why does language change us?

0:00 So, you've been learning English for 3

0:02 years, imagining yourself having natural

0:04 conversations with people in English.

0:06 [music] You're buried in verb

0:08 conjugations.

0:09 You're practicing pronunciation until your jaw hurts.

0:13 And maybe you've even started watching

0:15 dramas and TV shows in English [music]

0:17 already.

0:18 You started all of this for a

0:20 simple reason, to travel, to feel more

0:23 connected with people on your next

0:25 vacation.

0:26 [music] But what if I told you

0:27 this?

0:29 While you've been busy studying

0:30 grammar and vocabulary, what if you've

0:32 actually been rewiring your brain for a

0:35 better [music] life in ways you never

0:37 expected?

0:38 And what if the biggest and

0:40 [music] deepest impact of learning a new

0:42 language has almost nothing to do with

0:45 travel that you're planning?

0:46 Because learning a language isn't just about

0:49 learning how to speak.

0:51 It's [music] more than that because it's a tool for

0:53 personal change.

0:55 Welcome back to another episode of This

0:57 Is Hazel.

0:58 [music] Okay, honestly these days when language

1:03 feels hard, AI can translate almost

1:06 everything so easily.

1:07 So sometimes it feels like maybe we don't need to learn

1:11 or study languages anymore because as a

1:14 person who teaches Korean language,

1:16 sometimes some people say that like AI

1:20 will solve everything, so you're going

1:22 to lose your job.

1:23 I mean, yeah.

1:24 But here's the thing.

1:25 While you're studying a language right now, you're secretly

1:29 upgrading your way of thinking, your

1:32 personality, and the way you see the

1:34 world.

1:35 So, today I want to talk about

1:36 the hidden reasons why learning a

1:39 language is such a powerful tool for the

1:42 personal growth.

1:43 Okay.

1:44 The first and maybe the most surprising change is

1:47 happening deep inside your brain.

1:50 Every time you struggle to remember a new word

1:53 or try to put a sentence together, you

1:56 are literally changing your brain.

1:58 I know like scientists call this

2:01 something.

2:02 Let me Okay, let me search.

2:06 I'll I'll give you the accurate

2:10 neuroplasticity.

2:13 Neuroplasticity.

2:13 I'm using [music] my brain so hard right

2:14 now.

2:17 Neuroplasticity.

2:19 Neuroplasticity.

2:19 Neurop Okay.

2:25 Okay.

2:26 [music] Scientists call this

2:28 neuroplasticity.

2:31 Neuroplasticity.

2:31 [music]

2:35 Neuroplasticity.

2:37 Platicity.

2:39 Okay.

2:39 Simply put, it means your brain is

2:42 like flexible and able to create new

2:45 connections.

2:45 Language learning is one of

2:47 the strongest ways to active that

2:50 ability because think of your brain like

2:53 a muscle like you gain your muscle.

2:56 Learning a new language is like giving

2:58 it giving the muscle a high intensity

3:01 workout and not just one kind of

3:04 exercise.

3:04 You do Pilates, yoga and go to

3:07 the gym, swimming, basketball, a lot of different kinds of

3:12 exercise.

3:12 Through this process actually

3:14 we can make our brains stronger and even

3:17 delay age related cognitive decline like

3:21 dementia or something by several years.

3:24 It's a long-term investment in your

3:26 future mental health.

3:28 And what's really important is these studies show that

3:31 adults like people like us, even people

3:34 who start learning a new language later

3:37 in their lives can experience these deep

3:40 brain changes too.

3:42 So when you're squeezing your brain trying to order

3:45 something in English at the restaurant,

3:47 you're actually building a stronger and

3:50 healthier brain that will support you

3:52 for decades.

3:53 The second reason is

3:54 actually a human part of this journey.

3:57 Um as you learn another language, you're

3:59 quietly building a powerful sense of

4:02 empathy.

4:02 It's about like truly

4:04 understanding the people.

4:05 Every language has a different sense of time, a

4:08 different sense of personal distance, a

4:11 different way of expressing emotions.

4:14 Honestly, the biggest cultural

4:15 difference that I felt since I came to

4:17 Vancouver isn't about food or music.

4:22 It's about how people express themselves

4:24 because I started noticing things like

4:27 oh people feel uncomfortable when I ask

4:29 this or oh this is how they interpret

4:32 their situations or this emotion doesn't

4:36 even exist in this language.

4:38 I realized that my reaction to the same story

4:42 changes depending on the language.

4:44 If someone said to me in English, "I've

4:47 been having a hard time lately." And

4:50 I'll probably say in English, "Oh, I'm

4:52 sorry.

4:53 Let me know if there's anything I

4:54 can do.

4:55 I'm here for you kind of thing."

4:57 But in Korean, I would say, "What

4:59 happened?

5:00 Are you eating well?"

5:03 That difference comes from the culture.

5:06 In fact, in Korean language, [music] I

5:09 don't think we say, "I'm sorry to hear

5:11 that.

5:12 So, I don't think we have a way to

5:13 say I'm sorry to hear that.

5:16 So, the first time that I noticed myself

5:18 naturally saying I'm [music] sorry in

5:21 English, not like sorry, just like

5:23 feeling sorry, I felt like I was meeting

5:26 a new version of myself.

5:28 Like what is this?

5:29 The longer I stay in Canada, the

5:31 more I feel these cultural differences

5:33 because now I'm not trying to understand

5:36 grammar.

5:37 I'm trying to understand

5:37 [music] the culture.

5:38 I can even feel the

5:39 difference in my personality depending

5:41 on whether I'm speaking Korean and

5:43 English.

5:43 [music] Maybe you can relate if

5:45 you speak different languages.

5:47 Anyway, um when you start understanding

5:51 why certain expressions [music] exist

5:53 and why ideas are framed the way they

5:57 are, you begin to see another world view

6:00 from the inside.

6:01 You don't just understand what people are saying, but

6:04 why they are saying [music] it that way.

6:06 This emotional intelligence helps you

6:09 connect with people more deeply.

6:12 [music] Language is the most important gateway

6:14 to real cultural understanding.

6:17 You're no longer just a tourist watching from

6:19 the [music] outside.

6:20 You become someone um who can share jokes, notice subtle

6:24 emotional moments, and you feel the

6:26 [music] connections.

6:27 And the third reason brings everything together.

6:31 Learning a new language is one of the

6:33 most honest paths to self-growth.

6:36 Most of us unconsciously believe that the way

6:39 we see the world is the only way cuz our

6:42 native language becomes the default

6:45 setting for our thoughts.

6:47 But the moment you learn another language, you realize

6:50 the same reality can be structured in

6:53 completely different ways, different

6:55 format.

6:56 Some languages have words for

6:57 concepts that you've never even thought

6:59 about before.

7:00 I've heard that like some

7:02 languages have I mean I've seen some

7:04 languages have like feminine like the

7:08 gender.

7:08 So I've heard that the cup has

7:10 gend the chair has a gender and that we

7:12 need to switch the verb based on it.

7:15 I've never thought about it.

7:16 I've never thought about that could be possible.

7:20 Probably my language has something

7:22 shocking for them.

7:24 Maybe English has something strange for other people.

7:29 It breaks the illusion that your

7:31 perspective is the only one that matters

7:34 and suddenly you your curiosity starts

7:36 flowing in so many different directions.

7:39 You also experience something important.

7:41 I think it's really important to me.

7:43 You learn through real experience that small

7:47 consistent actions can lead to the big

7:50 goals.

7:51 That sense of achievement often

7:53 makes you want to grow in other areas of

7:56 your life too.

7:57 Do you know what I've

7:58 been doing lately?

8:00 I've been re-watching dramas that I watched before I could

8:04 understand English.

8:05 If you've seen my

8:06 videos about how I studied English, you

8:08 know that I learned English through

8:10 dramas and movies.

8:12 I copied them.

8:13 I repeated the same scene again and again,

8:16 focusing more on sound than meaning.

8:19 I mimicked the sound so I could um learn

8:23 the language.

8:24 At one point I was almost

8:26 addicted to collecting those sins and I

8:30 was I got used to the sound right of the

8:34 scenes.

8:35 So they were in my brain already

8:37 and I am watching the movies again and

8:40 TV shows again and again.

8:42 Recently I listened to them again while I was

8:45 watching the shows like oh that's the

8:47 scene that I've saved.

8:49 Um and it felt

8:50 like wearing glasses for the first time.

8:53 Everything sounded so clear.

8:55 I started hearing things differently from what I

8:58 understood before.

9:00 Back then I understood the word.

9:03 I understood the information of the scene.

9:05 But now I understand both the culture and the

9:09 information together.

9:11 And suddenly so many things made sense at the same time.

9:15 Realizing that I can truly understand

9:17 something now brings me a deep kind of

9:22 happiness.

9:23 At first, I just wanted to order coffee

9:26 at the cafe.

9:27 And eventually, I became

9:28 someone who understands myself and my

9:31 place in the world much more deeply,

9:35 more open-minded, knowing that my

9:37 feelings can be expressed in many

9:40 different ways, and that I can share

9:42 what I have in many different forms is a

9:45 new experience.

9:46 And this is something

9:47 that is hard to understand unless you've

9:50 experienced it yourself.

9:52 from far away, you can't really see it.

9:56 You have to step into the water.

9:58 You have to swim.

9:59 You have to cross that

10:00 mountain.

10:01 Like, you have to get that and

10:02 see the view.

10:04 There's nothing wrong with

10:05 not having seen it.

10:07 It's like, it's okay.

10:10 But hearing about the view from

10:12 someone else who went there and actually

10:15 walking through it and experiencing and

10:18 seeing the view are two very different

10:21 things.

10:22 You didn't just learn a

10:23 language, you became a bigger,

10:27 wider version of yourself.

10:29 I've already know that many of you, many people

10:32 watching my videos are bilingual or

10:35 learning different languages.

10:36 So, I think some of you probably felt

10:39 something while watching this video.

10:41 If there's a hidden reason that you think

10:44 that I didn't mention, please share that

10:46 in the comments so I can see and learn

10:49 about your journeys as well.

10:50 Um, see you.

10:52 Bye-bye.

10:54 [music] [music]

11:13 [music]

11:17 But there are [music] so many romantic

11:19 sad TV shows in Korea.

11:26 [music]

11:32 [music] [music] [music]