Michael Centeno

Amy Tan’s Mother Tounge is about how a woman who grew up with an immigrant mother from China who speaks “poor” English debates with herself about what effect that has on her life, and how “proper” English is truly calculated. She talks about the art of the English language, and how complex it is. Tan writes, “I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language-the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all – all the Englishes I grew up with.” One really interesting thing about this essay is how Tan says she uses complex English when talking to her friends and colleagues, and she uses basic English when talking with her mother. I guess she does this when she talks with her mother so she can understand better. I find this funny because I do the same thing with my grandparents, whose English is also poor. Tan also writes that she uses the same type of poor English when talking with her husband, which is also interesting. One thing I find interesting is how she discusses how her language at home inhibited her ability to score high on English tests, or an IQ test, or even the SAT, and she blames it squarely on her mother, even though the studies show that language is developed more in peer groups than in households, according to Tan. She also gets into the stereotype of Asians being much better at Math than they are in English, and how she scored high on math tests, but low on English tests, and she asks the question: “Why there are not more Asian Americans represented in American literature. Why are there few Asian Americans enrolled in creative writing programs? Why do so many Chinese students go into engineering?” I found that part to be especially interesting. Another part I found interesting was how when Amy was on the phone with her mother’s stockbroker, she was “translating” her mother’s incorrect English to proper English, and stated that she was embarrassed by her mother’s English. That part of the story was interesting to me as well. Lastly, Tan writes about her “rebellious” nature and going against the “status-quo” so-to-speak, when she transfers from pre-med to English in her freshmen year of college. This essay is an overall fascinating love story of a new language that she and her mother are navigating and shows generational progress of the language. 

Works Cited:
Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. The Threepenny Review, 1990.

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