In Amy Tans Mother Tongue , Tan describes her relationship with language from how her mother influenced her relationship with language. Ultimately, Tan explains the relationship between language and identity as power and intimacy. Tan describes language concerning identity as the “tools of her trade” ( Tan, pg.80). Thus language is a skill that can be used to get the job done whether your choice in a language is generic or not. Ultimately in Mother Tongue, the relationship between language and identity is very individualized. Furthermore, as I referred back to the title of the text Mother Tongue, the phrases evoked the thought of similar phrases like “motherland” or “the queen mother”.Personally, Mother Tongue seems like the language a person refers back to because, as the mother tongue, it would be the primary source one refers to when thinking about language. Such as “motherland” or ” the queen mother” are people and places we refer back to as primary sources. Overall, I believe tan chose the title Mother Tongue because, as she states throughout the essay, her relationship with language is greatly influenced by her Mothers version of the English language as an immigrant. Therefore, Tans Mother Tongue is literally her mother’s form of speaking and the form of language she refers to as the primary source for her influenced language and its correlation to her identity. As a reader, the moments that stood out to me the most were when Tan described her dislike for the term “broken English” because it insinuated that something was wrong with the way immigrants spoke. This part of the essay was thought-provoking because I agree with the notion that just because someone doesn’t speak generic English does not mean that they are intellectually incapable or inferior. Similarly, I can relate these moments to my personal life because oftentimes, I find myself speaking in English and Spanish in one sentence or “Spanglish” to make it easier for my mother to comprehend me. However, I don’t believe that my simplification of English when speaking to my mothers makes her less intelligent or her opinions less insightful.