In the bible it tells us in Genesis chapter 11 that God confused the language of men so that they might not all understand one another. This event marked the first division of language. Since then people have gathered into separate groups based mainly on the fact that they understood the same language. I believe that language can both unify and divide us in different ways.
In the article titled Mute in an English-Only World, by Chang-Rae Lee, the author discusses his mother and her trouble mastering the english language. Because of her lesser knowledge she is often treated wrongly or misunderstood; even little things were a difficulty as shown by the author’s statement, “She(his mother) would often hold off until I came home from school to buy the groceries.” Chang-Rae Lee’s mother felt left out because she was not comfortable with the english language. This perfectly exemplifies how differences in language can divide people and cause confusion. Manuel Munoz examines the effect his Spanish name has on his …show more content…
When a group of people all speak the same tongue, understanding and unity can always be reached. An example of this can be found in the article Mother Tongue by Amy Tan. In her article Mrs. Tan discusses the different types of “englishes” she uses and how she uses them to identify with different groups of people. When explaining the type of english she uses with her family, a type of “broken” english, she states, “It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with.” The author also goes on to talk about the type of English she uses with true English speakers and how she even sometimes used it to help her mother out of tricky situations caused by her mother’s lack of fully understanding the english language. The knowledge of a language can help an individual integrate with a whole new group of
In the article titled Mute in an English-Only World, by Chang-Rae Lee, the author discusses his mother and her trouble mastering the english language. Because of her lesser knowledge she is often treated wrongly or misunderstood; even little things were a difficulty as shown by the author’s statement, “She(his mother) would often hold off until I came home from school to buy the groceries.” Chang-Rae Lee’s mother felt left out because she was not comfortable with the english language. This perfectly exemplifies how differences in language can divide people and cause confusion. Manuel Munoz examines the effect his Spanish name has on his …show more content…
When a group of people all speak the same tongue, understanding and unity can always be reached. An example of this can be found in the article Mother Tongue by Amy Tan. In her article Mrs. Tan discusses the different types of “englishes” she uses and how she uses them to identify with different groups of people. When explaining the type of english she uses with her family, a type of “broken” english, she states, “It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with.” The author also goes on to talk about the type of English she uses with true English speakers and how she even sometimes used it to help her mother out of tricky situations caused by her mother’s lack of fully understanding the english language. The knowledge of a language can help an individual integrate with a whole new group of