Mother Tongue (母语) by Amy TanMother Tongue (母语)Amy Tan1 I am a writer. And by that definition, I am someone who has always loved language. I am fascinated by language in daily life. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of languagethe way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them allall the Englishes I grew up with.2 Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Engli
