Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" Reading Response

In Amy Tan’s personal narrative, Mother Tongue (1990), Tan describes the language barriers that she faced while growing up and that her mother still faces.  Amy Tan talks about the differences in the way she speaks to a predominantly English speaking audience and how she changes her English voice to accommodate the “broken” English of her Chinese immigrant mother.  Tan also reveals stories from her childhood in order to relay to the audience how her mother was treated due to her “limited” English vocabulary and to inform her audience that although her mother’s English is limited, that her thoughts are rhythmic, intelligent, and filled with imagery.  Amy Tan’s personal story of her mother’s tongue speaks to a wide range of audiences.

          I found Amy Tan’s story to be well written and interesting.  Although, when she started going in to the thick of how her mother talks, she lost me.  Something about a gangster and a wedding is the only thing I gathered.  Other than that, she explains her childhood stories well like how her mother used to have Amy talk to her stockbroker for her.  I think I enjoyed this story the most.  Amy Tan is talking to her mother’s stock broker all the while her mother is standing right her behind speaking loudly,  “Why he don’t send me check, already two weeks late.  So mad he lie to me, losing me money.” 

          In Mother Tongue, Amy Tan went through her childhood memories to convey how language barriers, stereotypes, and seeing her mother’s struggle with the English language pushed her to become the prolific writer that she is today.  She says “I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her (page 65, Paragraph 2).”  She goes on to describe the stereotype saying, “Asian students” …”whose English spoken in the home might also be described as “broken” or “limited,” …”always do significantly better on math and achievement tests than in English”…”And perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and into math and science, which is what happened to me (Page 67, Paragraph 3).”  She then goes on to describe that because her teachers were steering her towards a career in math, this act actually had the opposite effect.  Tan writes, “Fortunately, I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disapproving assumptions made about me.  I became an English major my first year in college, after being enrolled as pre-med (Page 68, Paragraph 1).”