While conversing mainly in one language, the speaker might insert one or two words (usually nouns) from the other language into the discourse.
I often do this when I am speaking with friends or cousins. Mixing in a few Spanish words here and there into the conversation.
Bilinguals generally have no difficulty in keeping their two languages apart, but a common occurrence is the deliberate mixing of the two languages.
Whenever bilingual people are speaking with friends or family members who are bilingual as well, they tend to mix in a word of the other language into the conversation.
Although many people learn a second language relatively late in life, the most intense focus of research interest has always been on the natural bilingual, who has acquired both languages spontaneously in the course of growing up
Would I be considered a balanced bilingual? I have no problem switching back and forth from languages and started learning both Spanish and English since birth.
Certainly, the balanced bilingual (equally capable in both languages) is rarely encountered.
what does it mean by balanced bilingual? does it mean someone who is able to switching back and forth between languages with no problem..?
Most bilinguals have a preferred language in particular contexts; for example, they may use one language principally in the home, the second in the work place.
An example of myself with this is that I use Spanish whenever I am at home because that is what my parents speak. At school or at work I use a mix of English and Spanish or one specific language around a specific person. (no idea if that makes sense)
Linguistics experts reserve the term bilingualism for people who are proficient in two languages, and it is estimated that more than half of the world's population is bilingual to some extent.
Would proficient mean fluent in speaking, reading, or writing? Or in all?
I think it is interesting that more than half of the world is bilingual.
The code switching, then, is an affirmation of language knowledge of the Mexican American/Chicana/o/Latina/o identity.
It allows speakers to express the full range of their cultural belonging. Moving between English and Spanish, they share cultural signifiers, like humors, dichos, and family language.
linguistic currency.
A metaphor that compares language to money. I believe this means that words and language skills economic value.
To code switch means to speak at least two languages fluently and yet be able to control a range of styles/rules/variations of each language—demonstrating a versatile use of these codes in creative and fluid forms.
Is it required to be fluent for code switching? I don't think it is required. Even non-fluent speakers can code switch.
variation of two languages
Does this mean dialects or literal switching between languages?
To code switch means that I can write and speak en ingles and Spanish without any problemas.
Code switching isn't just a linguistic skills but also empowerment. Being able to move freely between languages allows the speaker to maintain their identity.
hegemony
hegemony: leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others.
linguistic hegemony: the dominance of one language. (example: telling a child to speak "beautifully" avoiding words from their native language)
My use of both languages, my code switching, is my way to resist being made into something else… . This resistance is part of the anticolonial struggle against both the Spanish colonizers and the white colonizers… . Chicanas [Chicanos] are using a language that is true to our experience, that is true to the places where we grew up—New Mexico, Arizona, Texas the Midwest. To me it is a political choice, as well as an aesthetic choice.(Anzaldúa, 2000, p. 248)
From what I understand, it wasn't communication but survival..?