“Hola, how are you?” “Muy bien, thank you. Y tu?” “Bien, can’t complain.”

Maybe it was weird for you to see the use of two languages in an interaction like this, or maybe it seemed totally natural to you. Either way, you just witnessed code switching. This phenomenon has been occurring throughout history for hundreds of years. In fact, the English language is a product of numerous languages that melded together over time. If you’re a “code switcher”, then maybe you’ll understand where I’m coming from when I say that languages will forever keep changing. But wait a minute; why does this even happen?

Well, let’s play pretend for a moment: Let’s say that you’re an immigrant from a non-English speaking country. When you arrive in America, you find groups of individuals that speak your language. Do you spend the rest of your life communicating in your native tongue while rejecting your new social arena’s language? Or do you reject your motherland and communicate through the language of your new home? Any choice that you would make would require you to lose an identity without gaining another one which can be called “social schizophrenia”. Yes, it’s as weird as it sounds. Nonetheless, it is here that we realize if you were to decide to keep both social identities, new systematic ways of speaking would develop and that is how code-switching arises.

Alright, cool, but what is this information good for?

Well, hundreds of words in the English language have been borrowed from other languages. Did you know that Americans borrowed words such as cake, ugly, egg, skirt, and sky from the Scandinavian language all the way back in 1100-1500? The borrowing of words comes directly from the mixing of languages. Without code switching, would the English language even be what it is today? Well, the answer is probably not.

Studies show that code switchers often feel unsure about their bilingual identity. We’ve already discussed how the use of the language of both social identities impacts a bilingual, but I haven’t explained what happens after they make the decision to keep both.

The social impact of code-switching doesn’t just vanish into thin air after the decision to keep both identities is made (although that would be ideal). Often, bilinguals still struggle with identity issues. Many bilinguals feel unsure of which language to speak in when having a conversation with another bilingual that speaks the same languages. This uncertainty can lead to the individual wondering if one of their identities is overpowering the other. In cases like this, if they feel that their native language is being overpowered, they may begin to question where their true identity lies. An identity crisis can lead to an individual questioning their value and self-worth. If you’re a “code switcher”, and you ever feel your identity slipping away from you, understand this:

You are in the baby steps of creating a brand new language.

Years and years and years from now, English will most likely be a thing of the past. Who knows what new languages people will be using. Looking at historical trends, it is not unlikely that whatever new languages arise will be a product of mixing today’s languages.

So, the next time you hear someone say “Hola, how are you?”, don’t sit there and think that they can’t let go of the past; understand that they are creating the future.