Phrasebook
Code-switching
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This phenomenon is called
code-switching
.
In code-switching, the language gets switched in the middle of speaking.
There could be many reasons why speakers switch languages.
Often, they don't find the appropriate word in one language.
They can express themselves better in the other language.
It can also be that the speaker feels more confident in one of the languages.
They use this language for private or personal things.
Sometimes a certain word doesn't exist in a language.
In this case the speaker must switch languages.
Or they switch languages so that they aren't understood.
In that case code-switching works like a secret language.
Earlier, mixing languages was criticized.
It was thought that the speaker couldn't speak either language correctly.
Today it is viewed differently.
Code-switching is recognized as a special linguistic competence.
It can be interesting to observe speakers using code-switching.
Often, they don't just switch the language they're speaking.
Other communicative elements change as well.
Many speak faster, louder or more accentuated in the other language.
Or they suddenly use more gestures and facial expressions.
In this way, code-switching is always a little bit of culture-switching too…