The term 'mother tongue' is defined as: the language which a person has grown up speaking from early childhood, thus the phrases 'native language' and 'mother tongue' are equivalent in meaning, however they are not synonyms. As, the noun 'native' refers to a country/nation, whereas the noun 'mother' relates to the individual's parent.
Today, we had a class discussion about the article 'Mother Tongue' written by Amy Tan, where she discussed the perks of speaking multiple types of English or as she states, "Englishes".
Personally, I can relate to this article, as I, myself, have to switch up my "Englishes" sometimes, depending on who I am communicating with. For example, when I speak to my grandfather, I tend to pronounce letters like "t", whereas if I'm speaking to my friend I wouldn't. I see eye to eye with Tan when she states that there is a "different sort on English that relates to family talk".
In addition to that, in the article 'Mother Tongue' Tan addresses the numerous issues that come with having family members who speak a different type of the English language and she has personally experienced that with her mother's simplified English, and yes I said it was a simplified version of English, as there many types of "Englishes" out there and her mother's version is solely simplified, it's NOT 'broken' or 'limited'.
Sadly, the world we now live in is incredibly hypocritical. How? Why? Because, the English language did not originate from England or America or Canada, it mostly originated from other languages such as, French and German, and most people don't acknowledge that, as, if they heard someone with a German or French 'mother tongue' attempt to speak English, I'm quite certain that they would perceive them as "lower" than them. In all honesty, that isn't even logical, because without those Germans and French people, the English language would not even exist; all these songs you turn up to, wouldn't of have been made. So here's what I have to say to everyone out there who thinks that Cristiano Ronaldo's english is "broken"- people like Ronaldo are actually "higher" than you, why? Because they are BI or TRI-lingual when you're not. Therefore, they are actually more privileged in life, because they have the ability to communicate with a variety of cultures, whereas you're missing out!
In conclusion, I believe that a person's 'mother tongue' is the language that associated with one's 'family talk' and for that I have a better understanding to why Tan kept referring to her mother's English as her 'mother tongue', this is because Tan herself doesn't originate from an English speaking country, therefore 'standard English' isn't a norm in her 'native' country. Also, I hope that after reading my point of view on this topic, everyone can learn to respect all types of "Englishes".
Today, we had a class discussion about the article 'Mother Tongue' written by Amy Tan, where she discussed the perks of speaking multiple types of English or as she states, "Englishes".
Personally, I can relate to this article, as I, myself, have to switch up my "Englishes" sometimes, depending on who I am communicating with. For example, when I speak to my grandfather, I tend to pronounce letters like "t", whereas if I'm speaking to my friend I wouldn't. I see eye to eye with Tan when she states that there is a "different sort on English that relates to family talk".
In addition to that, in the article 'Mother Tongue' Tan addresses the numerous issues that come with having family members who speak a different type of the English language and she has personally experienced that with her mother's simplified English, and yes I said it was a simplified version of English, as there many types of "Englishes" out there and her mother's version is solely simplified, it's NOT 'broken' or 'limited'.
Sadly, the world we now live in is incredibly hypocritical. How? Why? Because, the English language did not originate from England or America or Canada, it mostly originated from other languages such as, French and German, and most people don't acknowledge that, as, if they heard someone with a German or French 'mother tongue' attempt to speak English, I'm quite certain that they would perceive them as "lower" than them. In all honesty, that isn't even logical, because without those Germans and French people, the English language would not even exist; all these songs you turn up to, wouldn't of have been made. So here's what I have to say to everyone out there who thinks that Cristiano Ronaldo's english is "broken"- people like Ronaldo are actually "higher" than you, why? Because they are BI or TRI-lingual when you're not. Therefore, they are actually more privileged in life, because they have the ability to communicate with a variety of cultures, whereas you're missing out!
In conclusion, I believe that a person's 'mother tongue' is the language that associated with one's 'family talk' and for that I have a better understanding to why Tan kept referring to her mother's English as her 'mother tongue', this is because Tan herself doesn't originate from an English speaking country, therefore 'standard English' isn't a norm in her 'native' country. Also, I hope that after reading my point of view on this topic, everyone can learn to respect all types of "Englishes".
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