Mother Tongue & The Border of Words

Readings: Mother Tongue & The Border of Words
Authors: Amy Tan & Larry Smith
Analysis&Quote:

I don’t want to quote anything from either article although there are some lines that are my favorite. If I were to quote anything from the articles, I think my blog post would run to long.

Overall, I think both articles highlighted the importance of words and a word’s meaning. If you really think about what words are, they’re sounds that we’ve pushed beside each other and decided that that sound has meaning. Words don’t have meaning until they’re actually given meaning. And I feel most of the time it’s not the actual word that is important, but the meaning of each word and the meaning of that word in context to other words. Smith’s article talks about how words can separate people, but also bring people together. I agree with him. I think it’s not only the words that can separate or bring people together, but also and sometimes more importantly, the effect those words have. There’s a quote by Maya Angelou that says: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Initially, I never understand why this quote was important or why so many people like it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that words don’t have an impact because their words. They have an impact because of the meaning they convey and how they make a personal feel. In a way words can be intangible as well. They can be written down on a tangible object, but you can’t physically hold words like “hope” and “passion” like you can “apple” or “cucumber”.

I think Amy Tan’s article also highlighted the importance of words and the different ways English can be interpreted. I felt I related a lot to Amy’s article because I have immigrant parents, but I don’t relate entirely because both of my parents speak English. However, when I was younger, I did equate my mother’s way of speaking with her intelligence unfortunately. I now realize that she is incredibly smart and what she says makes a lot of sense.  I thought because she didn’t know how to say certain words “right” or didn’t understand the meaning of certain words that she wasn’t smart, but I was wrong. In fact, I’ve been more embarrassed by my lack of knowledge in other languages. Whereas Tan talks of feeling embarrassed by her mother, I feel that my parents were sometimes embarrassed because my sisters and I didn’t know another language. A lot of my other family members speak Arabic, Swahili, or our tribal dialect, but I only knew English. When my parents would explain why we couldn’t they would be more understanding, but not being able to understand what was being said, upon further reflection now, helps me understand how language can be a big barrier.

Being here at Wellesley, I’m really starting to understand the importance of language and words. During the first week of orientation, Professor Hodge gave a speech on why students need to study a foreign language. He explained how it opens doors to new cultures and in a way, to new ways of thinking and new ways of life. I think he made really good points because knowing how meaning translates into another language helps you become a better person. You become a better person because you learn to better understand people who are not like you, and accept them instead of tolerating them.

I feel his speech ties into the article because they stressed the importance of words, language, and the barriers they can create or break down. I think the articles did a good job of exploring words and what they mean in a concise way.