Summary: “Mother Tongue”. The crux of Tan’s argument is that how one thinks about language and how one represents ideas is important. She expresses the challenges she faces in her life growing up hearing her mother using broken English. Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan 923 Words | 4 Pages. Published in 1990, this book is already a little out of date. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. What a hilarious, fascinating, and educational look at our wacky, wonderful, and WAY complicated language. Furthermore there is no preposition in any language that cannot be translated into at least three or four prepositions in English, nor are there any English prepositions that don't have numerous translations in the other language. Bryson uses humor as well as scholarship to guide the reader through the various linguistic and social movements that result in the English language. The idea of this being credible nonfiction came to a bit of screeching halt for me when Bryson described Pennsylvania Dutch as an. Cloudflare Ray ID: 5fc6104e6bc5f478 Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. I teach English as a foreign language but other than that linguistics and language learning is just a hobby, having said that, I know enough Irish, German, Czech, Russian and Spanish to know that the things he said about these languages are half truths or complete and utter codswallop. For example claiming that the German preposition/suffix "auf" is unusual among foreign words in that it has more than one meaning... anyone who has spent any time learning a language will tell you that all of them. It’s a fascinating and, as is usually the case with Bryson, entertaining account of evolution of the English language. Tan believes that everyone’s mother tongue is important and essential in life because it makes each individual special and unique. A dabbler. English is one crazy language. Later she talks about a lecture she had some time ago Tan was talking about her writing, her life, and one of her books. Why was this book even published? It is the first language you heard or spoke when you were a child. The subject matter is not that hard, so I can only guess "The Mother Tongue" was written in such a hurry that you only consulted one or two sources, where it should have been five or six. 1-Page PDF Summary of The Mother Tongue . The best chapter is the one on what is considered obscene language, not because it feels good to curse, but because it incr. I know exactly a little bit about English, and a little bit less about linguistics in general. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. This was the cause of the eternal chagrin of my mother who, being a staunch nationalist, wanted me to prefer Hindi over English. This nonfiction piece is a collection of thoughts on the English language, its history, and its place in the world. I don’t consider myself a word or language nerd at all, yet I loved all the trivia, such as those that I’ve quoted below. Amy Tan tells the story of how she becomes to have a strong natural love for language. Need another excuse to go to the bookstore this week? See all 5 questions about The Mother Tongue…. September 28th 1991 Language is a natural and essential aspect of the human condition and the more you know about language evolution and acquisition, the more you should appreciate the diversity of successful communications. Moreover it came to her sense that language not only "authorizes" individuals to participate as members of a designated community, it is also a essential key in enabling individuals to establish and define the dimensions of … Bryson's book on the English language is a compendium of linguistic trivia interspersed with the author's biased and misinformed musings on the history and features of the language. The history of English is not something you learn from reading one textbook; there is a lot of ongoing research and debate. Mother tongue is the initial language one learns as a baby; the language one grows up knowing, which is also known as the native language. Published in 1990, the book was written before Internet changed the way the world communicates and hence a lot of the content regarding the spread of languages is hopelessly outdated by now. The Summary: Mother Tongue is an essay by Amy Tan describing her life with her mother in America. I teach English as a foreign language but other than that linguistics and language learning is just a hobby, having said that, I know enough Irish, German, Czech, Russian and Spanish to know that the things he said about these languages are half truths or complete and utter codswallop. She recited to me a famous couplet in Malayalam, which said: Non-fiction. One form of English she grew up with is her mother's broken English which by others is sometimes seen as limited and fractured. Bill Bryson turns his sharp-eyes to "The Mother Tongue" and takes us all on a fabulous journey through and overview of the intricacies of human language. Bill Bryson turns his sharp-eyes to "The Mo. … This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson. Welcome back. If English is your mother tongue, this book will amaze and amuse you with interesting tidbits about just how our language evolved into the wonder it is. Sorry Mr Bryson, but as a historical linguist of English myself, I cannot take this book seriously. How has our language achieved this global status? 'Mother Tongue' is your native language. “Mother Tongue” reflects on the misleading illusion that language can represent one’s education level. I'm a writer, and I don't hold with slam-dunking other writers in print, because they can't reply. In Amy Tan’s ‘ Mother tongue ’, we are taken through matters of linguistics as we join Tan in her description of ‘broken English’; this she further compares to the standards English. Bryson's true gift is in making the nature of linguistics both understandable and relevant. The Mother Tongue (ISBN 0-380-71543-0) is a book by Bill Bryson which compiles the history and origins of the English language and its various quirks. Mother Tongue by Amy Tan Amy Tan starts her essay clarifying she is not a scholar of English or literature, but a writer. English was made through three invasions and a cultural revolution. Rhetorical Analysis of “Mother Tongue” written by Amy Tan “So easy to read”(p.4). There are so many errors, inaccuracies, misconceptions, misunderstandings and whatnot, I don't even know where to begin. While battling Fizzolian Snargletoothed Whatsits?! Get your facts straight and publish a revised edition is the best advice I can give you. It is subtitled English And How It Got That Way. It is the first language you heard or spoke when you were a child. The author has fun playing with words - I laughed out loud multiple times. She discusses the different forms of English that she uses in her daily life. English 9 May Argument Analysis of ‘Mother Tongue’ by Amy Tan Mother tongue ed by Amy Tan reflects her personal rumination and assessment concerning “broken English” as opposed to Standard English. Amy tan mother tongue Pages: 2 (300 words) Analysis Mother Tongue Amy Tan Pages: 2 (297 words) Analysis of "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan Pages: 1 (179 words) Reading Journal For Mother Tongue Pages: 2 (359 words) Questions on Tan's, Mother Tongue Pages: 2 (449 words) Unfortunately it's also a world where the Harry Potter books are "translated" for American readers, lest we be too confused by the lingo: "What's this? I have to share my discontent with the world after keeping the words bottled up inside me for so long. Mother Tongue Summary & Response. You know, there are probably better books on the history of the English language, there are probably deeper books on the nature of linguistics, there are probably a million reasons why you might not read this book - but it tackles something that we all ought to be interested in, our mother tongue, with style, flare and humour. ), As a language lover, The Mother Tongue is fun and informative. You will read this book, and say YES, absolutely, I always wondered..., etc. And wearing a jumper? “People don't talk like this, theytalklikethis. ...Mother Tongue The essay I want to write on is Mother Tongue, which is written by Amy Tan. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Ever since I learned to read, English has been my favourite language - I took to it like a duck takes to water (at least, I guess they take to it willingly, and that baby ducks are not paddled until their feathers fly by Mamma Duck to make them). “Mother Tongue” explores Amy Tan’s relationship with the English language, her mother, and writing. Mother Tongue 1199 Words | 5 Pages. Refresh and try again. In its first pages, Bryson reports OED editor Robert Burchfield's theory that American English and British English are drifting apart so rapidly that within two hundred years we won't be able to understand each other. I picked this up thinking that Bryson had, in my experience, always been entertaining, witty and informative and that this was a topic of much interest to me, so how could I go wrong? Sorry Mr Bryson, but as a historical linguist of English myself, I cannot take this book seriously. This book is impenetrable!" Summary: This amusing and informative book surveys the history of the English language and all its vagaries and perplexities of word origins, spellings, and pronunciations and why it has become so successful as a world language . Talking, when you think about it, is a very strange business indeed.”, “At a conference of sociologists in America in 1977, love was defined as "the cognitive-affective state characterized by intrusive and obsessive fantasizing concerning reciprocity of amorant feelings by the object of the amorance." There are simply too many mistakes that have no place in a well-researched book. The one thing that bothered me the most about this book was a huge error it had on swearwords, in reference to my mother tongue Finnish: The Mother Tongue is the story of the evolution of the English language, from its humble beginnings as a Germanic tongue to what it has evolved into over the centuries. Lucy remembers this experience while … (And I'm not even a linguist. Published in 1990, this book is already a little out of date. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Big Idea #2: Repeated conquests of the British Isles changed and expanded the English language. I know and I do even realise that Bill Bryson is considered an entertaining author and that he also seems to be much loved and appreciated by many. I read this for my college rhetoric class, and fell in love with the enjoyable read with knowledge worthy of an upper level college English class. In modern history, the English language has come to occupy a dominant position. Non-fiction. To understand what anyone is saying to us we must separate these noises into words and the words into sentences so that we might in our turn issue a stream of mixed sounds in response. Mother Tongue: The English Language, by Bill Bryson, London: Penguin Books, 1990 (link is to a different, in-print edition). They don't translate! And most of your sources are a decade or two out of date, even for 1991. I found it from my local library in the OverDrive app. Start by marking “The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Below is a preview of the Shortform book summary of The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson. Harry's eating a biscuit? I gave this book 4 stars for an enjoyable reading experience. Around 1.5 billion people around the world speak English—roughly 20 percent of the human population. He settled in England in 1977, and worked in journalism until he became a full time writer. I'm what you might call a big fan of language. This introductory argument about the “power of language” is referential to the quality of Tan’s writing in “Mother Tongue” and to her larger point regarding different forms of English and writing for a specific audience. The article "Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is insightful because she shares the struggles of growing up as a bilingual Asian-American, where in her home English wasn't the primary language. She grew up taking phone and making phone calls for her mother. Studied a few foreign languages, took a linguistics class or two in college. But, if I'm being honest, I'm not entirely sure how accurate it is. Should we really isolate someone because they speak differently than we do? Then she reali es her mother was hearing her. Latin and Greek influenced it when St. Augustine and others brought Christianity to England. In other words, mother tongue is called first language or the dominant language an individual can have over other he has had to learn over time. For example claiming that the German preposition/suffix "auf" is unusual among foreign words in that it has more than one meaning... anyone who has spent any time learning a language will tell you that all of them have words with dozens of meanings (Except maybe Esperanto?). Overview; Big Idea #1: Many of the world’s languages can be traced back to a common ancestral language. We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. There are simply too many mistakes that have no place in a well-researched book. This nonfiction narrative essay was originally given as a talk during the 1989 State of the Language Symposium; it was later published by The Threepenny Review in 1990. In a more open medium like this, I am prepared to serve Bryson as he serves others, but with a little less barren pedantry. Summary: She has to tell people her mothers English is broken or fractured. Read the full comprehensive summary at Shortform. When it comes to Bill Bryson, I tend to prefer his travelogues. by William Morrow Paperbacks, The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. Lucy now describes how she likes to eat cow's tongue, "served in a sauce of lemon juice, onions, cucumber, and pepper" (44). Her mother had a brain tumor and her father and brother both died of brain tumors. And by these means we converse. I'm looking for an audio version of this book. Bryson is a funny man and a witty writer and this book ranges from the first recorded sentence in English - "This she-wolf is a reward to my kinsman" - to Cockney rhyming slang, though palindromes, anagrams and the politics of spelling. William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, FRS was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. Syllables, words, sentences run together like a watercolor left in the rain. The kiss was not typical of a young child--she sucked Tanner's tongue as if trying to discover its flavor. Your IP: 157.230.239.3 Some of the stories are interesting, and even reasonably factual, but at other times the failed fact-checking is glaringly obvious--and come on, the perpetuation of the "Eskimo Snow Myth"? She also grew up to be ashamed of her mothers poor speaking skills. Amy is an ethnic Chinese writer who was born and living in United States. That is jargon - the practice of never calling a spade a spade when you might instead call it a manual earth-restructuring implement - and it is one of the great curses of modern English.”. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Summary Characters You will laugh, smile, and learn a few things while you're at it!!! Video Summaries of The Mother Tongue; 1-Page Summary of The Mother Tongue; Full Summary of The Mother Tongue. The Mother Tongue is a way of speech that defines you and your cultural background and given that it is something of value, it needs to be protected. That was a theory made back when cell phones still required a battery the size of an unabridged dictionary, long before the internet became such a large part of the way the world communicates, in a time when. The main idea of Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" is the limitations that imperfect English can impose in society and the richness that such English can bring to writing. Please review the attached “Summary Assessment Part 2 Guide” and follow the steps to complete this order. That was a theory made back when cell phones still required a battery the size of an unabridged dictionary, long before the internet became such a large part of the way the world communicates, in a time when you couldn't imagine downloading a British Doctor Who or an American Stargate Atlantis to your iPod. She tells us this mother’s brief review is a proof of success of her writing. As a person who is not a native speaker, this book is very insightful in terms of how the most globalized language developed (and is still developing). The best chapter is the one on what is considered obscene language, not because it feels good to curse, but because it increases your cultural awareness and empathy to think about how a conquering nation determines what words are proper and what words are vile. Mother Tongue: Summary Assessment Final Project This is a Critical Analysis Essay and it is the final step in a continuation assignment. Amy Tans "Mother Tongue" is a look into the way some people, look to language as a way as a sign of how educated you are. The author is a fictional writer who is “fascinated by language in daily life” and uses language as a daily part of her work as a writer. The subject matter is not that hard, so I can only guess "The Mother Tongue" was written in such a hurry that you only consulted one or two sources, where it should have been five or six. Here, Tan alludes to the concept of the “mother tongue”: a child’s earliest language, often used with a primary caregiver, who in many instances is the mother. The Mother Tongue - Chapter 10 Order Out of Chaos Summary & Analysis Bill Bryson This Study Guide consists of approximately 29 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Mother Tongue. How the broken speech of her mother has had an influence on her life. ‘Mother Tongue’ is your native language. In its first pages, Bryson reports OED editor Robert Burchfield's theory that American English and British English are drifting apart so rapidly that within two hundred years we won't be able to understand each other. In the article "Mother Tongue"Amy Tan shares her personal opinions on the English Language. That's just how prepositions are! Germanic tribes took it to Britain, followed soon after by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. We live in a new world! The history of English is not something you learn from reading one textbook; there is a lot of ongoing research and debate. To see what your friends thought of this book. Short summary of Mother Tongue. The Mother Tongue isn't something to be ashamed of, but instead, should be something that should be embraced and protected. I'm a longtime fan of Bill Bryson, but I had never read this early nonfiction work of his and was delighted to see that my library had a copy of the audiobook. To create our list,... With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson—the acclaimed author of. You will read this book, and say YES, absolutely, I always wondered..., etc. • Tan elaborates this idea by scrutinizing her mother's language, her own use of English and society's response to … As a language lover, The Mother Tongue is fun and informative. Bryson's true gift is in making the nature of linguistics both understandable and relevant. Anyone have one they want to sell or donate? Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published If you had to learn English as a second language (and more power to you), then bless your heart for taking on the task. Amy Tan ends her essay, “Mother Tongue” with this short and even grammatically wrong sentence.