Asian culture is a valued and rich culture that interacts within American society, along many other cultures that form the phrase of “American Melting Pot”. Although there have been Asian immigrants in the United States since the early years of the young country, they are still viewed as different.  In Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, the author shows the hardships in her life, adjusting to a new American culture as an Asian American, due to broken language and stereotypes placed upon her for her race. These hardships and issues helped shape the writer and person she is today. 

One way we see a struggle in our author’s life, is through the embarrassment that she has for her mother. In the story, the author states her embarrassment for her mother’s English. For example, the author tells a story how she had to talk on the phone for her mother. The author and her mother later go to talk in person with the person on the phone.  Amy describes herself as “red-faced and quiet” (Tan 344), while her mother yelled at the broker, with her broken English. An article from Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, talks about how there is a known prejudice against other ethics that come to America, because of their accents. Hearing a different type of dialect, automatically makes one assume they are nonnative and an outgroup from society before interacting with the individual (Hansen, Karolina, and John F. Dovidio). This analysis can make it easy to understand the embarrassment, being a part of a different culture.  To continue, we also see the author speak of the limitations she had put on her mother, because of her English. She believed that her mother’s knowledge was limited, because of the way her broken English sounded. We see this from the line, ”…growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say.” (Tan 344). This example shows us how the author how a broken language can interpret a negative meaning, such as a lack knowledge. If a daughter should view her mother like this, it’s evident that society will view her the same if not worse. A study was done to show how being a minority, and being difficult to understand can affect your chance of receiving a job. The study shows, that interviewers were less likely to choose a person that spoke with a heavy accent (Hansen, Karolina, and John F. Dovidio). As you can see there is a barrier placed on minority groups due to their broken language, which is a hardship for any Asian American trying to succeed in the workplace. 

To continue, we can see the theme of struggle in the relationships of the authors entire family. The author writes about how her understanding and knowledge of English is superior to all of those in her family. Amy says in the story that she feels like she has to speak a certain type of English with her mother, husband, and family, on page 343, “It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk” (Tan 343). This can be an issue and a sign of disrespect in the Asian culture. It is etiquette to treat your elders with complete respect in Asia. Speaking pure English in front of your elders can be a sign of disrespect, because they may not understand this language and you are insulting their knowledge (Hyun, Jinhee K., and Susan A. Fowler). Amy also mentions in her story how she strays from her mother’s influence of medicine, and instead follows English as her major study of interest. This is not a typical path for an Asian American. The author describes this on page 346 with, “...I have noticed in survey’s –in fact, last week- that Asian students, as a whole, always do significantly better on math achievement tests than in English.” (Tan 346). These example shows how hard is was for Amy to honor her family and be successful at the same time. With having to be careful and cautious to show respect, along with going against her family’s traditions and expectations, Amy was faced with difficult challenges. 

Finally, we use the conflict of different cultures and how it affects the writer’s career. Amy has a chance to write a very educated and advanced English novel, which will showcase her English knowledge. Instead, she wants to change her novel to show appreciation for her mother, and use simple English. She made this sacrifice knowing critics would be harsh on her story, shown by “Apart from what any critic had to say about my writing” (Tan 346). In the author’s opinion, this is a successful decision because she was able to show how much her mother meant to her. In the aspect of her career, this decision may hurt her review as a writer. This is another example of how her Asian American culture has created a hard time in her life. I think it’s awesome that she decided to make that sacrifice for her mother, it’s heartwarming and kind. It does have a negative backlash on her progress as a writer though. To continue, the author has to use different types of English’s when she writes because, she grew up in a house that spoke a simpler version of English. This affects the authors grammar and literary skills, which can hurt her career. The author states this on page 342, with “Language is a tool of my trade. And I use them all- all the English’s I grew up.” (Tan 342). As you can see from this example, the author is affected in more ways by the broken language. 

Through this essay you can see how the author was faced with adversary, being an Asian American growing up in a different culture. Amy, had to go through embarrassment, prejudice, and disrespect due to the broken language that surrounded her life. Even with her love for English, Amy had to tip toe around her love due to the original Asian culture that surrounded her. She also had to make sacrifices in her profession, in order to respect and show love for her family.  Despite the hardships that the author was placed under due to stereotypes and language regarding her race, she managed to stay original to who she and respect her family and culture. 
