Why learning foreign languages will change your life (and how it changed mine)

English is the lingua franca it's the language  of the Internet it's the language of Finance  

it's the language of Medicine of popular music  diplomacy however it doesn't mean you should stop  

at English and only strive to speak this foreign  language hello guys and welcome back to my YouTube  

channel today I want to talk about how learning  foreign languages will change your life and how  

learning foreign languages changed my life in so  many different ways I'm always trying to present  

myself as a language learner because I'm actively  learning English Spanish and Chinese and my native  

language is Russian and to be honest this process  of acquiring a new language has brought so much  

joy into my life speaking foreign languages  allowed me to talk to new amazing people travel  

the world and try new jobs and professions  so the first major reason why you should be  

learning foreign languages is because language is  a part of of a culture and it is a very very big  

part of it if you really want to get the culture  you have to learn the language of this culture  

think of languages as tickets this idea of viewing  languages as tickets is not my idea it's something  

that I saw on YouTube while watching a TED talk  so basically the reason why languages are like  

tickets is because they allow you to participate  in the culture and participate in the culture very  

actively because when you speak the language it's  kind of like your ticket you're giving the ticket  

to be able to participate in the culture where  this language is spoken and that's exactly how I  

feel living here in Mexico City I started learning  Spanish actively seriously and consistently  

probably around seven months ago even though I've  been living in Mexico City for more than a year  

now and first when I moved to Mexico City I had a  lot of things on my plate and honestly I was just  

too lazy to start learning Spanish because a lot  of people here do speak English however I really  

wanted to get the culture I wanted to build  meaningful connections and for example every  

time I went to like a grocery store or a little  Mercado like little farmer's market I really  

wanted to communicate to people there in Spanish  because people there generally don't speak English  

and to be honest I feel kind of weird coming to  a country and expecting people in this country to  

speak English because for me I am the guest here  I'm the one who should be learning this language  

because I want to participate in this culture so  if you want to imbibe the culture if you want to  

drink it in if you want to become a part of it  you absolutely have to speak the language I think  

it's one of the reasons why many people when they  move to a different country they for example don't  

speak the language of this country for many many  years and they don't really become a part of this  

culture because again to truly become a part of a  culture you absolutely have to speak the language  

that the culture happens to be conducted  in there are so many people for example who  

move to the United States and they never really  learn English and because of that they miss out  

on so many American things but then if you really  think about it you have to make a choice sometimes  

people are too busy sometimes learning English is  not their priority but at the same time you always  

have to ask yourself this question do you want  to become an active member of this culture and  

if the answer is yes for you then you absolutely  need this ticket to be able to participate in the  

culture and the ticket is the language before we  move on to the next way learning foreign languages  

can change your life I want to tell you a little  bit about Elsa which is kindly sponsoring today's  

video I know that a lot of you guys are currently  working working on your pronunciation in English  

because pronouncing words in a foreign language  correctly is important because we want to avoid  

miscommunication right if you want to improve your  English speaking skills I highly recommend the  

app Elsa speak it is a unique app that pinpoints  your mistake in English speaking and pronunciation  

using Cutting Edge artificial intelligence  technology so let me show you guys how I use  

the app to work on my pronunciation when I open  the app I usually click on practice daily lessons  

and then we begin with the first sound so let's  start training my schedule is completely free  

my schedule is completely free as you can see the  app helps me emphasize the right word because my  

intonation was not the best when I was reading the  sentence so let's try again stay scheduled shorter  

and less emphasized say completely longer and more  emphasized say free shorter and less emphasized my  

schedule is completely free yay it's a lot better  right now if you just want to focus on one word  

at a time you can click on improve pronunciation  and then start your first day so here you will  

be practicing each word one by one nice to meet  you nice to meet you okay wish okay let me try  

to pronounce this word incorrectly which okay  as you can see the app picks up on my mistake  

and says that you know you have to change your  pronunciation A little bit so let's try again wish  

perfect if you want to learn new vocabulary  you can go to study by topic and choose let's  

say relationships and click on the first one  online dating and then click on start familiar  

familiar surprise so as you can see here we have  some words that are connected to this topic of  

online dating and relationships surprise and as  you can see every topic has multiple lessons for  

example online dating we have 12 lessons here so  you can really practice all of this new vocabulary  

so if you want to download the asset speak app  completely for free and get 7 days free of the pro  

membership make sure to scan the secure code or  use the link in the description but if you want to  

get 85 percent off of Elsa's lifetime membership  or 40 off of Elsa's one year membership you can  

use this link and again all of the links with all  the information are going to be in the description  

under this video now let's move on to the second  reason why learning languages will change your  

life for the better the second way learning  foreign languages can change your life for the  

better is because your brain will be healthier  yes it is absolutely legit for example if you  

speak two languages dementia is less likely  to set in and you're also probably a better  

multitasker it turns is out that bilingualism is  extremely healthy a group of scientists in Canada  

revealed that bilingual people who are fluent in  two languages show symptoms of several forms of  

dementia five years later considered with their  counterparts were monolingual language learning  

develops critical thinking skills and improves  memory so this is obviously extremely important  

for those who take care of their brain health  and I think it's crucial to take care of this  

important organ and if one thing that really  helps is language learning then sign me up I'm  

ready well I'm already learning like three foreign  languages so I think I'm good here I'm hitting all  

of my goals and I think the second thing that  is also connected to your brain health is your  

critical thinking skills and your memory I can  speak here from my experience I think thanks  

to language learning my memory is so good right  now obviously my memory is not perfect I'm not  

some superhuman however right now I know that my  memory is a lot better compared to what my memory  

was like when I could only speak Russian my native  language and also my critical thinking skills I  

think the reason why my critical thinking skills  are a lot better right now is because I know so  

many different things about different cultures  and I can think critically because I'm not too  

fast to jump to conclusions because I know that  for example in my home country this is how people  

usually live how they react to certain situations  however maybe in Mexico people are different you  

know their culture their language the way they  live everything is different and that's why I  

can analyze situations better and make better  conclusions and also bilingual students have  

better concentration compared to those who can  only speak one language again I can attest to  

this guys because I think my concentration right  now is a lot better because when I have to sit  

down and learn Chinese after I just spend an hour  learning Spanish a lot of content concentration  

and dedication is required to do that I think  right now I can ignore different distractions  

a lot more actively and that really helps me when  I film YouTube videos for example because language  

centers in the brain are so flexible learning a  new language develops a new area in your brain  

and strengthens your ability to focus number three  you will change the way you think I truly believe  

that each language is like another personality and  have a lot of distinctive ways of expressing your  

ideas for example even when we talk about grammar  different languages have different grammar when  

I'm learning Spanish I have to spend a lot  of time on grammar because sometimes grammar  

is quite complicated a lot of conjugations a lot  of different weird verbs that I have to memorize  

however when I'm learning Chinese the grammar  there is quite simple compared to English or  

Spanish or even Russian my native language so  usually because of that I can relax and I can  

feel more confident however there are other more  challenging things about the Chinese language for  

example the pronunciation and also obviously  spelling you have to memorize how to spell all  

of the characters correctly so I think that's why  a part of language learning is embracing this new  

personality and not shying away from it and that's  why people who are fluent in a foreign language  

they feel a lot more confident for example  switching between languages because they know that  

okay here they sometimes make mistakes in this  language but it's fine because this is how they  

usually speak in this foreign language and it's  fine they don't feel embarrassed about that they  

feel confident because they know that this allows  them to communicate their thoughts successfully  

and again build meaningful connections and  get access to a new culture because again  

a foreign language is like a ticket when I speak  English for example I feel very confident and so  

assertive nothing can stop me I know that I can  use the language well and that gives me a lot of  

confidence when I speak Spanish for example I  don't feel that confident because you know I'm  

not that advanced in Spanish yet however I feel  more fun you know I feel like the world is a more  

exciting place because I just love the way Spanish  sounds and I love all of my Mexican friends when  

I speak Chinese to be honest I feel very smart  because I know the Chinese is a very hard language  

to learn and it takes a lot of patience it takes  a lot of time so if I'm able to construct even one  

sentence successfully in Chinese I Pat myself on  the back and I say good job Veronica you did it  

air number four guys please don't laugh right  now but it has been proven scientifically that  

if you learn a foreign language you become  a more attractive of person yep you heard me  

right there is this language learning app called  Babel and they conducted this cool survey asking  

people what they think about other people who  are learning foreign languages and 71 of the  

participants said that they think those people are  extremely attractive and what makes them extremely  

attractive the fact that they're learning foreign  languages and I was like okay if I can make myself  

more attractive by learning foreign languages yep  I'm definitely gonna do that but guys seriously of  

course you should only learn foreign languages if  you want to no peer pressure you know don't think  

about other people it should only be because you  want to not because someone else is going to think  

you're more attractive of course this is not a  very healthy mindset personally my interpretation  

of the city is the following I think the reason  why people think that people who are learning  

foreign languages are more attractive is because  the those people can meet a lot of new people and  

they can kind of bond with them and also when  for example I speak English to someone else for  

example to an American and I tell them oh yeah  I'm actually from Russia I can speak English I'm  

learning Spanish and Chinese they usually become  very interested in me they're like oh my God how  

are you learning all those languages tell me your  story and this is a very cool kind of connection  

point it's this time that really allows me to  connect with those people especially if they  

themselves are also learning foreign languages for  example Spanish and we can't even practice Spanish  

a little bit and also you cannot even imagine how  happy I feel when here in Mexico City I go to a  

park and there is a group of Chinese tourists and  they come up to me and say something in Spanish  

to me they're like oh for example can you take a  picture of us this is something that happened to  

me a few months ago a Chinese guy came up to me he  was holding his phone and he was trying to speak  

Spanish he was like oh you know can you take a  picture of us and I responded in Chinese guys  

he was so surprised the shock on his face he was  like what you can't speak Chinese I'm like yeah  

a little bit I'm learning and the whole group  of those Chinese tourists they were so excited  

they were so excited to speak to a foreigner  in Chinese in Mexico City and finally I want  

to mention accents a little bit because guys  if I'm being completely honest most people find  

accents attractive they think that if a person  has an accent and a foreign language that makes  

them stand out that makes them unique and more  interesting so if you worry too much about your  

accent if you feel ashamed please don't because  for example I know that I still have an accent  

when I speak English and it's totally okay I don't  worry about that because I know that it makes me  

more interesting and more unique but of course you  have to remember the difference between accent and  

pronunciation pronunciation kind of the set way  we have to pronounce a certain word for example  

the word English right you can't say English for  example that is wrong pronounce pronunciation and  

that's why I highly recommend you go and check out  the Elsa speak app again all the links to download  

the app are going to be in the description  so I think it's going to be it for this video  

thank you guys so much for watching it I really  hope you enjoyed it if you like this video don't  

forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to  my channel and I'll see you guys in my next video