What is code-switching? Everything to know as Hilaria Baldwin opens up about her fake accent controversy

In late 2020, Hilaria Baldwin faced backlash and trolling on social media for her Spanish accent. Many found the entrepreneur-yoga instructor’s past videos to criticize her for allegedly using a fake accent. The controversy led the 41-year-old to learn about code-switching, which reportedly allowed her to let go of her Spanish accent during public appearances.

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, code-switching is a phenomenon of switching between two linguistic codes. Per the Cambridge Dictionary, a person can code-switch between two languages, dialects, or accents. Bilingual people usually change between different languages. At the same time, people with the same language also use code-switching for reasons like blending in with the majority.

Dialects are different forms of the same language with varying pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and more, such as Texan English, New England English, and African-American Vernacular English. Accents are distinct ways of pronouncing certain words and can also be a reason for someone to code-switch.

In Hilaria Baldwin’s case, she explained her side during a recent episode of her reality TV show,

“Growing up in a way where you have multiple cultural influences on you. [It] means that you're never going to be able to fit in. You can try. You can chameleon…”

She added,

“People who code-switch were very good at chameleoning. I'm like, ‘Okay I'm going to be a little bit.’ And you're not even thinking about it.”

During the March 16 episode of The Baldwins, she later explained,

“They say that it's like communication. Like people who… If you ever talk to, like, a really old person, who cannot hear… And you have to, like, emphasize. ‘I’m going to speak slower.’ And you are not even really thinking about it. You just start to do it. You know what it's called? Code-switching. I had to learn about it, because the whole world was, like, mean to me.”

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Hilaria Baldwin had previously opened up about her Spanish accent

Hilaria was born and raised in Boston, but she also claimed to have had a Spanish influence during her childhood. On The Baldwins, the mother of seven talked about being bilingual and loving both English and Spanish. She said,

“I am raising my kids to be bilingual. I was raised bilingual. My family, all my… My nuclear family now lives over in Spain. I want to teach my kids pride in speaking more than one language. I think growing up and speaking two languages is extremely special. [I] Love English, I also love Spanish, and when I mix the two, it doesn’t make me inauthentic. When I mix the two, that makes me normal.”

Hilaria Baldwin also revealed how the Spanish accent controversy hurt her and put her in “dark places.” She further explained,

“But it was my family, my friends, my community, who speak multiple languages, who have belonging in multiple places... And realize that we are a mix of all of these different things and that’s gonna have an impact on how we sound and an impact on how we articulate things and the words that we choose. And our mannerisms. That’s normal. That’s called being human.”

After the controversy, Hilaria Baldwin initially (in 2021) revealed how she and her brother were raised in American and Spanish cultures. The entrepreneur also apologized on Instagram for not being clear about her roots but proclaimed that she was “proud” of the way she was raised.

The Spanish accent backlash was not the only controversy that The Baldwins addressed. In a previous episode, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin also discussed the Rust shooting incident and how it affected the former.