The language that was spoken in Amy Tan’s home – by her Chinese mother – shaped the reader and writer she became as she grew up. She originally perceived the English that she spoke with her mother as ‘broken’ or ‘limited’ but she always felt that those labels put a negative connotation on her mother’s ability to communicate. Once she was required to demonstrate her own skill in language, she noticed that she had a hard time seeing things so black and white. An example that she gave was while taking tests, her mind would often wander way past what the question needed her to focus on. While growing up, she began to see how language affects how someone is treated by others; specifically, an individual who’s English is not considered perfect. A significant example of this was when her mother required medical attention and was initially brushed off until Tan (her daughter) stepped in and received a much more favorable response.

Those who learn English as a second language often go through the same struggles as what Tan illustrated in her narrative. For me, I have seen this with my first-generation mother and my immigrant grandmother as well as with my boyfriend and his family. In both instances, a child who learned English in the American school system and with their peers often found themselves having to communicate for their parents to others and vice versa. English was my first language while my boyfriend’s first language was Spanish, on many occasions I have seen him struggle to communicate in situations that require his language to command respect; for example when calling companies to fight for his rights as a customer or even to call the bank in need of information. Personally, I can tell how someone views me by the language that they use when speaking to me. This happens to me quite often, as a young mother and a person of color, I often notice people talking to me as if I will not understand them if they use ‘big’ words or complex sentences. Eventually, once people hear me speak and can hear the knowledge that I carry, they tend to realize that I do not need them to dumb things down for me in any way. Language holds an extremely vital part of human communication and it allows people’s knowledge to be unfairly labeled.

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