CODESWITCH

I do this everyday. Okay, okay, its not legit. I dont know spanish or any other language besides English, but on some degree, I do this. I work at a bank, and I have taken more than my share of Spanish classes over the years, I often greet people that I know (reguardless of race) with a very American version of "Hola, como esta." (Kind of like in that one mormon movie, Singles Ward). A couple people I work with who do speak spanish usually go off into long Spanish spells, and I pick up a new word every other day. m and the rest of the sentence only makes sense because of SPANGLISH. But, I'd hardly call my part codeswitching, although it did make me realize how much people do it. I agree that using two languages as one doesnt only sound funny and confusing, it can be quite disaterous. For me, and most of who I talk to on a regular basis, we understand the context and sarcasm behind it, and it pieces itself together. But if a member of our bank come in, and we are talking like that (which does happen), they rarely know what is being said. I think it is a good thing that people stick to the language in which they were raised, and if they are here in America, they should mostly stick to their "home language" although Spanglish can be just as much an advantage. I related Zantella to the way co-workers communicate when they are assisting someone. We know what the individual wants, but in order for it to make sense to us (employees), we need to say things like, "What is the Branch Suite code for a member inquiry in the five-o?" or "Would it be in Spectrum with AHCH?" It is like codeswitching into our "home language" and it makes sense to us, although others might get mad or concerned and shoot back with "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" (mostly because of the fact that we are dealing with the money) As employees it is our grammer to use these words, as it would be in spanish or english. We are the children who have aquired two grammars, and it is much more effective to use a "spanglish" of both the words we use with other emloyees, and words the member can understand.