Defining English
The term “English” means something different to everyone who hears it. If I were to be asked to define English right now, I would describe it as the subject in school that focuses on reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and developing these skills in order to have a better understanding of English in many contexts. I defined the word as the subject in school instead of the language in itself.
In Amy Tan’s view “… I wrote using what I thought to be wittily crafted sentences, sentences that would finally prove I had mastery over the English language” Tan’s point is that with the English language, she wanted to prove she wasn’t that little kid anymore with the “broken” english as some people would say, and that she had now become someone who can write a moving story for others. Amy Tan wrote the story “Mother Tongue”, which tells her story about how she grew up around multiple “different Englishes”. Her family is from China so her family’s first language is Chinese so English has a completely different meaning to Tan compared to me. English is my first language, and is the only language that I have ever known so I have never experienced speaking in “broken” English, and why I immediately think of the subject in school and not the language.
When reading the “Maine Speech”, I feel like this English language is entirely different from the English we speak today in 2025. The “Maine Speech” was written in 1940, and uses a lot of slang words that I have never heard of before which would make it hard for us to have the same idea on what English is. When reading this speech, it states “Sometimes when a child is talking it is all one can do to translate until one has mastered the language. Our boy came home from school the first day and said the school was peachy but he couldn’t understand what anybody was saying”. This is important to add because even in 1940, each generation had different slang words which made their English different from everyone elses. This is still true today, for example, my parents and I have different phrases for the same situations.
My version of English is a lot different than the English described in both articles. When I think of English, I think of the subject in school and not the specific language, this is mainly because I have only ever spoken that one language. I used to b e under the impression that I would be really good at the subject because it was the only language I have ever known, but in the end the class was only about writing essays and reading books that I had no interest in. In the end, everyone who gets asked has a different definition of English, and they all think of different forms of English.
