Summary
In the essay entitled Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, the author portrays how hard it is for the Asian Americans to persist through the difficulties of coping with English language. In the essay mentioned herein, Amy presents the many languages of English she learns and uses while striving to understand English language. Additionally, she further presents how learning English is a problem subsequent to the fact that English is not her best subject and because her mother uses broken English. Though English poses a great setback to her, she achieves success subsequent to her hard work and persistence. After asking friends about the language she speaks, Amy deduce the difference between the languages she speaks and successively make corrections to better her English. Generally, the author in this essay shows how hard it is for an Asian American to cope up with English language, with all odds she presents how one can emerge successful in the aftermath.
Response
The motive behind the author’s work apparent from the implications drawn from the essay is that; the author tries to present how one can still excel in learning something particularly the English language despite all odds and difficulties that one encounters. To present his main ideas, the author employs a strategy whereby she uses her own personal experience so that the reader can easily relate the story to his or her normal life experiences. I find no particular contradictions in the essay since everything is well incorporated in the paper. Additionally, I feel inspired ensuing the fact that the author became successful despite all odds. The most surprising thing about this essay is that, despite the many difficulties in working towards her dream of becoming a writer, the author was able to persist and emerge a successful person.
Works Cited
Tan, Amy. "Mother tongue." Enriching ESOL Pedagogy: Readings and Activities for
Engagement, Reflection, and Inquiry, by Vivian Zamel, Ruth Spack. Lawrence Erlbaum (2002): 431-435.
