Amy Tan’s essay, titled “Mother Tongue” is a very relatable and heartwarming essay. The essay starts off with Amy describing her thoughts on language and more specifically English. She goes onto mention how she unknowingly has developed multiple types of Englishes. At a point in my life, I too unknowingly was speaking different types of Englishes, and for the same reasons as Amy. I grew up with immigrant parents who were not very fluent in English and this led to my brother and I, at a very young age, speaking for/helping them speak in instances where someone with fluent English was needed. My brother and I had to start reading and translating government letters, stuff related to healthcare, bills and also had to speak on the phone to people many many years older than us. As a young child, there was immense pressure on us to not screw up while speaking to these people. I also found myself having to learn the most random things just so I can explain them to my parents. Going back to language and mother tongue, I grew up in a Punjabi household, so my mother tongue would be Punjabi. However, I was never fluent at Punjabi until my late teen years. So as a young child, having to translate things from one language to another, one that I wasn’t really good at, became extremely difficult. My parent’s inability to be fluent in English did disappoint me and make me feel ashamed, but the respect I had for them did not decrease. I understood that learning English wasn’t an easy task. Looking back, I realize how language influences identity and every identity is one to be proud of.