“Understanding Foreign Languages”
Many people around the world read English literature. In the last century, many immigrants have traveled to the United States to benefit from what it has to offer. After speaking a native language for many years, the concept of learning a new language may be challenging at first. While learning a new language people make observations, and take the aid of their native values to create some sort of understanding. In order to feasibly understand a foreign language and literature, one must make connections with his or her native tongue and surroundings. An essay that derives similar concepts is “Mother Tongue,” written by Amy Tan. This essay describes Tan’s mother’s ability to speak the English language. The Second piece that has been analyzed is “Learning to Read and Write,” written by Fredrick Douglas. This story gives us an idea of how Fredrick Douglas learned how to read and write, even with him being deprived from education as a child. These figures have developed certain methods to create an understanding from a foreign language.
People who speak more than one language often reflect to their native language and status to speak in English. “It has become our own intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with.” (Tan 80) Here Tan describes to us the type of English she would speak if conversing with her mother. This type of English isn’t grammatically correct, but can derive meaning since it relates to how they speak in their native language. Fredric Douglas tells us about the book that he receives on the topic of slavery. “I read them over and over again with unabated interest. They gave me tongue to interesting thoughts of my own soul, which had frequently flashed through my mind and died away for want of utterance.” (Douglas 76) Here, Douglas describes to us how he connects his life to the book he has been reading. Since he can relate to the material with his own life story,...