Language is a massive deal around the world because it is the greatest form of communication. Without communication, people around the world would have no contact with each other and all the resources some countries use from other countries wouldn’t be available because there would be no means of communication to ask for them. In fact, these people wouldn’t even know the resources are available without communication and would probably die off. Fortunately, communication has been used through thousands of different languages for hundreds of years. The author of Mother Tongue Amy Tan, was born in the United States to Chinese immigrant parents. When Tan was younger she spent more of her time working on English and Literature than the stereotypical math and sciences. Since Tan had continued to practice her writing skills, she eventually started writing works in hope to be published. However, as Tan grew older, she was once told by a former boss that her “writing was her worst skill.” Ignoring a very ignorant boss, Tan was able to gain the fame and success from her work. As well as this article, Tan also received critical acclaims for her works such as her first novel, The Joy Luck Club. Through the Article Mother Tongue, it is clear to see the relationship between past and present immigrants and how so much immigration has changed the way traditional languages are spoken (Tan).

In Mother Tongue, Tan discusses her fascination with language in daily life. Since her parents were immigrants from China, learning English as a second language was challenging for them and different than most people who speak English as their first language. Tan explains the different forms of Englishes she grew up with because of her parents. She explains how her mother knows English and can communicate with other English speakers but it is different than what is considered to be “normal.” Some people would consider it to be “broken” and not grammatically correct. However, Tan describes the way she has communicated with her mother normal to her, because she has dealt with it her whole life (Tan). 

Immigration is something that has taken place around the world for decades. For some of these immigrates to survive and communicate wherever they have traveled to, it is important for them to learn the areas language. In this article titled, “Integrating Volunteering into the Adult Immigrant Second Language Experience,” the author is describing the experiences and difficulties of learning a second language is as an immigrant. The article states, “For adult immigrants learning English as a second language, increased oral communicative fluency is an important step toward becoming an integral part of society.” Basically, what this statement is saying, is that when learning another language, the best way to practice and become better is through communicating with people who speak that language (Dudley). Tan mentions in Mother Tongue that her mom could speak English but it came out as “broken.” This doesn’t make her mother or anyone else who learns another language any less smart than fluent speakers. This just means that the way they learn and incorporate the language into communication is a little different. The way these people speak might sound weird because it is not how the language is mostly spoken, but those people are able to understand and communicate just as well (Tan).

  Since immigration has such a huge impact on the United States it is very common to grasp that someone who doesn’t speak English as their first language might have a very strong accent or speak what is known as “broken” English. It is important to understand if a person is just using slang terms or if they have learned the language wrong. The different Englishes that Tan mentioned she has learned, are many forms of slang terms and the English language put together. However, if a person is using the wrong words or has extremely corrupt grammar, there could be many explanations. The person could have learned the language from someone else whose language was not their first language either. Which causes all kinds of opinion based and different explanations of words and meanings. The person could have had to learn the language themselves, which can be very difficult. It is important to take all of this into account when interacting with an immigrant (Dudley). Tan mentions in her article Mother Tongue, “Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery.” In this statement, she is referring to her immigrant mother. Tan is able to understand her mother’s English very clear because she recognizes the different forms for Englishes. However, other people might look at her mother differently and conclude that she doesn’t know English very well (Tan).  

Knowing that communication has been such a widespread significant part of life, it is clear to see how far communication has come. Before and after almost every major war, communication has changed between different cultures and societies. In this article titled “Modernism, Media, and the Virtual,” it described how modernism has changed and the effect it has had on the media. Throughout this article, it mentions pre-war and post-war and how social reforms and progressivism have changed language and literacy. The article lists, “realist and naturalist convictions about the representational power of language, the importance of progress, the viability of the public sphere, and the reality of common experience.” These relate to the importance of communication. For example, after war, nations tend to come together and help rebuild and support one another. While doing this, nations form alliances and peace treaties. This causes different countries from different background cultures who speak different languages to come together and communicate. Which results in the different expressions and ways in which the languages are used to communicate (Solan). 

The article also states, “the virtualizing powers of language in response to the troubling problems posed by a decentered subjectivity in the context of mass culture and new media technologies.” Communication through countries trading, importing, and exporting has been going on for decades. Different countries are able to do this because of people who understand other languages and can communicate both sides. This article is mainly about the media and different technologies. None of these new medias and technologies would be possible without communication through every language (Solan). 

Very recently though, it is possible to see the languages being used through media. Since immigration has become so huge in the United States, it is almost impossible to not see something that relates to another language or culture, or hear someone who is speaking another language. Since Spanish has become so widespread in most parts of America, it is typical to see something that is translated to Spanish underneath something written in English. This is where the media ties in. In the United States where English is the primary language, there are news channels, television shows, books, anything imaginable in the public eye that can also be in Spanish. This is because America has adapted to the widespread of different cultures and Spanish being so common. Even though Spanish is so common is America, more than likely other countries around the world have other languages that become so common as well. Places that have very high rates of immigration, are more likely to have more than one official language. 

Knowing that there are so many languages in this world, it is crazy to not try and learn at least a few. Everyone has the ability to learn another language, it just depends on that person to attempt to learn another language. Amy Tan was given an amazing opportunity to learn English when her parents came to the United States as immigrants. Even after people told her that English was never going to be her strong suit, because it was stereotypical that because she was Asian she would always be better at math and science, she was able to write English novels. The most amazing part was that it was her mom who spoke “broken” English that inspired her the most to write articles like Mother Tongue (Tan).
