Monday- I came home from college. I spoke English with my friends the entire day. I switched from speaking English to speaking Spanglish with my mom. My mom is fluent in English, but I feel some words would be too rigorous for her, so I use a mix of Spanish and English when speaking to her.
Tuesday- I returned home from class, and my cousin from Ecuador called me. I spoke with him in Spanish and used a lot of Ecuadorian slang in the conversation.
Wednesday- I went to my aunt’s house and talked to my baby cousin in an amiable and kid-like tone. Later on in the day, I spoke English with my brother.
Thursday- I went to visit my old friend from middle school. I used a lot of slang, and my way of speaking was very informal because we were comfortable with each other. Later on, when I went home, I switched my speech to a more respectful and calm manner.
Friday- I spoke to my friends in broken English and used slang. Later on, I spoke to my parents in Spanish.
Saturday- My sister called me, and we spoke in Spanish. As soon as I finished speaking with her, I met up with my friends, and we spoke English.
Sunday- I spoke with my brother in English, but then he aggravated me, and I began to yell at him in Spanish. Yelling in Spanish feels more natural!
I can relate with speaking baby voice when I’m with my goddaughter who is a baby.
when I speak to my cousins who live in Ghana, I also speak informally in Hausa and use slang whereas if I’m talking to my cousins who live in America, I just use English and a little bit of Hausa.
I speak Vietnamese to my parents all the time. I know how it feels to switch from your language to English while speaking to your parents.
I speak Punjabi so I end up mixing up some words from English into the language all the time so I can relate heavily.
You’re code-switch on Thursday is very interesting to me, because I feel like it’s a special kind of code switch. This is because it was triggered by an old friend, so I think it’s not that you switched to match your environment, but rather you reverted to the way you used to act with that friend which could have been sincere and real back then.
I also switch between two languages throughout the day depending on who I’m speaking with. I agree it does feel more natural to express your feelings in your native language.