Code switching is a term linguists use to mean swapping between languages (or dialects, or even registers) when communicating.

I sometimes follow the "next blog" links for a few screens or so from my own blog just to get a random-ish selection of what's out there. Mostly I find nothing of interest, occasionally I hit on one that's worth a read. Sometimes I hit on an oddity. Like this example of Code Switching introducing a blog that seems to be written mainly in Malay. No idea what exactly it means (and Google Translate doesn't do Malay).

quote:

Firstly, selamat datang ke blog ni. Kat sini aku display few stuff yang aku jual. Barang-barang ni original and imported directly from Vietnam. Special price for you guys. Harga kilang maa. Ni bisnes runcit-runcit aku je. Nak tambah-tambah side income sket. Bisnes kawan-kawan. Kepada sapa-sapa yang nak merasa pakai beg branded tapi bajet kureng, kat sini la tempat-nya. For now, ini je yang aku ada. Will be updated soon. Enjoy ur stay here. Usha-usha dulu, kalau ada berkenan, boleh email, call or sms aku,k. Untuk area lembah klang, boleh set appointment, kita jumpa tgk sample beg dulu. Takda hal punya.

Now that's code switching with a vengeance. I wonder if the author is doing it for effect, or because it's a normal feature of his dialect, or because he can't find the precise words he's looking for in Malay (which seems unlikely).

quote:

Originally posted by BobHale:
No idea what exactly it means (and Google Translate doesn't do Malay).

But it seems to be something about selling bags, born out by the several advertising style pictures of rucksacks on the Blog itself.

In the days before I got satellite TV, I used to watch a channel that specialized in foreign language programming. There was a Filipino show on called Ober Da Bakod (Over the Fence, link). It exhibited code-switching with a vengence. It was strange and funny.

I once did some work for the former US ambassador to Hungary, Nicholas Salgo. I think he spoke seven or eight languages - and used them all in one sentence from time to time! It's amazing how much sense one can make of such a speaker even when one doesn't know a lick of Hungarian, Russian, Italian, etc.