She most likely made a schedule. No doubt it was hard, but she managed.
Tan builds a central idea of her story in the excerpt as:
Tan discusses her mother’s use of English to build the idea that a form of language can be purposeful and meaningful even if it is nonstandard.
Amy Tan's essay “Mother Tongue” is about the difficulties that a child has to face if it grows in a family in which its parents speak 'limited English.' Amy's mother was among such parent who was unable to speak fluent and proper English. It is through the language that the person is judged by others. Amy was brought up by her mother and because of this, her writing style was much influenced by the language spoken at her home. Her mother taught her that a person's perception of the world is influenced by the language spoken at home.
This is character vs character because the conflict is between Ana and her mother. She wants to have a break and her mother wants her to get right to her homework. That is what sets up the conflict between the two. Hope that helps.
