Mute in an English – Only World Post

In this essay the Author, Lee, basically tells the the story of her mother who only speaks a little English and mostly Korean.  By the end of the article her mother had been through a troublesome day from the Korean word for oxtail, and why someone would want to eat oxtail is beyond me, to getting honked at by other motorists, which can be kind of annoying at any rate.  In some ways I feel sympathy towards Lee’s mom, yet on the other hand I don’t and for good reason.

I sympathize for the main reason that no one should go through that kind of humiliation and embarrassment.  In one way or another we all have embarrassed ourselves to the point where we just want to go and cry off in the distance, which is understandable.  In that same respect people should be understanding in that circumstance in order to make the other person feel at home.

On the other hand, she needs to learn English, especially in these times.  English is essential in getting by in America, because in order for people to understand you, you need to be on the same frequency.  Also America that won’t give a damn about where you’re from half the time, or how well you’ll integrate into society.

Finally the last thing about this article that I am going to point out is that she tells us that her mom dies of cancer.  In my personally opinion she didn’t need to put that, because it’s an attention grabber for the wrong cause.  She writes an essay about how bad it is getting by in America with out knowing any or little English, then she caps it off with, “oh by the way she died of cancer”.  I guess she put that tidbit of information in there was mainly to aspire more sympathy, and in my book that is a low blow to the reader’s conscience.