Advanced Essay #2- Chinlishese

The goal of my paper is to present to others that it is okay to speak in broken English or any other language. The part that I am really proud of are the quotes that I picked from Mother Tongue while comparing my situation to society. The area that I need to improve on is is making my writing flow better with different types of transitions.

For my whole life, I grew up having to translate for my parents because of their lack of knowledge in the English language. At the same time, it was also hard for me having to learn new words through descriptions using words that I currently knew. I felt that I was always describing something that was so easy and could be one word, if I only knew that word. My parents didn’t finish their homeland’s education before coming to America and when coming to America, they had to leave what little English and ESOL school they had to take care of their families. For myself, I’ve noticed English is very different from Asian languages, especially with the pronunciation of the words and tenses. Languages have multiple interpretations, meanings, and ways to pronounce them - it’s the skill of maneuvering through each pronunciation and proper grammar.  

Cantonese, a dialect in Chinese, was my first and main language until I learned English in preschool. At home, my family and I speak Vietnamese and two different dialects of Chinese, Cantonese and Fujianese. At school, I only speak English because that is the only language that everyone understands and this made me lose my Chinese and Vietnamese. Which is why in Elementary School, I spent more time learning to speak Fujianese and Vietnamese because I knew they were languages that I wanted to keep alive. Even though my parents didn’t go to school, they would do everything they could to help us in school. Buying English and Chinese speaking dictionaries to help us with our reading and vocabulary words. Buying math books and working on the problems together. My parents wanted my sister and I to focus on our education that they didn’t get.

In the story “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan describes her experiences with speaking improper English, “Like others, I have described it to people as '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.” (2)   Thinking about this quote and relating it to my life, I understand that the way my parents and I speak is not damaged. With the ability to speak multiple languages at once, my family and I have own language together, “Chinlishese,” which is Chinese mixed with English and Vietnamese. I’ve learned that no one can speak a language correctly, there are always something more to learn and improve on.

Throughout my whole life, I would always mix up the two Chinese languages together because I only knew some words in Cantonese and other words in Fujianese, but they still understood me. I would accidentally mix-up the two languages without even knowing. It didn’t matter how I said it because my parents would still know what I meant.

This mixed language did not roll over with my extended family. My aunt, for example, had a harder time understanding the mix. When she needed someone to go with her to the doctors to help translate for her, I was always there. When the doctors kept asking me questions, I’d have to interpret to my aunt in Cantonese. While I was interpreting, I forgot that my aunt couldn’t understand Fujianese. She kept making fun of me and saying in Cantonese “this is why the young generation are useless because you guys can’t speak properly” and “who teaches you Cantonese.”

This made my self-esteem low. After that, I was cautious in what I was interpreting. I realize that my parents and I have our own unique language. I had to learn how to differentiate between the two dialects. People like my aunt assume that all the younger generation kids are not able to speak any language except English. This is not true. This makes me wonder why can’t people accept their own language. Thinking of what my aunt said, it allowed me think that the language my parents and I speak is our own unique language.

Another quote in the story “Mother Tongue,”  Amy Tan mentions her mom experience’s when they go out anywhere, “the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.” (2)  In society today, people who can’t speak proper English or any language, do not get the full attention they deserve, like people who do. Everyone in the world speaks their own type or version of languages.

At Geno Steaks, customers who can’t speak proper English, the employers would not take any orders from that customer, which is not fair to the immigrants, who want to try the famous cheesesteak in Philly. This shows that some people in society are shallow to those who are different. People who can’t speak proper should still deserve the same respect because it is not their fault that the language you want them to speak isn’t their first language and only language.

In our society, it is important to not be divided because it is important to be united and help others especially those with disabilities or language barriers. It is very important to make sure that everyone has a voice. It is hard to learn a new language and speak it properly and there is not just one way to speak any language, but a multiple ways too. This is something that should be carried with us when meeting people from all walks of life.