Code-switching at its best.

“You know you speak as if you bout to spit some bars” she said.

I laughed and said “yoo you too funny.”

“Im serious” she says, “you talk like a real rapper.”

I constantly hear that, I heard it from a teacher, from friends, and from associates. My language is only for me, and makes me who I am. I like to rap, and my movement relates to it. My common slang words are “jawn”, “yeah”, “yoo” “outcheaa”, and there are a lot more slang words. Like when playing basketball with friends.

“Yoo pass the ball, you bout to get trapped in the corner” I say.

“Ardd come get it bro” Zach says.

“ Throw the damn ball.” I say.

He passes it, and i go to the basket and score. After I score, and finish the game the people we are playing talk to us.

“ Good game yall” They say.

“We in return say “Yeah, that was a good game, we’ll see yall later. So we can fry yall again”

They say “Ardd watever, yall niggas is slight.”  

     I have lots of things I say, on different occasions. Sometimes I talk like that, but other times you wouldn’t even think those word could come out of my mouth. I know how to talk when I go for jobs and interviews, and I code switch when it calls for code switching. If you compare my basketball language, and my professional side, no words would be similar. I know how I need speak when going for something that calls to be a little more polite, and chill. Like my high school interview. 

“Hello, how do you pronounce your name?”

“You can call me Jaaz, but it’s pronounced as Jaazaniah.”

“Well you would academically benefit this school, but what other things could we look for from you?”

“Well I am a diverse individual, I like to help others, and I am very energetic.”

     Throughout the interview I answered questions. At the end they say “Thank you for coming today.” I say “It was a pleasure to have an interview, and thank you for the opportunity.” That is a form of code switching between a ball player, a rapper and talking for a purpose. 

     I code switch for a reason. I code switch because it is easy you get my point across. It helps me adapt to situations. Like when I rap, i need to use words that would rhyme with each other, and slang words are easy to rhyme. I code switch for basketball, because it is important to be confident. I code switch for interviews because if I came in speaking slang, then I wouldn’t be fitting the part of sounding professional. Code switching can be effective if you use it right.    

     In the story How to tame a wild tongue by Giona Anzaldua, a quote that I relate to is “ My home tongues are the languages I speak with my sister, brothers and friends.” I relate to that quote because it is basically saying that the author code switches when he gets around his friends and family, but when he is at other places he doesn’t use his home language.

     I like the way I talk, and I like the way I code switch effectively. I think that my rap language is appropriate for having fun with friends and things of that sort. I like the way my basketball language is good when I am doing something competitive. I understand that I need to have a way too slow it down, and sound professional. I like the way I speak, and code switching goes along with my language.