the different englishes she use’s….i could taste that phrase….i could feel that phrase….i had lived that phrase..
this essay was something i could wrap my mind around. my grampa was from germany and he told me so many times about how important it was for him to learn the language in america, to feel american. to speak correctly. so many times he would correct one of my mis-spoken words or improperly used terms. he used the “broken english” phrase where miss tan used the “fractured english”. the essay got a bit off track for me when she went on about the mafia guy visiting , i think she could have used a quicker example of her mothers “tounge” but oh well.
i find in my own life using the different englishes……if im writing for the newspaper i feel one tounge, if im writing for the monthly periodical i feel another, then the media outlet that holds my contract, has its own slang to my pen and words. talking to a very young niece or nephew, or when i have to be dad, and the legal srtrict tounge i have to use for my day job is my least favorite but ultimetly the closet to the concept of a pure form of english.
this class is a style of english im not sure i completly agree with. it feels to stuufy and compounded with interior rules i never grasped as a young man. now to come back and years later and learn the english i so neglected is frustrating and i hope it does not forever change the gigt my “mother tounge” is blessed with.