Conversation between Tan and Farber

In his article, “Mother Tongue”, Tan argues that localized expression through language influences a person. The author claims that language is a tool of trade that constructs personal opinion. Her mother’s way of speaking English presents a normalized utilization of the language from a Chinese perspective. On the other hand, Farber in his masterpiece, “Mother Russia”, also presents an issue with the way immigrants lack advanced English skills that hinder them from associating with others. Both authors condemn rudimentary skills and indirectly demand immigrants to learn the standard requirements of the English language. Tan uses language to figure out how the Chinese people process information and uses a different kind of English without much appreciation of grammar to express the intersection of memory and imagination. Instead of speaking the English language according to established rules of grammar, Tan’s mother uses a contrary wording structure that makes it easier for her to express ideas and construct reality (Tan, 2006).

The language connects with the local dialect and acts as a means of direct translation, which normalizes the ungrammatical use of the English language. Everyone utilizes the approach locally to make sense of things, which is normal even to Tan. Analysis of the mother’s speech reveals the influence of the local Chinese language during communication. Although Tan notices differences between the standard and the English language that people speak locally, it is interesting to note that these people can read and understand influential reports in magazines like Forbes and Wall Street Week (Tan, 2006). Tan clarifies that her mother’s language, though highly translated from Chinese, presents a world full of imagination, observation, and imagery. The writer obtained her skills to conceptualize the world more vividly and directly from the mother’s approach of using a translated form of Chinese in the English language. Stereotypically, a language expert would classify the mother’s language as broken or limited English, which is wrong because that quantifies a need for education. However, the mother uses the language perfectly to express and explain everything clearly to someone like Tan who is used to hearing the mother tongue.

Tan’s mother struggled to converse with other people in California because such places demand the explicit expression of the language, which forces the author to communicate on her behalf. The article clarifies that language development influences the display of intelligence. A person that communicates with limited language can only present unsatisfactory ideas and even live an imperfect life (Tan, 2006). Immigrant children that lack access to the right peers to develop efficient language skills can live a limited life because of lacking the capacity to moderate ideas and understand others.

Farber as Tan interrogates the effects of a person using elementary language. The author reports that Tatiana’s English language is rudimentary but with high skills in negotiating with others. The story divulges the concern that children of immigrants face challenges when expressing their ideas because of lacking advanced English skills. Alexander Ovechkin relied on his mother because both were professional athletes (Farber, 2008). Tatiana knows that the son depends on her for decision-making, which explains Tan’s perception that a person with limited language capacities will make imperfect resolutions. Farber explains that Ovechkin did not make any decision without consulting the mother, which emphasizes the chronic dependency due to language skill gaps.

Elementary language inhibits the art of negotiations and obstructs the process of effective decision-making. In this case, Farber highlights a negotiation that took over four hours without much headway due to difficulties in expressing concerns and ideas. During a meeting to sign a deal, Alexander and the mother struggled to express their precise interests when signing the contract with the Capitals’ president and general manager, which forced them to expand and contract the terms several times (Farber, 2008). The repetitive meeting’s results reveal the adverse effects of lacking advanced English language skills. Unlike Tan who had obtained more than basic language skills, Alexander, like the mother, still struggled with contract terms due to a deficiency in language skills. Tatiana expressed her comments through a translator, which hinders her capacity to communicate.

Tan and Farber reveal the connection between parents and their children. Both families in the two stories are immigrants that face issues related to English language skills. Farber’s story focuses on a Russian while Tan’s autobiography discloses a Chinese immigrant family. The two authors interrogate language issues that affect immigrants’ capacity to connect with other people. Tan argues that language predetermines the skills among Asian-Americans when interacting with American literature, which directly affects their capacity to engage in spoken English. Exposure to peers with advanced speaking and writing skills influenced the capacity of young Asian-Americans to adapt, imitate, and exploit similar skills. Tan focuses more on the effects of spoken and written English from the perspective of her mother. On the contrary, Farber exploits a different approach of revealing the effects of rudimentary English skills on a Russian immigrant family. The author assesses the impacts of inefficiency in spoken English language among a family of professional athletes. Unlike Tan’s family where the young immigrant has accomplished language skills, the Russian family is still stuck to using the Russian language.

Tan and Farber interrogate the effects of rudimentary English among immigrants that undermine their ability to interact with others and make sense out of life. Most of the time, Tatiana is forced to use a translator even when making comments, which reduces her capacity to engage directly with people. The issue is equally affecting her son, Alexander, who depends on the mother to make career decisions. On the contrary, Tan has taken strategic decisions to learn and obtain advanced English skills. She helps the mother to communicate having grasped grammar and other critical skills associated with the spoken and written English language.