My Three Englishes

As nearly all people do, I change the way I communicate with others based on who I am speaking to. When speaking with teachers, or addressing an academic audience in a speech or a writing, I speak very formally, removing slang or jargon from my words. When talk to friends, I use imperfect English, not always using complete grammatically correct sentences and employing slang.
When I am speaking with my parents or other family, I use a mix of formal and informal language. I do not use complete sentences and perfect grammar, but at the same time I don't use the slang I do when speaking with my friends.

The lower picture is a good example of code switching. The photo is from a Model United Nations conference, an academic event. When I was in committee, I would use academic and formal language in order to establish my credibility. However, when I was not in committee, and talking to the people in the picture, I would relax my language, and it would become very informal. Using formal English when I was in committee made others believe that I a have solid ideas and am worth listening to. However, I did not need to make others listen to my academic ideas when I was out of committee, so I was able to relax my language.

Changing the sophistication of my language alters the persona I have. When I use academic language, I embody the persona of a person who is well-educated, well-spoken and who people want to listen to to advance themselves. When I am speaking with my friends, and I use slang and other jargon, I have a relaxed persona who is less interested in being academic and more interested in having relaxing and having fun. Finally, when I speak with my family, I have a mix of the two former personae. I seem educated and well-spoken, but still relaxed and having fun.