Aiyonna Moyer

Per. 6
10/5/16

Speak My Language

Have you ever heard the term Now you are speaking my language? Most often, it is

used when people connect over a common interest, or way of doing things. Language itself

works the same way, just as interest directly correlates with identity. But how does language

actually relate to your identity?

In some peoples opinions, its where you come from that defines your identity. In Gloria

Anzalduas essay called How to Tame A Wild Tongue, she clearly is very passionate with this

statement: ...for a people who cannot entirely identify with either standard A language which

they can connect their identity to Her source of identity is clearly culture and language. As a

Hispanic woman, or as she prefers, Chicano, she grew up in an area that heavily tried to take that

identity from her. She very passionately insists that her Chicano-Spanish is a part of her, just like

the other languages she speaks. She thoroughly argues that language and her culture makes up

who she is, as is claimed loudly and intensely in this phrase from her essay: Ethnic identity is

twin skin to linguistic identity- I am my language.

For others, language might be a part of identity in the way they speak or act when they are

home. The way you communicate with your family and the language you use at home are a part

of you. The way you talk at your home may not be the same way you speak when in a work or

school environment. Most often, you speak comfortably, able to speak your thoughts and

knowing how to communicate to them in a way you understand the most. In Amy Tans essay,

Mother Tongue, she actually touches on this subject. As an Asian American, whose mother is
originally from Asia, Amy Tan does use a different type of English, often referred to as broken

English when she is at home. (Referring to her husband) It has become our language of

intimacy, a different sort of English, that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with.

Clearly, when at home, she is able to communicate in a way that comes the most natural her. It is

the language she feels the most comfortable.

As both authors have demonstrated, each of their languages that they speak are directly

connected to how they are shaped as human beings. Both are attached to their culture. You may

not be able to see it as clearly in Tans essay compared to Anzalduas essay, but the passion is

still there. She developed the identity in the culture of her personal home life. Culture is the

cultivation of behaviours in a setting. To Tan, her mothers speech can directly attach to her

culture. I found that this following phrase expressed that the most: ...my mothers English is

perfectly clear, perfectly natural. Amy Tan feels strong comfort in her mothers speech, which is

why she prefers to use the speech in her home life. Home has a comforting, relaxing connotation.

Its where you can relax, be yourself.

Some might argue that ones speech has nothing to do with identity, or they dont care enough

for the matter. Within a few paragraphs I read from a text, I learned about the English Only

Movement. The English Only Movement was begun in 1983 Main activity has been the

promotion of an English language amendment which would make English the official language

of the country. The idea of this article bleeds arrogance. One of our civil liberties is the freedom

of speech, which most people take as a reason to gossip, or they will take the opportunity to call

out a tyrant when one is in power. Why cant freedom of speech also stand for the freedom to

speak the language your culture came from? When laws like these are passed, more languages

disregarded. Our land was not English soil. It was Native American. By pushing our belief and
our rules, we overall demolished their culture. The English language is a mixture of other

languages, having word originations from completely different languages. We are a mix of

cultures. The USA is built by having a wide variety of different cultures. If language is neglected

like that, other cultures will be lost. If we neglect language and culture, we demolish peoples

individuality.

I speak English, and part of who I am as being American English is how proud I am when I can

tilt my voice to change to different accents to best fit what I want to say. Ive used my language

to express who I am, to confide in others, to stir emotion. My clothes didnt do that. My facial

expressions didnt do that. My language and words do that. The way I verbally express to others

translates my thoughts, and my thoughts are mine. They are what make me individual. One's

language is directly connected to ones identity. Whether it's the place of your birth or the

language you heard where you grew up, language is a part of you. We all come from somewhere,

and all that connects us to that place shapes who we are as human beings. Even language.