Speak Your Mind

This image by Da’Niyah Goodwin of a woman who, despite her words carrying the same meaning, is speaking in two vastly different styles of the English language. The shift in her choice of words, speaking style, and overall self-expression is called code-switching. This process is used by millions of people around the world who change their communication style to better suit their environment. Neuroscience and linguistics are only just scratching the surface of our current understanding of code-switching. In this article, we unpack the basics of code-switching: how it works, why it happens, and what we still have to learn. Image source: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/african-american-vernucalar-language

Being raised in the Philippines, I was taught to practice and actively speak two languages. At home, my parents would speak to me in both my first language (Filipino) and my second language (English). Attending private school, I would immediately switch to solely speaking in English. I was often commended for the fluidity in the manner in which I spoke English in my home country. This ability had opened doors for me and when I entered spaces wherein, I felt that speaking in English would lead to more favorable outcomes, I consciously made incremental choices to speak in English instead of Filipino. I slowly found myself abandoning my native language. I am a Filipino citizen with a national language worthy of its active expression and yet, I preferred to communicate in and be spoken to in English. Why is that? I asked myself repeatedly.

It wasn’t until I moved to the United States several years ago that I realized how different the English that I have come to know compared to that of American English. I had to learn how to exist and adapt my language to this new space. I would mirror the audience I was facing and their English language patterns in an attempt to be more clearly understood. In my mind, there exists a drawn line between the two different ways a single word could be pronounced or having to attach two distinct meanings to the very same word. The manner in which I select and assemble words into phrases…