Saturday, August 25, 2007

Homework #2: Amy Tan and Marjorie Agosin

English represents for me through out my life is a traditional implied law. In my life correct grammar, has become a rule that’s so deterministic and vital to my life, that if it’s broken serious consequences could arise. I feel just like Marjorie Agosin feels about Spanish in Always living in Spanish. “To write in Spanish is for me a gesture of survival.” (Agosin, 203). In today’s atmosphere, I feel that in English is a gesture of survival because what it requires in such areas like the business world and the legal environment (such as contracts and reading other legal cases.).

Throughout my life I have been punished, for saying and believing the wrong things in society. My actions that I have taken have for my beliefs of English have been something minor, like an incorrect exam question, or something major, like saying or doing things that make your friends loose you forever. Below is an element of Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue.

“Like others, I have described it to people a “broken” or “fractured” English. But I wince when I say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. I’ve heard other terms used. “limited English”, for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perception of the limited English speaker.” (Tan, 244-245)

Work Cited
Agosin, Majorie. “Always Living in Spanish” Multingual USA. 25 Aug. 2007. 203.
www.bgsu.edu.
Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue” Multingual USA. 25 Aug. 2007. 203. www.bgsu.edu.

response for monday--mchalup

English to me is a way of life. I think that its not just a language but that its much more. Its emotions, expression, and attitude. With out language (not just English) we would be totally different. I just image not being able to express in words how I feel to my mother or best friends and it makes me sad. The world would be a less emotional and understanding place if we had no language. In the Tan article she talks about her Chinese mothers "fractured English" and how some of her friends can understand her mother completely and others not at all. I think everyone speaks differently when with family and friends opposed to when in a professional setting. But on the other hand when you haven't quite got the language which you are trying to speak down completely then its hard to be professional at all. Also in Agosins article she talks about how she feels the English language doesnt quite make her peoms sound the way she wants them to. Spanish is what makes her peoms emotional and meaningful with visual themes that stand out. An experience that comes to mind is when I went to Cancun, Mexico. Everyone spoke Spanish that worked in the hotels and at the resturants. It was hard to undertsand them but I really appreciated listening to them speak it. The flow of the their language just sounded so cool and so smooth. It really made me have a desire to learn their language and understand it. Maybe someday I will pursue that dream.