Why Do You Code-Switch?

In a recent piece in Transom and Buzzfeed about "The Whiteness of 'Public Radio Voice'", Chenjerai Kumanyika asked: "As a black man, do I need to code-switch to be heard?"

Today, we want to hear from listeners about how and why you code-switch. Do you speak differently in different contexts? Are you an immigrant trying to fit in with your voice? Are you a southerner attempting to avoid a stereotype? Do you speak ebonics at home but ditch slang in the corporate office? Call in and tell us about your own code-switching: 212-433-9692. 

@WNYC @BrianLehrer learned my freshman year at boarding school that all the other kids didn't sound like the kids back home in Brooklyn.

— Monroe110 (@Monroe110) February 2, 2015

@BrianLehrer I definitely code-switch between men and women! And with ESL people... So weird/embarrassing

— Sarah Boatright (@sarahboatright) February 2, 2015

I'm a GA boy in NYC. If back home or talking w/ older ladies, I cant help but turn on the draw @BrianLehrer #codeswitch

— Matt Roberson (@lospapamatt) February 2, 2015

@BrianLehrer I used to live in Australia as a kid and still adopt a mild accent when talking w/ Australians

— Irina Ivanova (@iaivanova) February 2, 2015

@BrianLehrer Yes...but not as much as you might expect.

— Jack Jackson (@jack_jackson) February 2, 2015

@BrianLehrer Cant speak in american accent in tdad, natives think I'm showing off. Cant speak with trini accent in nyc, it's too 3rd world

— Alexander et al. (@Alexander_et_al) February 2, 2015

@BrianLehrer I had to drop my Canadian accent when reporting for public radio/NPR in Colorado. No aboots or soar-ees.

— Mathew Katz (@MathewKatz) February 2, 2015

@BrianLehrer as a black southerner I code switch all the time depending on the crowd.

— John (@ComicNeue) February 2, 2015

@BrianLehrer I *definitely* code switch according to my wife, especially when I speak to my Mum back in Scotland, changing dialect & accent.

— Neil Ritchie (@Beas_dad) February 2, 2015