Zareen Tomlinson
Professor Yankovich
Eng. 12
4/12/15
Language: An Important Factor in Lives
“I was fascinated by language in daily life…. Language is the tool of my trade,” says Amy Tan, the author of Mother Tongue. Amy Tan is a writer who moved to America from China. She wanted to explore the “Englishes” that immigrants employ as she navigates through our American culture. “It was simultaneously the language of the white population and a path toward the richer, expansive identity of American,” says Manuel Munoz, author of Leave Your Name at the Border. Manuel Munoz is a writer who lives in California. Both of these authors are talking about how their native language differentiate in the society they were living in. Language is more words put together; it is a tool of communication.
In the story, Mother Tongue, Amy Tan is talking about how she used the English language she grew up with. The author would usually talk to her mother in regular English instead of broken up English and her mom was surprise that she spoke properly. For example, she was taking to her mother while walking and she was surprised. The author’s husband did not have a problem with her talking proper English to him because they have been together for 20 years. It had become her language that related to having a conversation with her family. Her mother would let Tan call important people because they would not understand the words her mother would say to them. Some people would understand when people in broken English somewhat.
In the story, Leave Your Name at the Border, by Manuel Munoz is talking about how learning English can be complicated. He was complaining about how Spanish was viewed with suspicion because Munoz believes that because illegal immigrants are being defined as part of the lower class. The author is saying how his family had to change their Spanish names to English so...