Tales under the cat tree: Conversations on Imagination, Tech & Human Adventure

Ep38: Cultural code switching - A conversation with Sylvia and Erwin Warkentin

26 Jan 2026

Audio

Description

Have you noticed that you sometimes sound different or use different words when you talk to your parents? Or maybe you slip into specific expressions with people from the town you left behind so long ago? When I was in Newfoundland a few months ago, Sylvia Warkentin introduced me to the term “Cultural code-switching.” This was a term I hadn’t heard before, but it turns out it’s something I’ve been doing my whole life.The definition of cultural code-switching is the act of consciously or unconsciously adjusting behaviour, language, and mannerisms to align with the norms of a different cultural context. To me, this makes sense. I’ve often described myself as a chameleon but I had never put a name to the mechanism.In this episode, we go beyond the definition. We explore whether we code-switch to survive, to take advantage, or simply to show respect. Do we change because we want to, or because we have to?Coincidentally, Sylvia and her husband Erwin were about to depart Newfoundland, where they had been living for decades, to return to Germany. And even more coincidentally, I would be seeing them there shortly after. So, this conversation takes place across two distinct sides of the Atlantic Ocean.Part 1 starts in Torbay, Newfoundland, on the eastern edge of Canada. While watching a winter storm roll in over the craggy coastline, we discuss the theory of the “Third Culture” and the complicated relationship we have with the concept of “home”.Part 2 picks up a month later in Berlin, Germany. After an unseasonably cold winter day, we sat down to see if the theory held up against reality. We discuss how the switches flipped the moment Sylvia landed—from the silence of a German grocery line to the “fighting dirty” required to navigate a new culture.Join us as we explore how we are all, in the end, just an amalgam of everything we experience. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tales.dups.ca

Transcription

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.

0 upvotes

🗳️ Sign in to Upvote

Popular episodes get transcribed faster

Other recent transcribed episodes

Transcribed and ready to explore now

3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

01 Jan 1970

El Partidazo de COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.

Report any issue

Tales under the cat tree: Conversations on Imagination, Tech & Human Adventure

Ep38: Cultural code switching - A conversation with Sylvia and Erwin Warkentin

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other recent transcribed episodes

3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

Sign in to Audioscrape

Share this moment