She noticed the struggle those who have a native tongue other than english have in America, they are generally viewed as less intelligent. Along with this, they also get pushed throughout school to focus on things such as math and sciences and farther away from English and literature, which leads to the majority of them primarily being into jobs such as engineering and sciences. Tan later describes how she was “rebellious” against this forcing in school and studied language in college (leading to her becoming a nonfiction writer), and that she was fortunate to do what she wanted to do, instead of what was easiest. By doing this, Tan gained a better grip on the English language, and a broader aspect of the world and society.
Amy Tan’s essay, Mother Tongue, explicitly states various factors leading into her personal struggle of being an Asian-American born to Chinese immigrants in america, and the struggle she noticed her mom having while she was growing up. In Tan’s essay, she conveys the importance of understanding other people and their situation and to not judge upon someone’s way of speaking, because there is more to a person than their level of