Her living arrangements were not her only challenges; she also attended a public school due to their financial status. From majority to minority, Kim attempted to learn English watching a television and attended ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. Within the group of immigrants, Kim tried to understand the different levels that existed (Kim, 2011). She found herself wanting things the American students had, and being told no due to the beliefs of her parents. From fairy tale to scary tale, she now walked halls that were decorated with graffiti and dirty floors.
My mother spoke in normal Trini dialogue, so I would constantly hear phrases such as “Do not cut you nose to patch you bottom” and “If you see you neighbor house catch fire wet yours”. To some of my friend my mother had no idea what she was talking about and should maybe work on her English, but to me she spoke clear and understandable English. I can relate to Tan in this way, because many people did not understand her mother and assumed her grasp on English was very weak, when it was actually the opposite. Over the years, I have noticed how my mother’s dialogue has rubbed off on me. I constantly find myself speaking in the island dialogue while at home, but the second someone calls or visits, I am able to switch into a more proper English dialogue with my American friends.
Ethnicity Affects on Speaking In America today, families with foreign backgrounds are suffering greatly in our English speaking society because they don’t speak America’s public language. Children in these types of families have trouble speaking in school because English is foreign to them. A student’s ability to speak in an academic environment can be affected by several different factors. Characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, and personality can cause students to be shy and unsuccessful in an academic environment. These characteristics can extremely impinge on a person’s ability to speak in school because they take a student out of their comfort zone and make it difficult for them to speak in front of others.
She strongly dislikes her sister’s eagerness to fit in at school and tells Bianca, “You don’t always have to be what other people want you to be”, which shows us that she thinks Bianca should be herself and not follow in the path that her fellow school mates take. These two quotes show us how Kat feels about individuality and how she thinks it affects others. We often see Kat getting kicked out of the classroom for expressing her opinions which shows that she doesn't fit in. One of the first scenes in the movie shows Kat in her worn down car.The punk rock music coming from Kat's car is very different compared to the teenage girls in the car to her left. The camera shows the first group of teenage girls listening to music that you would hear on the radio, and then shows Kat, alone in her car, looking bored with her punk rock music blaring from the speakers of her car.
Although English is not my second language, I feel that “proper” English is. From Amy Tan’s essay and my own life experience, I believe that too many people in America are treated unfairly because they do not speak “proper” English. I remember growing up with my aunt and having trouble with my English because the school system was so poor. I had to be taken out of my normal classes in third grade and put in a class for kids who had trouble with their English. On career day my teacher asked me what I wanted to be, and I told her I wanted to be a lawyer.
Novelist Amy Tan (Libi Pedder / Camera Press / Retna) Tan proves her point about parents’ influence on people’s life when she states “I think my mother’s English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well”. By talking about how her mother’s English lacked a certain wholeness and clarity, she explains why her thoughts about her mother tongue were different when she was a child; “I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say.” People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants didn’t take her mother seriously, didn’t give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they didn’t hear her. Here Tan emphasizes the importance of mother tongue in somebody’s life. She believes that people may not be treated respectfully because of their poor speaking of any language. She never reflects on her mother’s difficulties as something that could’ve motivated her to become a writer.
Most only, stared and every now and then a few bold people would ask hesitantly, “Is this your daughter?” I was too young to remember their responses but as I grew older I finally felt their frustration and annoyance with the subject. Through middle school and beyond I struggled knowing who or what I was as far as race. I was often saddened and felt that the African Americans did not fully accept me since my complexion wasn’t as rich as theirs and I felt the White and Hispanic communities neglected me because my hair was kinky and not bone straight. I would often times hear people whispering back and forth “She can’t be Black, she doesn’t look like us.” Or “She’s too dark to be White” and “She kind of looks Hispanic, but she looks more Black and her hair isn’t straight.” “What is she,” the would often inquire. Deep inside I knew
From the “Persimmons”, “Mrs. Walker slapped the back of my head and made me stand in the corner.” (Lee 2-3) Speaker was suffered from the physical punishment by his teacher just because he could not distinguish between two English words: persimmons and precision. As most of the Asian learn English as their second language, their English proficiency level may be low. As a result, they often being looked down by American natives. In “Lost Sister”, “Dough-faced landlords slip in and out of your keyholes, making claims you don't understand.” (Song 48-50) This shows that the relationship between Asian and American is not good, they did not develop trust.
I can say that it is very uncommon to find two people that speak the exact same English because there are so many different forms of the language and same thing with Spanish. This is the argument that Amy Tan makes in her story, and the one I am really agree with. In “Mother Tongue”, Tan discusses the many ways in which the language that she was taught affected her life. Throughout the story, she describes her relationship with her mother, who speaks “broken” English, and how her perception of language has changed due to her mother. Whenever Tan was younger, she was always ashamed and embarrassed of the way her mother spoke because it would often sound weird and many people not familiar with her way of speaking found it very difficult to understand her.
By that meaning, when Amy Tan was a kid, she saw how her mother had difficulties in the society because the lack of communication. Therefore, when she grew up, she learned English in the right and correct way and became a successful writer. This is similar to a time when I was in her situation, I was ashamed of my parents broken English wherever they go, I had to speak for them; their limited English reflected the quality of what they had to say. That is because they weren’t able to express their thoughts, the correct way and nobody was taking them seriously, it was because of their broken English language, they were not getting good services