Mother Tongue by Amy Tan Essay

Mother Tongue by Amy Tan            Language has always been an important communication method used by most people. The exchange or words makes it possible for people to convey their feelings and emotions about certain things happening in their lives.            Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue showed more than what was deemed of communication.  Action is one other element that should also be considered in communication. For this particular text, the author was able to show the readers how difficult communication was for her mother.

Her mother was having difficulty expressing her thoughts in a language that she has been unfamiliar with. Aside from oral communication, Tan’s mother would ask her to do the talking, especially in the telephone. This would help the two respondents to easily understand each other. Symbols may also be used in communication.Accents that people have in speaking a language uncommon to them may sound peculiar for others. These people are often regarded as different, for they have difficulty in sharing their thoughts and emotions in the language that has been known to many. These people have been marked as different for they are unable to communicate well with peers.

These people are laughed at and are branded as non citizens of the country, regardless of whether or not this is true or not. I believe that laughing at other people for the way they speak is unruly and and uncalled for. They should be given equal status as that of any other individual, for they are also citizens of this country who should be given the necessary respect that is due anyone.            From the text given, I believe that Tan felt irritated at the same time pitiful towards her mother. At an early age, she had to learn her mother’s voice and communicate with people through the telephone the way her mother would.

Regardless of how irritated she may be, I feel that there is a sense of pity coming from her end. Although they have been in the United States for some time already, her mother still has difficulty with her pronunciation and has an accent. As a daughter, she does not want other people to just look down at her mother the way any other person would. Respect begets respect, and this is something that she hoped would be given not just to her mother, but for others who suffer from the same dilemma.