street Week, and conversing with your stockbroker you understand plenty or even go as far to say that you understand as much as those of us who have been speaking English our entire lives. I dont think its a matter of not knowing English, its being able to pronounce certain words, or words in general. Amy says her friends could only understand about 50 percent of what her mother said, or some said they understood 80 to 90 percent. Then states my mothers English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. Its my mother tongue. As I had mentioned my friends from my childhood whose parents hardly ever if ever spoke English and I dont think I understood 98 percent of wh at they said. Half way through her essay Amy really grabs your attention by saying that she was ashamed of her mothers English. Due to Amys mothers English Amy was needed to make phone calls as a child and impersonate her mother in order to get things done quicker or more efficiently. When Amy was fifteen years old her mother had her call their stockbroker. Irritated that she had not yet received a check for cashing out her small portfolio Mrs. Tan forced her fifteen year old daughter to speak with the stockbroker and try to get things figured out so her mother did not continue to lose more money. While Amy was speaking with the stockbroker her mother was whispering loudly, Why he dont send me check, already two weeks late. So mad he lie to me, losing me money. Then while Amy was trying to listen and speak with the stockbroker her mother started to speak louder and say that she was going to be in New York next week and that she was going to speak with his boss. Sure enough the very next week there

was Amy sitting red-faced and quiet while her mother shouted at the stockbrokers boss in her impeccable broken English. The other example Amy gives of having to impersonate her mother was a few days prior to writing this essay. She needed to act as her mother again in order to speak with her mothers doctor about a CAT scan that revealed a benign brain tumor. The hospital not taking her mother seriously, nor were they very sympathetic about the fact they had lost the CAT scan and that Amys mother had come for nothing. Amys mother refused to leave the hospital until her results were found and she was given her diagnosis. Being that her husband and her son both had died of brain tumors, so of course she was very anxious to find out her fate. Her mother wouldnt budge until the doctor called her daughter, Amy, who spoke perfect English, sure enough they had assurances and promises that the CAT scan would be found and her mother could finally know what was going on with her benign brain tumor. I thought Mother Tongue was very well written. Granted Amy is a very gifted story teller and novelist, but this particular piece made sense to me. I have had friends who did not speak English very well, Ive had friends whose parents did not speak English very well, being able to relate I think kept my interest and seeing what Amy had to deal with while growing up was interesting as well. She gives very good examples, whether they were serious examples such as the CAT scan, or the more humorous stockbroker story they kept the reader interested in what were they going to read next.