Essay #3: My Tongue shows my Identity

Cho

Shin Shan Cho

Professor Dan

English 104

23 November 2017

My Tongue shows my Identity

In this world, there are many different countries speaking their own individual languages. People can identify from each other’s language of whom they are and where they are from. The language I speak shows my identity, culture and this is who I am and where I originally come from. However, my culture can be vanished when immigrating to the most diverse cultural country which is the United States. The reason is that I obligated to learn a new language to adapt into the new society. As I was learning English which is my new language; I required to read many books and articles to improve my reading skill as well as writing. However, I did not comprehend the main theme of my essay which is, identity can show through language until I read “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua.

To become a better active reader, I had learned that annotating is the main key to interpret with what I had been reading and understanding the main purpose of the text. In order to understand the main purpose of Anzaldua’s article, the first thing I did was skimming the pages to see the length of the articles. The reason why is that I wanted to see how long it will be taken to the culmination. Second, I started to read through text to text without taking any annotation. While I was reading, sometimes I had to find the meaning of new words and translate into my language. Then, I wrote the meaning of the words on the margin line. Lastly, I reread the text again and started to annotate it. While I was annotating, I asked questions back to the text and wrote the short summary of the paragraphs. After reading Anzaldua’s article, I realized that she and I have some similarities which are being bilingual and were told to speak Standard English. Just like Gloria Anzaldua, being a bilingual has been difficult for me because I had been molded by my language on the other hand, I am trying to fit into a new foreign language by speaking Standard English.

Language is one of the most essential needed in order to communicate with other people. It is really important to me because it represents everything about me: my identity, culture and beliefs. Gloria Anzaldua explains that "A language which they can connect their identity to, one capable of communicating the realities and values true to themselves"(35-36). According to this quote, she expressed that language and identity can be defined as one thing that those two are the same. The way she communicates with other people and what she does is illustrating of her identity. One way she illustrates her identity is when she says, “We needed a language with with we could communicate with ourselves, a secret language” (36). I agree with her point that identity can be known based on language because this is what I was adapted to my languages and that can never be changed. The language of Burmese is what I am capable to speak fluently and confidently because this is where I belonged and it shows my identity.

My life has been changed since I moved to the United States. I obliged to speak the primary language of where I am living in which is English and retains my main tongue of Burmese with my family. Knowing the primary language is important, however it does not have to be exactly the same like a native speaker. It is because I was not born in the United States therefore, I have not adapted to this culture since my childhood. Moreover, when someone tries to judge me based on my accent, that means they are trying to change my identity. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” Gloria Anzaldua elucidates that she had been told to speak like an American but not Spanish.  She emphasizes that “Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity –I am my language” (38). According to this statement, she is saying that she has been influenced by the people of her identity, and this is a character of her. In her life, she has to adjust to her speaking based on the situation. Anzaldua claims, "Deep in our hearts we believe that Mexican has nothing to do with which country one lives in" (42). She tries to say that it doesn’t matter which foreign countries; we are living in however, the most important is to always remember where we come from and still maintain our culture even we are currently speaking two languages at the same time. Even though I am trying to fit into the new society by speaking English, however it does not mean other people cannot change my identity. It is because Burmese is my main language; identity cannot be apart, and it is always being together.

Being bilingual can have more opportunities than anyone else, however there are some chances of people will make a judgement of people like Anzaldua and me. We are both immigrants and knowing two different languages. Therefore, it can change our identity by speaking two different languages to different people. Now, I only speak Burmese to my family either at home or I am with them. However, the rest of my other time, I have been using English to communicate with other people to fit in the new society. Anzaldua feels, "There are more subtle ways that we internalize identification, especially in the forms of images and emotions" (42).  She states that clarifying identity can be really deep because it can be happening in her deep mind. In her soul, she felt that her language should be still maintained her wild tongue even she was struggling with the judgement of people around her. I agree with her viewpoint because we all have our beliefs based on where we come from. Anzaldua made me recognize my culture of where I come from and my language. Moreover, I am admired Anzaldua's viewpoint that we should not give up our wild tongue even other people try to change. Therefore, I am proud of my identity because it is unique and it can show my true oneself.

Identity is one of the important concepts in human life because it builds with languages, cultures and beliefs. Even it’s important to my life and Anzaldua however, we both are trying to fit into a new society by speaking in another foreign country’s language. According to become like everyone else, we have to read more books to become a successful person to communicate well with others.The reason is that we don’t want other people to judge us for not knowing the primary language of the country that we are living in. Therefore, I am trying to learn as much as I can to become a better reader by annotating to understand the main purpose. However, I still being judged by the other people for not speaking Standard English. Therefore, I and Anzaldua believe that people try to change our tongues which mean they want to change our identity. However, identity and the language we are speaking cannot be apart because it forms as the same thing which our identity shows who we are and what we are part of.