Code-Switching: The Difference Between Code-Switching and Code-Mixing

[@MultilingualFamily]

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[@Francieli128]

I am Brazilian woman who speaks English and living in Austria doing my bachelor's in Linguistics in German....I am always code-switching...I loved your channel

[@kijetesantakalu222]

I live in a family that speaks Greek and English. One time I caught my little brother saying "I'll clean-aro to patoma" after he spilled some juice. He said "I'll clean the floor" and he used the word clean with the greek verb suffix -aro to make cleanaro. He also continued the sentence using the neuter definite article to and the word for floor patoma

[@MultilingualFamily]

Awesome!

[@soypinoy5251]

Filipinos are notorious for that. You will hear tagalog, spanish and english spoken. And in some areas of the philippines you will hear 4 up to 5 langues being spoken in a sentence

[@jdb6026]

True. In South Cotabato, I sometimes mix English, Tagalog, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon. If I could throw sa Chavacano in, I would.

[@timoshenko1971]

I remember a Russian teacher who was married to a Mexican. Their 3 year old son once said “я хочу хугать». He was trying to say “I want to play”. He mixed the Spanish verb “jugar” (means to play) and put the Russian end particle that denotes a verb. His parents had a hard time trying to figure out the nonexistent Russian verb хугать.

[@SandraSalas-kq2wp]

I'm a Spanish-English Dual Immersion Teacher in California and I love your videos as a resource for teachers new to dual language teaching or dual immersion parents. As a parent of two bilingual children, I have a story to share. One time my eldest daughter who was about four at the time said, Mami yo quiero "probate" tu nieve. Probate in English means "the validity of a will" but what she was doing was mixing the word "probar" in Spanish and "taste" in English. At the time it was funny and cute how she was navigating between her bilingual brain .

[@MultilingualFamily]

I'm so glad! Thanks for sharing that cute story.

[@bikramdey3381]

beautifully explained

[@SAMMYRORDING-sc8rq]

Thank you so much ❤

[@AskTetsu]

Wow!!! I got quoted by Andrea! Thanks so much! But do you know what's the most amazing part!? I am LITERALLY working on my video as we speak (coming out in a few hrs), and I am quoting YOU for OAOL!! Incredible

[@MultilingualFamily]

HAHA that's amazing!

[@sangartaqana9341]

Your explanation is so amazing. Many thanks.

[@sapiensxyz]

Thank you mam, your explanation is the most easiest i can understand

[@MultilingualFamily]

Glad to hear that

[@zoubirdendane6370]

Thanks mucho (hhh) for this nice explanation of the phenomenon of mixing languages. I'd like to add something: while code mixing is viewed in terms of the structural alternation of the two languages, grammar, lexis, etc. (and thus related to linguistic competence), the term 'code-switching' is rather used to refer to the sociolinguistic side of the speakers and their reasons for alternating languages (and thus their linguistic performance). A funny example of code mixing: Estamos watchando a nice pelicula!

[@corinagramittoricci]

Now I am confused, is your example really a code mixing one or actually a code switching one? Because this sentence, estamos watchando a nice pelicula, is absoloutly a consciuos use of both languages or not?

[@muhammadyusran8086]

​@@corinagramittoricci by his explanation im guessing its code mixing as he's flexing his linguistic competence in both language

[@infelixlidarwa]

You video really help me during my exams, thanks a bunch dear 💕💕

[@MultilingualFamily]

perfect!

[@delfinal7560]

Ohhh! I acttualy didn't know that. Thanks for this great video

[@sdoken]

Thank you for this video. I just revisited this video to review this topic that is becoming more important as my child is growing. My child uses the German word 'kaputt' when he describes something that is broken. I need to find a Turkish word that is simple and clear to teach him the rigth word but I also do not want him to forget the German word. (I try to speak in simpler words and sentences when I speak to my child. Perhaps that is not necessary but it seems to be working so far)

[@MultilingualFamily]

You don´t need to "protect" your child from fancy sentence structures. They are capable of learning them without problems. Actually, it helps them.

[@sdoken]

@@MultilingualFamily thank you. I always felt that he is too young for complex sentences but I will challenge him from now on.

[@Jekson_Niko]

This helps a lot. Thank you.

[@ngotri1995]

thanks alot for sharing mam

[@Muralikrishna-tq9sl]

Thank for your explanation!!...

[@MultilingualFamily]

You are welcome!

[@cinthiamonteiro7706]

Awesome explanation! Thanks :)

[@raimundocaxinda9185]

I d like more information about differenc

[@AyushSharma-eq7jz]

Thanks 👍

[@MultilingualFamily]

No problem 👍

[@gmo9172]

Is it considered code mixing if the person mainly speaks one language, but uses words from another language because that is what they were exposed to, and thus they may not know the word that matches their native language?

[@Francieli128]

I loveeeed it

[@pristinatura]

Love your work 😊❤️ And thank you for sharing your knowledge with all of us 😊 Me and my husband are following the OPOL method with our one year old kid. I had a question to ask of you - How do we address each other infront of our kid (Mumma, Papa, Mom, Pop, etc.). Should we do it in our own language? Would that confuse the kid? Thank you! 😊

[@MultilingualFamily]

Hi, it won´t confuse your kid. Use the name that feels natural to you and the kids. They will soon understand that there are more words to address the same person and will learn to use them according to the situation.

[@pristinatura]

@@MultilingualFamily Do your kids call you by the same name in every situation or they switch based on the situation?

[@olgalemesh8456]

and how to understand if it is conscious or unconscious? My 2,4 year old mixes a lot but he also often repeats what I say to him in my mother tongue in English, which makes me think he does realize that those are two different languages. But still no separation of the languages in the speech yet. And the third language after 7 months in the krippe doesnt even pop up in any of the situations.

[@Theisomen]

Most bilingual children tend to have one domestic language, which will probably the one of where you live. Children do recognize that there are two different languages and they learn their grammatics seperatly. In time when the child starts to school, the language that she/he will speak with friends will be more domestic and the child will then start to use this language moreoften. I think there is no harm that your child is mixing these languages since that he/she is in a lesrning process.

[@MultilingualFamily]

Give your child a bit more time. The older they get, the more they realize how they speak and in what language. In theory, children start separating languages or realizing that they speak different languages at the age of 4. It can be that they are not using German at home, because they know that that language is not used at home. Talk to the "Krippenleiterin" and ask them how the German is unfolding.

[@SAMMYRORDING-sc8rq]

Im a student at mzuzu university pursuing first degree bachelor of education language,,, I always code switch and code mix please teacher teach us more

[@cariiinen]

nice

[@alibal_0]

Can you please explain the difference between intra-sentential and inter-sentential code switching?

[@MultilingualFamily]

That is a very good question, so much so that I'll shoot a video only about it. Subscribe to be notified when it comes out!

[@SG-of6nq]

Intra-sentential code switching is where one language has another language embedded in the same phrase. So if I said , 我想去买 some food because later tonight my 老板要来我家吃饭, this would be an example of intra-sentential code switching. Inter-sentential code switching is when the phrases are separate. For example: 今天我比较忙. After class I have to meet my coworker to discuss a problem we're having at work.

[@MintyVL]

Do you think that multilingual children may grow up to have a more refined ability to identify patterns? For example, the way your daughter identified the patterns in one language and combined two words makes me believe it might be so.

[@MultilingualFamily]

Definitely, I think that that is what scientists mean when they say that multilingual children are more creative. The thing is that having to switch from one language to another depending on the setting is a tremendous brain trainer. 🧠

[@dji130]

Great vid

[@vickychebet8729]

Woow

[@spanglishfantastico]

I am interested. I hold an unpopular opinion on this. I haven't done university level research into code switching. However, I am a teacher and I use code switching as a model for beginner students to show them they can use their second language (L2) even if they don't have all the words. Why use L2 if the model you have to follow is unattainable for you? Encouraging code switching encourages early use of L2. Does that mess up learners' L2 language use in their future? NO. On the contrary, because it allows early and constant use of L2 code switching accelerates learning. That is not a surprise to me, as all the evidence I have seen points to code switching being the natural way humans learn from each other when 2 language communities co-exist. Code switching seems to be a natural path to bi-lingualism. I notice that you and your husband naturally code switch, when bathing your children for example. And yet you try not to do it in front of your children. Do you think it would harm their language abilities to hear you and your husband code switching? I have a suspicion that language teaching is to blame. I said at the beginning that I hold an unpopular opinion on code switching. The popular opinion is that code switching creates confusion, it impoverishes both languages and the speakers who engage in it, it shows a lack of education. To all this I say "Piffle!" If I compare speaking a second language to learning the game of basketball, then using code switching as a path towards that destination is like learning to walk and bounce a ball. We don't start perfect at anything. I honestly believe that code switching should be encouraged in every early second language learner, because it allows us to use our L2 immediately for the exact purpose of language, which is to communicate our thoughts through a specialized expulsion of our breath. I would love to hear your response. My email is [e-mail] . I teach Spanish, and my KZbin channel is kzbin.info/door/Uh8tv0_shu7DOGGsdmcBqw If you got this far, thank you for reading, and have a lovely day :)

[@MultilingualFamily]

Really interesting thoughts. I definitely don't think that code-switching is a sign of confusion. For beginners it's important to use all their language repertoire for the purpose of communication. As I say in many of my videos, cs is a natural part of being multilingual. There are several reasons to code switch. What I think is important is that kids learn to develop their languages fully, and that means to be able to communicate fluently without having to constantly borrow words from other languages. Occasional code switching is inevitable. How much a person cs is trainable.

[@Mothernidad]

Hi Andrea, thank you so much for all your videos. I was wondering, how did you react when your child said “gumpeando”? Did you correct her in any way, directly or indirectly?

[@MultilingualFamily]

Hi Daniela, I usually correct it in a natural way by saying something like: "Ah, you mean jumping (correct the word). How fun!"

[@Mothernidad]

Multilingual Family Thank you so much for answering my question! 😌

[@zerihunasefaw9243]

Keep it up .

[@MultilingualFamily]

Thank you, I will

[@Mac_an_Mheiriceanaigh]

My friend works at a government agency that supports the Irish language. Everyone at the office is supposed to speak Irish but outside of meetings, everyone is always code-switching (this is normal in Ireland since normally everything in Ireland is in English only). Most of her coworkers speak about 70-30 or 60-40 Irish to English but there is one woman who speaks more like 20-80 Irish to English. My friend brought it up once and the woman said "What are you talking about -- I always speak Irish". What do you think of this situation? Do you think she genuinely is unconscious of her usage of English or do you think she is just lying?

[@MultilingualFamily]

😂 I do believe that in some cases switching has become so normal that they are not even aware that they don't speak consistently in one language (I've seen this happen also to teachers here in Switzerland when showing Swiss German and High German). In the case you just explained it's not a problem because everyone there understands Irish and English. But what if that woman goes to the US? That is EXACTLY the reason why kids need to learn to speak in one language at a time through good role models. That will allow them to develop those languages fully and be able to speak fluently with people that don't speak one of those languages. Amongst people that understand the same languages, code-switching will happen inevitably (sometimes more, sometimes less), because our brains are constantly looking for the fastest and most efficient way to communicate. Code-switching is sometimes also a sign of laziness. For multilingual brains it's often easier to switch than to make the effort of finding the right word in the right language. So, it's good brain-training to stick to one language at a time 😉.

[@Mac_an_Mheiriceanaigh]

@@MultilingualFamily One of my good friends grew up in Ürümqi and always spoke Uyghurche mixed with Mandarin Chinese with her friends and family. She came to the US and married a man from Tashkent, where there is no Chinese at all. She said it was sometimes a headache at first but now she automatically speaks Uyghurche differently with him versus these other people. She is very insecure about her native language because she is illiterate in this language (she can read and write English and Chinese only) but I was telling her look at how skilled you are to switch these different registers effortlessly! I know it is normal for multilingual people to be able to do this, but I think it is great to recognize how amazing this ability is.

[@MultilingualFamily]

@@Mac_an_Mheiriceanaigh Funny, I have never thought about it that way. To me it has never felt like a special ability. I guess that is because I've had to switch since all y life to communicate with my mom and dad and the teachers in school... I wonder how switching feels like for monolinguals. I know that neurologically speaking it is explainable why the switching in primary multilinguals happen so fast: it's because the languages develop in the same area of the brain than the L1 if learned early, whereas foreign languages that are learned usually later don't.

[@adibeth7]

Hi, After reading about this topic and listening to your video. I have a feeling that code-mixing and translanguaging are the same because they, in this case our kids, use the whole linguistic repertoire. What do you think?

[@MultilingualFamily]

In some ways yes. I think one of the differences lies in the fact that code-mixing is an unconscious process, translanguaging not really.

[@miftahulfaris4400]

I just wanna ask something off topic. What's the difference of 'unconsciously' and 'subconsciously'? From what I understand, 'unconscious' is what happen when you pass out or something.

[@MultilingualFamily]

I'm not an expert when it comes to English, but "to be unconscious" is when you faint. To do something "unconsciously " is when you do something without being aware of it.

[@edouardkanse2346]

Please what are the similarities between code switching and code mixing😊!?¿

[@MultilingualFamily]

Let me check 😉

[@ganteng_ini_menyiksa]

Does code-switching happen only between 2 national languages? In Indonesia, people use Indonesian and local languages simoltaneously in everyday life. Is it considered code switching?

[@MultilingualFamily]

If they mix them when speaking, yes. But it doesn't only happen between 2 national languages. It happens as soon as a person is bilingual or multilingual.

[@ganteng_ini_menyiksa]

@@MultilingualFamily Thank you for such a great explanation. So, unconsciously, I do code-switching every time I speak then. I mix Javanese and Indonesian when talking to someone else.

[@flhu700]

Me encantaria ver este video en castellano.

[@italianaccess9377]

Hi Andre, and thank you for your fantastic channel! I would like to ask your advice on our specific situation (we would like to teach our child Italian, English and German). Is there an email address I can reach out to you at? I am already subscribed to your website, but the "contact" page gives a 404 error page. Thank you!

[@MultilingualFamily]

Hi, thank you! Yes I turned the Contact Page off because I was getting too much Spam, but you can contact me via the comments (like right now) or hit the reply button when you get my weekly mails ([e-mail])

[@italianaccess9377]

@@MultilingualFamily Thank you so much for your reply! Here is my question and new puzzle situation for you to analyze :) We are rising our child in Italian (my L1) and English (husband's L1 + country we live in), from birth. I was wondering when would be a good time to introduce her to German (It's our "heritage" language, but no one speaks it anymore in the families, except me, even though not super fluently). Since I would be the one speaking to her both in Italian & German, I was thinking of the OAOL method. When would be a good time to start reading books & speak to her in German, in addition to Italian? I am afraid of confusing her!! Thanks a lot!

[@teaandstocks413]

You are beautiful😀😍