
People never genuinely seem to think about how they are pronouncing things instead people do seem to think closely about what they are essentially speaking to you. Evaluate how we are actually being heard by people compared to what is actually being said in the conversation. The importance behind what we are saying or proposing is something that us ourselves understand without a language barrier affecting the meaning to what we are speaking. Others seem to not grasp the concept of this though since they are more conscious and concerned of how they are pronouncing such things rather than what they are actually speaking. People seem to speak and pronounce things differently based on their surroundings and their company. The manners in which you speak being different when you would be speaking to your friends and friends compared to when you would speak to your professors and bosses. Within the passage “Mother Tongue,” by Amy Tan it goes over what we define as proper English then going on to talk about what we see as broken English. The passage shows how unerringly the terms broken and proper can affect people’s lives within certain cultures. The passage “Mother Tongue” is also showing that this issue with proper vs broken English is a timeless concern that has occurred for many years now not just being disclosed to one culture in particular but to all cultures. 

The article, “Mother Tongue: The Language of Heart and Mind,” by The Fountain Magazine compared to the passage “Mother Tongue,” by Amy Tan significantly. The article breaks down the term mother tongue into three separate sections. The first section in the article covers the mental and emotional growth of a person being directly related to their first language - their mother tongue. This section continues talking about the importance of your first language as well as how it directly relates to your psychological and personality development in addition to how it impacts the development. Then it goes on to talk about a child’s existence, about everything they come to know in life all begins with a kid’s mother tongue – the language a kid is born into hearing and brought up speaking. A persons mother tongue forms a bond between the them and their family, especially being with the mother. A person’s characteristics and personality are hidden within a mother tongue. Certain things within a language can cause individual triggers and emotions to one. Proverbio even says, “Our mother tongue is the language we use to think, dream and feel emotion.”(Fountain Magazine).

  The second section within the article goes on to address about how a person’s mother tongue is their own cultural identity. This section shows how a child connects within their family, their culture, to their identity, and within their religion from their mother tongue. With knowing your home language and identifying with your culture the article says that it helps to shape ones identity. This lets you connect with your family on your own academic level and understanding. It lets you have and show an appreciation for your culture also letting you be yourself. 

Finally, in the last section within the article talks about your mother tongue providing you with a basis for learning. Your mother tongue giving you a hand in learning other languages…, especially new languages. An example given within this section is, “Children who come to school with a strong foundation in their mother tongue develop stronger literacy abilities in the language used at school. When parents or caregivers are able to spend time with their children and tell stories or discuss issues with them in a way that develops their mother tongue vocabulary and concepts, children come to school well prepared to learn the language of their immigrant country and succeed educationally.” (Jim Cummins). 

With all being said in the paragraphs above I believe it all relates back to Amy Tan’s writing of “Mother Tongue.” I believe the argument made with this passage and using the article above would be that people may refer to your language as broken but your mother language should always be a part of importance to you. Your culture is should be important to you no matter what others may say about it. Your heritage and culture are what really matters in life, it is your connection to your family and others. Your mother tongue identifies you as you. The research I did on this passage to find this article changed my opinion and perspective in some ways I have to admit. Those ways being such things as me not seeing how your first language or how you hearing what you did when growing up actually impacts you in life farther down the road.

 “Attitude and Behavior toward Bilingualism for Chinese Parents and Children,” written by Chien-Huei Wu was the next source I used in the annotation and comparison of “Mother Tongue,” by Amy Tan. In this article he delves into the culture of Chinese Americans, exploring the attitudes and behaviors within families and school systems. The article begins with acknowledging English as the dominant language in America today but it not being the sole language that is in America, never has been the sole language. Throughout generations generally being within the third studies have shown there being a language drop off; this being a minority group’s main language and culture now shifting to English. With breaking down the generations in the article it gives an overview of what each generation usually consists of based off of the information found in studies. The first generation is usually the first born (foreign born) being the one who is immigrating into the United States. The second generation then is the child of the first generation so people see them as the native born they have been born into a mixed parentage. Their parent is fluent in their home language but their kid (second generation) is born mostly speaking their home language in the family setting or home settings while then when being out in the world they will begin adapting to speak English. As for the third generation from a minority group they are mostly born into speaking English primarily. This seeming to be their primary language with the child having no recollection or knowledge of their mother tongue.

 An extensive conflict many have created about losing your mother tongue which is also being discussed in this article is that you are losing your home language but that isn’t the only thing people are losing with the shift to English but, you are also losing parts of your culture and heritage. Losing your heritage and culture can affect your home life and the relationships you have with your family. Particularly when you are a kid your culture is formed from a special bond you have with your family, especially the bond created between children and parents.  A person’s mother tongue ties them to their home roots, it gives them a special bond with one another. 

Another issue that had been brought up within this article between the language barriers was language within school systems. All kids no matter what their background being are all thrown into a single school system where everyone learns precisely the same things in the same careless manner as one another. Kids then being from another country or who grew up in a certain heritage group are forced to learn and speak English. This ruining their mother tongue breaking the particular relationship they had with their cultural identity. Kids are forced to learn certain things in one particular way which may not be suitable to all students, especially those students who are not born speaking English. When the students then attempt to be taught about their home country or attempt to speak their mother tongue they face a struggle. This being because of  when they were growing up their home language had been stripped from them within the school system. This causing a stress on families to decide what language to speak and in what situations they would be able to speak the certain languages.

 If you speak your mother tongue in the US nowadays people look at you like you are from another planet. Society and school systems have forced minorities to learn and speak English. This showing them that they are not seen as acceptable in society. People will not help people who are seen speaking a language other English. Cultures are looked down upon for being from another background.

For my passage “Mother Tongue,” I did not see it relating back to a historic point in time or relating to a specific background though, these issues are within society and cultures have always  been looked down upon in our society. “Mother Tongue” was written in the early 1990’s but I believe all the issues brought up by  Amy Tan are still valid in today’s society. Yes, controversy about this topic was just starting to be brought about in the time of Amy’s writings but I think we as a society have never addressed the situation fully. Language has always been around, it has just been brought up through time within different forms. I couldn’t exactly peg it to one specific time to compare Amy’s writings to. 

When people refer to broken English they are not referring just to one culture in particular they are only pointing out the one culture in which they are hearing at that particular moment. This passage is mainly dealing with the Chinese American culture, but the information talked about within passage and both articles does not solely relate to just the one culture individually. I believe everything said within the passage and the articles can be related back to all cultures within society. 

Amy Tan herself was a second generation within the Chinese American culture, this meaning that her mother was the one born solely speaking Chinese. So Tan then was born as the mix: being native born with a foreign parentage. She grew up at home speaking her mother tongue, Chinese, while then at school and in society she was required to learn and speak English. 

Amy in her writing of “Mother Tongue” says and gives examples that relay to the topics brought up in the articles about minority groups within the school systems and society. She talks about the school systems just the same as the articles had about the teachings being in a particular way and that being the only way it was done. She saw this from her own firsthand experience, teachers steering students away from their mother tongue as much as they could because their language being broken. 

 Tan also experienced what the article had touched base on being people and society judging or looking at a person differently for speaking a language other than English, even if the  language you were speaking was English but it was coming off as broken. She recalled times when she would have to speak on the phone and settle arguments for her mother since people would not give her mother the time of day saying they could not understand what she was trying to say. Even with Tan only being a kid people chose to listen to her over her mother because she spoke proper English as her mother was sought to as not. All things talked about within the articles about the Chinese American culture being judged within society was also spoken about in Amy’s passage. The article proves that the cultural barrier we have in society today also dates back centuries. The articles have really helped my essay by showing the cultural side of Amy’s passage and how it affects peoples home lives and how school systems have had a single hand in destroying a mother tongue not solely in today’s society but also dating centuries back. 
