Switch the code..switch..switch.. the code!

The observable category "in the head" got me thinking. It is amazing that a bilingual person stores several communicative processes for many different situations that are used at any moment. It seems that these almost habit like processes happen like many none verbal cues that i use in a conversation. I do realize that there is a difference in these examples. The "in the head" processes seem to allow a person to be able to process thoughts in two languages and therefore give more options to send a clearly understood message. It gives a person more options to work with because there are words in Spanish and English that cannot be translated between the two languages. Or there are more intimate meanings to one versus the other. I would love to give specific examples but do not speak another language.

Boom!!! I found it! Alright i might have an example, so one of my friends had me listen to this song called "Tengo Frio" by Ely Guerra. It is a pretty cool song! It has nice mellifluous rhythm. She is singing about the coldness of being lonely. He also tried to verbally translate the song into English while he was playing it and said that it was hard to translate some of the Spanish word and phrase meanings into English. Here are the lyrics in Spanish:

Tengo Frio by Ely Guerra

Es que tengo frio a medio dia
Es que da miedo, es que lastima
Si tengo miedo y si llevo alguna herida
La misma que me lleva a ti.

Y tomo cuenta de los dias
Nadie... nadie puede ver
Si tengo miedo, si llevo alguna herida
La idea es que vengas a mi.

Y es que tengo frio a medio dia
Es que da miedo, es que lastima
Si tengo miedo y si llevo alguna herida
La misma que me lleva a ti.

Y tomo cuenta de los dias
Nadie... nadie puede ver
Si tengo miedo, si llevo alguna herida
La idea es que vengas a mi
La idea es que vengas a mi
La idea es que vengas a mi

Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights

And here is an English translation (by me):

It is why I am cold at noon
It is what gives fear, it is what hurts
If I am scared and if I carry some injury
The same one that carries me to you.

And I take account of the days you gave,
Nobody... nobody can see
If I am scared, if I carry some injury
The idea is that you come to me.

And it is why I am cold at noon
It is what gives fear, it is what hurts
If I am scared and if I carry some injury
The same one that carries me to you.

And I take account of the days you gave,
Nobody... nobody can see
If I am scared, if I carry some injury
The idea is that you come to me
The idea is that you come to me
The idea is that you come to me.

Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights

I think that it is interesting that she chooses to say "lonely nights" in English at the end of the song because it helps me understand everything that she is say in the rest of the song with one English phrase. I think that anyone who speaks just English or both English and Spanish can certainly understand the implied message of the song by the phrase "lonely nights."


[the translation is done by me although i don't speak Spanish. Maybe someone that does speak Spanish can correct my translation!]