#code-switching

Me: Alysa Liu's free skate.

My mom, who I've explained Olympic figure skating about five times to: Who's that?

Me: You know, US women's gold medalist.

Her: Who?

Me: You know, Raccoonhead.

AND THAT'S THE LITERAL ONLY NAME SHE CAN REMEMBER HER BY

Clock the change in the first place. Evaluate the new information fairly. Parse the new info wrt your values and past experiences AND LET YOURSELF BE CHALLENGED TO CHANGE both How You Think of the Past, as well as What You Do Going Forward.

This negative view of Puerto Ricans on the mainland encouraged employment and education discrimination and discouraged the use of Spanish among Puerto Ricans, tying the ability for Puerto Ricans to speak English directly to their ability to survive. English has long been used as a primary tool of assimilation into American Culture. In fact, a person’s ability to speak “proper” English is often code for their ability to integrate into a “civilized society.” It’s no wonder Puerto Ricans began to mix English and Spanish in their speech. This hybrid language reflected the complex cultural and linguistic history of Puerto Rico. Spanglish emerged as a way for Puerto Ricans to switch between asserting their cultural identity and navigating the expectations of American society.

Could my elders have been afraid that I would forget the language they fought so hard to keep? Perhaps. But they also spoke in ways that led me to believe that their ideas around language were also tied to respectability, value and upward mobility. On one side, my elders admonished my mom for not having taught me Spanish, and on the other, my elders lamented about how their limited knowledge of English made it difficult to find employment no matter their educational background back home. They told tales of being denied jobs, being embarrassed to speak English at the supermarket, and preferring to avoid English interaction all together. Spanglish emerged here as a language of necessity, born out of the need to communicate for survival. 

Ask 2:

BPP😭

It was so heartbreaking to watch NJ be emotional while telling us that they can’t be their usual straightforward selves at the moment, but they will soon be able to tell us a lot more after everything has been decided.

I can’t imagine how much pressure and stress they’re under right now… 

I hope everything will work out in their favor in the long run.

**

Hi Anon(s),

I found it funny how I got these asks around the same time, about the same subject, and yet the perceptions by both anons seem worlds apart lmao.

Anon 1, I can totally understand why you might feel uncomfortable hearing Namjoon's speech, but I'm going to spend some time here talking about why exactly your question pisses me off, though you likely meant nothing bad from asking it, and at the end I'll explain why I'm thankful you asked it.

Generally speaking here, one pet peeve I have with native English speakers and/or white people who take an interest in k-pop or in another culture, is how casually ignorant they can sometimes be and when corrected, I've observed many just dismiss it as not a big deal or 'identity politics'.

Lol.

It's not racist that a native English speaker who is non-POC has no idea what code-switching is and what it can look like, but if you've taken an interest in an industry where majority of the people speak English as a second language, which then impacts how they apply certain words (think of how Jungkook titled My You, even after he acknowledged it's not grammatically correct), then some kind of self-awareness is sorely needed.

Code-switching is not just a function of language but of culture. Think of any Black person you know, find them and ask them if they have a 'white' or 'office' speaking voice and if they're careful of what words to use to a white audience. Everything from the type of words used, to the tone or accent, to even posture, changes sometimes when non-white/native speakers switch into that language. And this is just for Black people in America who have spoken English all their lives. Imagine for a moment what it is like for a Korean. Imagine what it's like for a Korean who is mostly self-taught in another language.

I was drafting this response when a moot also talked about this on Twitter, so rather than continue responding to Anon 1 (this subject is very personal for me and the more I talk about it, the more direct I'll be, though Anon 1 was likely just asking out of curiosity), I'll just link to a fuller explanation of what happened with Namjoon's speech here, (end of thread to read upwards linked here too). If any of those explanations seem like too much of a stretch, feel free to come back here with more questions if you have them. :)

*

The curious thing is, BTS have made these sort of cringe missteps when speaking in Japanese, but Japanese speakers don't immediately jump to assuming the worst (like assuming Joon means to sexually assault children), nor do Japanese speakers mock them for using words in an odd way. No, that's a reaction I've only observed in English speakers who are almost always white. And in a sense I don't blame them. After all, it's 2022 - anybody with an international presence should speak and use English the way native speakers do. Apparently. Whatever your feelings about the British monarchy, the fact remains that we live in a world shaped by their centuries of imperialism and colonialism. It bleeds into most things, including subtle expectations like this that most of the time is invisible to English speakers/Western people.

Oh, and then there's the typical hate for Namjoon k-pop stans are notorious for lmao. He's an easy target, and k-pop stans operate on that kind of frequency.

Anon 1, thank you for asking your question. Because honestly, your question/reaction is completely understandable and I thoroughly sympathize, but I can recognize that it can be also borne of ignorance. The great thing about ignorance is that it can be quickly tossed. All one has to do is ask a question, and they'll be informed of other perspectives which hopefully expand the views of all involved. I'm also thankful you asked your question because as I said above, this is something personal to me given my background and where I've lived most of my life. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say my mind on this, because this is something that will keep coming up the more k-pop (and BTS) move into the international spotlight.

**