Hey Mara, ¿cómo estás?

I'm great, pero un poco cansada hoy. Thanks for asking!

???

Why are you talking like that? Don't you know English well enough to use it normally? 

Since Mara and I both speak English & Spanish, we can easily flow between both. This is called Code-Switching.

Exactly! It's not a sign that we don't know English, but rather that we know both English and Spanish well enough to use both at the same time!

Well I've never done that or heard of it before!

Sure you have! Have you ever changed the formality of your speech within a conversation? This is code-switching, too.

Exactly! Code-Switching is just alternating between two or more languages, dialects, or language varieties within a single conversation.

Contrary to some perceptions, code-switching is simply a tool for connecting with your conversation partner and communicating your thought.

Well thanks for explaining this! Your school swims with a different stroke than me - just an example of all the diversity in the sea!

¡De nada! Code-Switching is both a common and cool linguistic phenomena.  

¿Nuestro lector, do you code-switch?