You are learning code-switching in english: you will read the scene it happens in, learn 10 words and phrases, take apart the pattern behind them (code-switching: adjusting register for context), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.
Contrasting two meals: lunch at Le Coucou (SoHo) and dinner at Joe's Pizza (Greenwich Village)
Lunch was at Le Coucou, a French restaurant in SoHo that feels like stepping into a Parisian salon. Crystal chandeliers. Linen tablecloths. A sommelier who speaks in a near-whisper. I ordered in my most polished English: 'I'd like to begin with the terrine, please. And could you recommend a white wine to pair with the sole?'
The register here is formal. You don't shout. You don't wave for the waiter. You make eye contact, and they appear. When the bill came, I said, 'Thank you for a truly wonderful experience.' The maître d' nodded. 'The pleasure was ours.'
Six hours later, I was at Joe's Pizza on Carmine Street. The line was out the door. A guy behind the counter was yelling: 'Two regular! One pepperoni!' I stepped up. 'Can I get a plain slice?' He slid it across the counter. 'Two seventy-five.' I folded it in half — the New York way — and ate it standing on the sidewalk.
Same city. Same person. Two completely different languages. At Le Coucou, I was polished and precise. At Joe's, I was fast and casual. Neither was more 'correct.' Both were appropriate. That's code-switching: the ability to read the room and match your English to the moment.