Apart from what any critic had to say about my writing, I knew I had succeeded where it counted when mymother finished reading my book and gave me her verdict: "So easy to read."
This highlight how if you know who you're writing to it can make you text more fun and interesting to read.
I later decided I should envision a reader for the stories Iwould write. And the reader I decided upon was my mother, because these were stories about mothers.
Again shows how the way you, read, write, and speak, changes based on how you envision the audience and can change person to person based on how they grew up.
Why are there few Asian Americans enrolled in creative writing programs? Why do so manyChinese students go into engineering! Well, these are broad sociological questions I can't begin to answer.But I have noticed in surveys -- in fact, just last week -- that Asian students, as a whole, always dosignificantly better on math achievement tests than in English. And this makes me think that there are otherAsian-American students whose English spoken in the home might also be described as "broken" or"limited." And perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and into math andscience, which is what happened to me
She talks about how in general, not just her, struggle with exceling in English because of the way people are raised and, brings up a larger social issue of Asian students being pushed into STEM and Math fields.
Math is precise; there is only one correct answer. Whereas, for me at least, theanswers on English tests were always a judgment call, a matter of opinion and personal experience.
In this it shows how she processed language and despite her not understanding specific things in English, and her clear strength in math, she overcomes this and speaks and write to people all the time without and trouble. I just enjoy how she not afraid to admit what she's not good at, it brings you back to how she started the paper and how she writes in general, it she how she's not afraid to be honest.
hey had lost the CAT scan and she had come for nothing. Shesaid they did not seem to have any sympathy when she told them she was anxious to know the exactdiagnosis, since her husband and son had both died of brain tumors. She said they would not give her anymore information until the next time and she would have to make another appointment for that. So she saidshe would not leave until the doctor called her daughter. She wouldn't budge. And when the doctor finallycalled her daughter, me, who spoke in perfect English -- lo and behold -- we had assurances the CAT scanwould be found, promises that a conference call on Monday would be held, and apologies for any sufferingmy mother had gone through for a most regrettable mistake
When Tan talks about this you can almost feel how serious she is, and it just goes to show how much the way you speak really impacts your day to day life.
Like others, I havedescribed it to people as 'broken" or "fractured" English. But I wince when I say that. It has alwaysbothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than "broken," as if it were damaged and neededto be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness.
This is another example of just how much language means to Tan and how even though certain ways to speak English may seem "broken" to some, it might be perfect English to others.
Yet some ofmy friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. Some say they understand 80 to 90percent. Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese. But to me, my mother'sEnglish is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It's my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid,direct, full of observation and imagery. That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things,expressed things, made sense of the world.
This shows how the use of language and what it means to other people can change person to person based how how you were raised.
I had learned in school and through books, the forms ofEnglish I did not use at home with my mother.Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of theEnglish I was using, the English I do use with her. We were talking about the price of new and usedfurniture and I heard myself saying this: "Not waste money that way." My husband was with us as well, andhe didn't notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It's because over the twenty years we'vebeen together I've often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me. Ithas become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language Igrew up with.
I think this quote give the deepest insight on the entire paper, it also really shows her thoughts on the sue of language in different situations and how she changes based on the audience around her. Either with her mother, husband, a crowd of people, or hospital staff, she changes the way she speaks based on what type of meaning she wants to show with her words.
I am a writer. And by that definition, I am someone who has always loved language. I am fascinated bylanguage in daily life. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language -- the way itcan evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade.And I use them all -- all the Englishes I grew up with.
This text is really nice, it's a nice intro to the author and give a further explanation of what the paper is about, and shows why she is so fascinated and enjoys studying language so much.
I am not a scholar of English or literature.
I really like how she starts this off, it shows that she analogies what she is not to introduce the readers to who she is as a person and, give you some insight on what the text might be like.