Rainier Fourie, Amy Tan's Mother tongue opinion column
Blog Post 3 – The importance of One mother tongue – An
Opinionated column on Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”
Amy Tan’s article, “Mother Tongue”
explores themes of the importance of one’s mother tongue, stereotypes of
non-native English speakers, achievement tests, and how the school system
directs students into subjects based on their ethnicity. All these themes
center around someone’s identity relating to language.
So why is your mother tongue important?
Why not just speak English or whatever language is most spoken in your
area/country? What’s the point is what I’m asking? Why learn your mother
tongue, why learn English, Hell, why learn any language?
The point that Amy Tan and I are trying
to make is that, language, especially your mother tongue, define you as a
character and define your identity. Researchers say that knowing your mother
tongue and being bi-lingual, ensures better
cognitive development, and aids in the learning of other languages. There are
so many advantages to being bi-lingual such as having multiple languages under
your belt. Languages give you a greater understanding of communication across a
wide range of individuals. Why is this important? Communication is the backbone
of the world. Without communication, there would be no world order, no friends,
lovers, arguments with your siblings. A truly desolate, unforgiving and lonely
wasteland.
That proves why language and communication
is important but what actually about ones mother tongue. Your mother tongue is
your identity. It is what makes you, you. Without your identity you’ll just be
another average joe. Everyone is special, so don’t try to live another life
than your own. The only true way of doing this is with your identity, and your
mother tongue is a big part of that identity.
Trust me on this, your mother tongue is
important, no matter what.
You have used some facts, showcased your own personality, and given a call to action in this text. Specifically, when you mention being bilingual ensures better cognitive development, and helps when learning new languages. You have given us an insight into what it would be like meeting you, and how our conversation on this topic would go. The final paragraph is your call to action, calling a person's mother tongue their identity, and to use it to be unique.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your opinion, as I am bilingual and I do feel that it helps me be unique (especially being able to speak Icelandic) and it does have a pretty huge effect on what makes me, me.
If I could improve one thing about your blog post, it would be to add more facts to the article, and maybe mention a few examples of the things you are mentioning from the text you are talking about.
You have given me an idea of who you are as a person through the tone used in the text. It makes it more comfortable to read because it's like we're having a normal conversation. The importance of multiple languages is still present in todays day and age. I don't think a call to action is really used in these kind of articles, but the point and statement you were trying to make is backed up with logical evidence. I agree with everything said in this article. If I could improve upon it, I would make the call to action more clear and address the statement "we should own ourselves and who we are". A question I have for you: Based off of evidence, why is it easier for bi-linguals to memorize languages rather than people that only know their mother-tongue?
ReplyDelete