Episode 115 - CODE-SWITCHING: Moving through the world with multiple accents, languages, and other ways of being...

Do you also, wittingly or otherwise, change languages or accents or vocabulary between different spaces (for all sorts of reasons)? [Many of us do so at school, in lecture rooms or at work] In a country like ours, with so much diversity, and skewed cultural and economic power distributions, sometimes you have to code-switch in order to survive, to be accepted, to fit in, in order to THRIVE/EARN...It can be funny, innocent, silly. It can also, at other times, be costly, and even toxic and oppressive. I discussed the concept of code-switching with brilliant South African creative, poet and actress Lebo Mashile, in what turned out to be an amazing Twitter spaces conversation. My favourite response was a person who had tweeted that she had never encountered the concept before but now that it had been explained to her, suddenly SO SO MUCH about her life is suddenly illuminated. That is the power of giving language and meaning- putting words- to what we experience habitually, unconsciously because ... we simply get on with it. Naming our experiences is very empowering. I dare you take a chance on this podcast episode, and learn about code-switching. I am certain that you will be as fascinated as the many folks who shared their stories on Twitter with us.Enjoy ! And share the episode with others who may be empowered by it also.