After reading “Mother Tongue”, by Amy Tan the role that language played within her life was a rather significant one. Tan had not known the effects of the use of her own language within her personal life. The effects of her language were rather subtle, but actually had a large impact. When Tan was growing up her perception of her mother’s English was changing as she got older. Tan thought of her mothers words as representing her when she writes, “I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English.” (Tan 2). Tan thought of her mother’s words and thoughts as poor quality and was embarrassed of her, Tan had though this mainly because she believed that if you can not express yourself correctly then you are not thinking correctly. The use of language had changed Tan’s own perception of herself because her upbringing had an effect on English language skills. Language had shaped Tan’s perception of herself when she writes, “I think my mother’s English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well” (Tan 2) and “And I believe that it had affected my results on achievement test, I.Q. tests, and the S.A.T.” (Tan 2). Tan’s perception of herself concluded to her believing that her upbringing and the English she spoke growing up had an effect on her when she was young and how she spoke as she got older. Tan had become of her own language biases and those of others when she realized the reason there very few Asian-American writers. Tan asked herself why there are not more Asian-American writes and had came to the conclusion when she writes,”And this makes me think that there are other Asian-American student whose English spoke at home might also be described as “broken” or “limited.” (Tan 3) and “And perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and into math and science, which is what happened to me.” Tan realized that her own bias and the biases of others stemmed mainly from the perception of the English language and the “limited” ability some people have and how much of an effect it can have on people.

I personally believe that people who learn English or are raised in non-English households who speak English as a second language are most definitely aware of how language is used around them. The difference of language and the use of English can be staggeringly different to what their normally used to and can have effects on their ability to properly comprehend what is being said. Some can even understand English perfectly and switch between two or more languages and be fine. I am most definitely aware of how English is used around me and I can pick up subtle differences. I mainly speak English so it has no major effect on me.

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