What do you think about code-switching?

General discussion about learning languages

How much do you like code-switching?

love it
8
17%
like it
10
22%
don't care either way
17
37%
dislike it
8
17%
hate it
3
7%
 
Total votes: 46

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Willow
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby Willow » Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:47 pm

leosmith wrote:Do you speak a language that code-switches a lot? Any tricks for dealing with it, or do you just go with the flow?

Sometimes it happens, mostly because I remember how define some idea in English or any other language, though, completely forgot the exact expression in the language I speak at the moment.
I suppose, it's pretty common thing among people, who speak (or learn) more the two foreign languages, and I just don't pay attention when it occurs.
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby PeterMollenburg » Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:26 am

I’m a purist and I’m sick of the sight of/hearing my own language. English is omnipresent and quite frankly I wish it would €&@! off. I’m tired of every second fish, fly, cat and dog with 17.5 legs wanting to learn it. I don’t like code switching (particularly when English is involved). I think I’m the only one to have voted “I hate it” so far. Perhaps it’s not quite hate, but I dislike it a lot. My ideal world, linguistically speaking, probably existed 100 years ago. A world in which English wasn’t seemingly practically everwhere (or at least not all over Europe), and each culture was not influenced to the extent it is today by a global homogenized, pasteurized, multi-national, downloadable culture. Irony is, I likely wouldn’t have left my own area 100 years ago to hear other languages, nor would I have had access to fantastic tools and forums to learn (a) language(s) in my own home. I know this is not practical but I don’t like code switching.

Edited initially for a spelling error. Edited again to explain why I edited the first time.
Last edited by PeterMollenburg on Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:54 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby DaveBee » Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:39 am

PeterMollenburg wrote: My ideal world, linguistically speaking, probably existed 100 years ago. A world in which English wasn’t seemingly practically everwhere (or at least not all over Europe), and each culture was not influenced to the extent it is today by a global homogenized, pateurized, multi-national, downloadable culture.
1917? You might need to go further back. :-)
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby mihaivancea » Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:17 pm

DaveBee wrote:
PeterMollenburg wrote: My ideal world, linguistically speaking, probably existed 100 years ago. A world in which English wasn’t seemingly practically everwhere (or at least not all over Europe), and each culture was not influenced to the extent it is today by a global homogenized, pateurized, multi-national, downloadable culture.
1917? You might need to go further back. :-)


Actually for many countries in Europe, French was in 1917 what English is today. It influenced a lot my native language Romanian. It was the language of the elites. Now it's clearly second way bellow English.
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby PeterMollenburg » Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:21 pm

mihaivancea wrote:
DaveBee wrote:
PeterMollenburg wrote: My ideal world, linguistically speaking, probably existed 100 years ago. A world in which English wasn’t seemingly practically everwhere (or at least not all over Europe), and each culture was not influenced to the extent it is today by a global homogenized, pateurized, multi-national, downloadable culture.
1917? You might need to go further back. :-)


Actually for many countries in Europe, French was in 1917 what English is today. It influenced a lot my native language Romanian. It was the language of the elites. Now it's clearly second way bellow English.


Nearly every time I whinge about English/globish I’m told about the former dominance of French. While indeed true, I do feel that the place of English today is far more wide-reaching and dominant on a global scale. And while French had very considerable influence, the situation now I feel is more dangerous.
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby DaveBee » Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:37 pm

PeterMollenburg wrote:
mihaivancea wrote:
DaveBee wrote:
PeterMollenburg wrote: My ideal world, linguistically speaking, probably existed 100 years ago. A world in which English wasn’t seemingly practically everwhere (or at least not all over Europe), and each culture was not influenced to the extent it is today by a global homogenized, pateurized, multi-national, downloadable culture.
1917? You might need to go further back. :-)


Actually for many countries in Europe, French was in 1917 what English is today. It influenced a lot my native language Romanian. It was the language of the elites. Now it's clearly second way bellow English.


Nearly every time I whinge about English/globish I’m told about the former dominance of French. While indeed true, I do feel that the place of English today is far more wide-reaching and dominant on a global scale. And while French had very considerable influence, the situation now I feel is more dangerous.
There have always been regional trade languages, english is just covering a bigger region. I don't think it's displacing local household languages, even in countries with widespread english skills.

A bigger impact I think is TVs in the house. That stops people going out to socialise, and even impacts the amount of talking in the house.
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby PeterMollenburg » Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:08 pm

DaveBee wrote:
PeterMollenburg wrote:
mihaivancea wrote:
DaveBee wrote:
PeterMollenburg wrote: My ideal world, linguistically speaking, probably existed 100 years ago. A world in which English wasn’t seemingly practically everwhere (or at least not all over Europe), and each culture was not influenced to the extent it is today by a global homogenized, pateurized, multi-national, downloadable culture.
1917? You might need to go further back. :-)


Actually for many countries in Europe, French was in 1917 what English is today. It influenced a lot my native language Romanian. It was the language of the elites. Now it's clearly second way bellow English.


Nearly every time I whinge about English/globish I’m told about the former dominance of French. While indeed true, I do feel that the place of English today is far more wide-reaching and dominant on a global scale. And while French had very considerable influence, the situation now I feel is more dangerous.
There have always been regional trade languages, english is just covering a bigger region. I don't think it's displacing local household languages, even in countries with widespread english skills.

A bigger impact I think is TVs in the house. That stops people going out to socialise, and even impacts the amount of talking in the house.


I disagree. Even Cavesa’s comments the other day in diminishing French language forums among the younger generation, who are apparently preferring to join English language forums is yet again more evidence of the increasing influence of English. I’m not suggesting this is happening overnight either. Social engineering is a deliberately insidiously slow process, orchestrated this way to ensure that the end result is accomplished slowly but surely - not necessarily years, or even decades but much longer.
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby Xmmm » Fri Nov 17, 2017 12:25 am

PeterMollenburg wrote: I’m not suggesting this is happening overnight either. Social engineering is a deliberately insidiously slow process, orchestrated this way to ensure that the end result is accomplished slowly but surely - not necessarily years, or even decades but much longer.


It's not social engineering, it's the tragedy of the commons.

Why should I live in some crappy little country like Fufugadia, eating Fufugadian food and wearing traditional Fufugadian clothing, when I can speak English, eat McDonalds, dress like a rapper, move to America, and make money money money?

Well, if you want Fufugadia to exist 100 years from now, someone has to do it ...
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby Elenia » Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:38 pm

I try to speak only Swedish when I am speaking Swedish, not because I have anything against code switching, but because I want my Swedish to be more comfortable. This doesn't mean I don't use English, I do: mainly when I don't know the Swedish word for a thing. Depending on who I am speaking to and the nature of the conversation, I'll either just leave that English word there or I'll ask for a translation of the word. If I do you an English word in a Swedish sentence just because, I try to do it like a Swede would. It doesn't really work - because I don't quite understand what that entails. The only success I have is 'nice', I think.

From the other side of the matter, I find myself using Swedish words in English conversations, mostly with my partner. I also have a huge difficulty explaining what I do at the Red Cross to people in English. (One day I had to have an introductory chat with two new volunteers, one in Swedish, one in English. Both chats were equally difficult, and the English one actually flowed less well, so go figure).
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Re: What do you think about code-switching?

Postby IronMike » Sun Nov 26, 2017 6:20 am

I heard some actual code-switching here, twice, just the other day. One was at a parent-teacher conference when one of the young ladies in front of us (high-schooler) was talking with her mom, switching to English for certain phrases dealing with what her mom would be talking to the teacher about, and switching back to Russian. The second instance was while shopping when I heard a Caucasian or perhaps Central Asian man speaking on the phone, switching to Russian for some parts of his speech. Unsure what his other language was except that it was not Kyrgyz or Kazakh. ;)
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