why does language change us?

So, you've been learning English for 3 years, imagining yourself having natural conversations with people in English. [music] You're buried in verb conjugations. You're practicing pronunciation until your jaw hurts.

And maybe you've even started watching dramas and TV shows in English [music] already. You started all of this for a simple reason, to travel, to feel more connected with people on your next vacation. [music] But what if I told you this?

While you've been busy studying grammar and vocabulary, what if you've actually been rewiring your brain for a better [music] life in ways you never expected? And what if the biggest and [music] deepest impact of learning a new language has almost nothing to do with travel that you're planning? Because learning a language isn't just about learning how to speak.

It's [music] more than that because it's a tool for personal change. Welcome back to another episode of This Is Hazel. [music] Okay, honestly these days when language feels hard, AI can translate almost everything so easily.

So sometimes it feels like maybe we don't need to learn or study languages anymore because as a person who teaches Korean language, sometimes some people say that like AI will solve everything, so you're going to lose your job. I mean, yeah. But here's the thing.

While you're studying a language right now, you're secretly upgrading your way of thinking, your personality, and the way you see the world. So, today I want to talk about the hidden reasons why learning a language is such a powerful tool for the personal growth. Okay.

The first and maybe the most surprising change is happening deep inside your brain. Every time you struggle to remember a new word or try to put a sentence together, you are literally changing your brain. I know like scientists call this something.

Let me Okay, let me search. I'll I'll give you the accurate >> neuroplasticity. >> Neuroplasticity.

>> I'm using [music] my brain so hard right now. >> Neuroplasticity. >> Neuroplasticity.

Neurop Okay. Okay. [music] Scientists call this neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity. [music] >> Neuroplasticity. >> Platicity.

Okay. Simply put, it means your brain is like flexible and able to create new connections. Language learning is one of the strongest ways to active that ability because think of your brain like a muscle like you gain your muscle.

Learning a new language is like giving it giving the muscle a high intensity workout and not just one kind of exercise. You do Pilates, yoga and go to the gym, swimming, basketball, a lot of different kinds of exercise. Through this process actually we can make our brains stronger and even delay age related cognitive decline like dementia or something by several years.

It's a long-term investment in your future mental health. And what's really important is these studies show that adults like people like us, even people who start learning a new language later in their lives can experience these deep brain changes too. So when you're squeezing your brain trying to order something in English at the restaurant, you're actually building a stronger and healthier brain that will support you for decades.

The second reason is actually a human part of this journey. Um as you learn another language, you're quietly building a powerful sense of empathy. It's about like truly understanding the people.

Every language has a different sense of time, a different sense of personal distance, a different way of expressing emotions. Honestly, the biggest cultural difference that I felt since I came to Vancouver isn't about food or music. It's about how people express themselves because I started noticing things like oh people feel uncomfortable when I ask this or oh this is how they interpret their situations or this emotion doesn't even exist in this language.

I realized that my reaction to the same story changes depending on the language. If someone said to me in English, "I've been having a hard time lately. " And I'll probably say in English, "Oh, I'm sorry.

Let me know if there's anything I can do. I'm here for you kind of thing. " But in Korean, I would say, "What happened?

Are you eating well? " That difference comes from the culture. In fact, in Korean language, [music] I don't think we say, "I'm sorry to hear that.

So, I don't think we have a way to say I'm sorry to hear that. So, the first time that I noticed myself naturally saying I'm [music] sorry in English, not like sorry, just like feeling sorry, I felt like I was meeting a new version of myself. Like what is this?

The longer I stay in Canada, the more I feel these cultural differences because now I'm not trying to understand grammar. I'm trying to understand [music] the culture. I can even feel the difference in my personality depending on whether I'm speaking Korean and English.

[music] Maybe you can relate if you speak different languages. Anyway, um when you start understanding why certain expressions [music] exist and why ideas are framed the way they are, you begin to see another world view from the inside. You don't just understand what people are saying, but why they are saying [music] it that way.

This emotional intelligence helps you connect with people more deeply. [music] Language is the most important gateway to real cultural understanding. You're no longer just a tourist watching from the [music] outside.

You become someone um who can share jokes, notice subtle emotional moments, and you feel the [music] connections. And the third reason brings everything together. Learning a new language is one of the most honest paths to self-growth.

Most of us unconsciously believe that the way we see the world is the only way cuz our native language becomes the default setting for our thoughts. But the moment you learn another language, you realize the same reality can be structured in completely different ways, different format. Some languages have words for concepts that you've never even thought about before.

I've heard that like some languages have I mean I've seen some languages have like feminine like the gender. So I've heard that the cup has gend the chair has a gender and that we need to switch the verb based on it. I've never thought about it.

I've never thought about that could be possible. Probably my language has something shocking for them. Maybe English has something strange for other people.

It breaks the illusion that your perspective is the only one that matters and suddenly you your curiosity starts flowing in so many different directions. You also experience something important. I think it's really important to me.

You learn through real experience that small consistent actions can lead to the big goals. That sense of achievement often makes you want to grow in other areas of your life too. Do you know what I've been doing lately?

I've been re-watching dramas that I watched before I could understand English. If you've seen my videos about how I studied English, you know that I learned English through dramas and movies. I copied them.

I repeated the same scene again and again, focusing more on sound than meaning. I mimicked the sound so I could um learn the language. At one point I was almost addicted to collecting those sins and I was I got used to the sound right of the scenes.

So they were in my brain already and I am watching the movies again and TV shows again and again. Recently I listened to them again while I was watching the shows like oh that's the scene that I've saved. Um and it felt like wearing glasses for the first time.

Everything sounded so clear. I started hearing things differently from what I understood before. Back then I understood the word.

I understood the information of the scene. But now I understand both the culture and the information together. And suddenly so many things made sense at the same time.

Realizing that I can truly understand something now brings me a deep kind of happiness. At first, I just wanted to order coffee at the cafe. And eventually, I became someone who understands myself and my place in the world much more deeply, more open-minded, knowing that my feelings can be expressed in many different ways, and that I can share what I have in many different forms is a new experience.

And this is something that is hard to understand unless you've experienced it yourself. from far away, you can't really see it. You have to step into the water.

You have to swim. You have to cross that mountain. Like, you have to get that and see the view.

There's nothing wrong with not having seen it. It's like, it's okay. But hearing about the view from someone else who went there and actually walking through it and experiencing and seeing the view are two very different things.

You didn't just learn a language, you became a bigger, wider version of yourself. I've already know that many of you, many people watching my videos are bilingual or learning different languages. So, I think some of you probably felt something while watching this video.

If there's a hidden reason that you think that I didn't mention, please share that in the comments so I can see and learn about your journeys as well. Um, see you. Bye-bye.

[music] [music] >> [music] >> But there are [music] so many romantic sad TV shows in Korea.