Regards, Essay Example

Dear Cousin,

Happy birthday! Knowing you are an avid reader just like me, I thought you might enjoy this collection of essays. I first learned of it through one of my classes at Wentworth. When I’m home for spring break, I would love a chance to talk with you about it. I’m especially interested to hear your thoughts on Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue.” There are two moments in the essay that intrigued me, and I’d like to hear your thoughts about them.
The first takes place when Tan writes about how she describes her mothers English to people as “broken”, or “fractured”. In other words her mothers English is something that in the literal sense, needs to be repaired. She goes on to say that she has also heard the word “limited” and feels that the use of the word also limits the hearers perception of the person speaking. We often use the expression “broken English”, without realizing that we perceive the speaker as broken or unintelligent. When we say to someone that his or her English is broken, does it in turn mean that his or her thought process is broken? Or do things just get stuck in translation? For example, take the words “the red house”, translate them into Spanish and read them back in English. You will get the words “the house red”. Upon hearing someone use this literal translation, you would perceive this person as speaking broken English and perhaps even label them as less than intelligent. In reality, this person is not less intelligent than you; they are simply using the literal translation of a sentence or phrase.
The second moment that had me most intrigued is in the final paragraph when Tan remarks about how easy to read her mother found Tan’s book The Joy Luck Club. Prior to that, Tan had just finished describing writing that book with her audience in mind. Essentially keeping her language simple for those readers who are not native speakers of English. Do you think that her reasoning helps or hinders the non-native English speaker?
This book was a great read, and I cannot wait to talk with you about Amy Tan’s essay in particular. Enjoy your birthday and I will see you soon!

Works Cited

Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. Home Is Where The Heart Dwells. Weblogs at Harvard
Law School, 6 Feb. 2008. Web. 18 Jan. 2015.