Learning Language Essay, Research Paper
People will face a lot of difficulty, when they learn a language that is not his first language. One of the big obstacles is that there is a culture gap that makes the language is even more difficult to learn. The essays Hunger of memory and Mother Tongue contain good and bad examples on how to learn a new language. In the process of learning English, I admire the article Mother Tongue rather then the article Hunger of Memory because it gives me a new insight, and it teaches me a good attitude.
The essay of Hunger of Memory discuss about a family who live in America and whose native language is not English. This family always speaks Spanish as the primary language at their home. Then, as they found one of the family members, Richard, could not perform communication well in his school, all family members in this family switch their primary language to English. This method does help to develop the courage within Richard to speak English. However, There is a consequence that this family has to bare. The consequence is to lose the harmony in the family relationship. Similar with hunger of memory , the essay Mother Tongue also discusses bilingual problem that faced by American Chinese family. Born in America, Amy automatically able to speak English. She has no problem at all with the language because she grew up in the family whose the primary language is English. As an Asian American, however, her problem is not with her ability to speak English, but with her family member, her mother, who still embrace the culture from which she came.
First of all, the reason why I admire the essay the Mother Tongue is because this essay gives a reader a new insight on how we should respect people. In this essay, I learn that the knowledge within a person can t be justified on how well he can communicate. A person doesn t mean that he doesn t understand anything, if he unable to express his thought simply because the language he uses is not his first language, according to Amy s mother experience. What people thought toward Amy s mother, because she express imperfect her thought is imperfect, is not true. Reading Forbes report, listening to Wall Street journal, and having knowledge about stock market, indicate that she has deep understanding about English and she is also smart. Different from the essay Mother Tongue, I don t learn anything from the essay Hunger of memory. In fact, it is not a good think to learn. Devastating the relationship in the family, I think is not a good way to learn English. For me, family is more important then the ability of speaking foreign language. What Richard struggle with, not daring to speak because the English language was his to use , I think could be solve by another ways such as putting him in volunteering service where he can also get a lot of changes to speak English with native speaker.
Another reason why I admire the Mother Tongue is because the personality in Amy s family. I am so impress with the courage within Amy s mother. In learning to speak English, Amy mother has long realize the limitation of her English (Amy), but she does not ashamed to talk, and even yelling at the people with her broken English. I think we should have this conduct when we learn something new. We must willing to try, even if our mistake can put us ashamed. On the other hand, Richard, the main character in the essay Hunger of memory, doesn t have the same boldness like Amy s mother has. After I read this essay, there is nothing good about Richard attitude. I see that his problem is merely because of his sissy attitude.
Lastly, the reason I admire Mother Tongue is because Amy Tan s personality and her maturity. Similar personality like her mother, Amy inherits the same courage. Even though her English test achievement not as good as her math, she choose English as her major. This show that she was braves enough to take a risk. While Amy fifteen years, I can say she is very mature compared to the people at her age. This can be seen from the way she speaks: Yes I am getting concern. You had agreed to send the check two ago, but it hasn t arrived. (Amy). This seems very educated for her age especially under her mother s pressure. I believe, I would be able to control my emotion, if I were she.
From this two story, we can learn a lot of think. First lesson is we shouldn t underestimate people simply because he doesn t communicate well because the language he speaks isn t his first language. You might not know, if the person who you speak with is a professor or someone who smarter then you. Moreover, we also can learn attitude of learning from Amy s mother. If we want to success in learning, I think we can apply this method that we should have thick skin meaning that we should dare to try. Finally, we also can learn from Amy s conduct that we should stay calm regardless what the circumstances is.