Language is a bridge that may be used as means as communication. We may not fully understand what one person may be saying, but it’s full of observation and imagery. In her 1990 The Threepenny Review magazine essay “Mother Tongue,” author Amy Tan describes the effects of her mother’s broken English and how it helped her shape the way she saw things. Unlike Tan, both my parents were well educated and spoke English as our primary language. I was able to read and write well in English; but as time went on, I began to use slang and discontinued studying the English language. In “Mother Tongue,” Tan describes her mother’s English as the language “that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world” (Tan 77). Tan Explains that her mom’s broken English helped her see things differently, to her “Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery” (Tan 77). Growing up, she was embarrassed of her mom’s “broken” English and viewed her poorly because of it. While trying to be swayed into a career in math or science, she proved many people wrong by becoming a writer. Although English wasn’t her strongest skill set, she enjoyed the challenge of disproving assumptions about herself.
Unlike Tan, I grew up in a home where the primary language was English and there was no English barrier amongst us. Both my parents were able to communicate with me and I had no embarrassing moments with them. They would often stress the importance of education and the importance of expanding my vocabulary. Often my parents would have my sisters and I work on word books to help strengthen our vocabulary and we were unable to watch television till our assignments were completed. My mom would often tell us that “If we didn’t learn to speak proper, we would struggle in the world”. Unlike Tan, I had the luxury of having parents who spoke the primary native language of the land and was able to provide me with a foundation towards success. As time went on, my proficiency in English has gone down. As a child, I would often get into trouble by using slang such as “hella” or “tight”. These were not words that my