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Intro
“Mother Tongue” is an autobiographical essay in which Amy Tan identifies the varied nature of language in her everyday life. As a result of her mother’s presence at a talk for her book, The Joy Luck Club, Tan becomes acutely aware of the many different “Englishes” she speaks. Tan realizes that this is the first time her mother has heard her daughter speak in such a setting and with such a professional tone. Tan associates the English she speaks at events with the standardized forms of English she learned in school.
Tan tells stories of her past, contrasting the English she uses at home—her “mother tongue”—with standard English. Tan speaks in the same English as her mother when they are alone and in front of her husband—he is used to her changes in speech and does not detect Tan’s shift when she responds to her mother. Referencing a recent conversation she recorded, Tan relays a story her mother shared about a Chinese political gangster; parts of the transcript perfectly capture the rhythm of her mother’s speech and the detail she provides. Tan refrains from describing her mother’s English as “broken” because it suggests that her mother’s knowledge is somehow lacking. Instead, she argues that it shows the limited perceptions others have of her mother. Her mother’s stockbroker and doctors demonstrate their own closed-mindedness, refusing to take her seriously and requiring Tan to facilitate conversations on her mother’s behalf.
Tan describes her own childhood experiences with standardized English. She struggled with her English studies because of the way her mother’s use of language influenced her internal problem-solving skills, and Tan illustrates her frustration and the way she used this frustration as motivation. Instead of admitting defeat, Tan vowed to “master” the English language, assimilating to standardized English and forgoing the use of her “mother tongue” outside interactions with her mother. It isn’t until the start of her writing career with The Joy Luck Club that she realizes that the English she writes in is unapproachable and difficult to read. As such, in finding her way back to her “mother tongue,” Tan shifts her focus to an imagined reader, using a voice that she has grown to love and accept—the voice of her mother.
