Mother Tongue - Book Review

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It became the biggest surprise to me when someone made a comment about his accent just a couple years ago; it was a harmless and innocent remark that meant nothing at the moment. It was later on that day that it began to unravel in my head. I was baffled as I was lying there in my bed late one night because he was so clear to me in every way possible since I could remember as a young child. It would be lousy of me not to include that my dad’s clarity was through the roof. As far as his speech goes, I felt as if he originated from the U.S. from birth; he was a Picasso with words. My father was always passionate about learning-conforming to perfection- and it showed when he was teaching me some key vocabulary words that I use to this day in my writing and everyday speech. ‘Till this day, I have learned the most about my life skills from him. Harsh reality was not in his vocabulary because he only saw the positivity in life. It was his rebellious nature that provoked him to challenge himself to disprove the assumptions made about his nationality, and for all people who struggle with the language. That is how he sustained great self-identity. His amazing work ethic landed him much respect at every destination. People can recognize an enthusiast just by the way he leaves his mark: loyalty, consistency and hardship that he had to endure. People like my dad have always had my respect for what obstacles they must have had to go up against.

To put it briefly, Tan’s and my father’s experiences have significant meaning for defying stereotypes. Higher self-esteem and hard work ethic justify a person’s self-identity and retire the old, overly used remarks used to single out a particular group of people. It’s important to remember that despite outside factors, we still have power and control over the results we get in life. And often times by re-focusing on our own individual effort, we can improve our intelligence and abilities. By approaching our goals with a “growth mindset,”(believing that our intelligence and abilities can be improved through time, work, and dedication) we are better able to overcome obstacles without getting too discouraged – because we better notice the “small progress” in our lives and continue building off of it.

Works Cited

Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue.” The Prentice Hall Reader. 10th ed. Ed. George Miller. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2012. 451-457.