How Languages Shaped My Curiosity for the World 🌍 (how do I learn all these languages?!)

Hello deer, this is Seri 🌸

A glimpse into my journey with French, Korean, English, and German and how language learning opened my heart to cultures, travel, and the study of human nature.

My language journey started just a few years ago.

My mother tongue is Japanese but I learned and speak French, Korean, English and German.

The first language I learned was French.

I was inspired by three of my cousins, who have a Swiss father and grew up speaking it.

Listening to them made me curious about the language. For a long time, my level stayed quite basic, it was a bit challenging. But in high school, I began learning Korean, since I often traveled to Korea with my family. It was also around this time that I became interested in linguistics and started considering a path in social sciences.

I also studied English, but it wasn’t easy for me at first.

My English only improved when I began traveling more and using it daily.

Now, my English is much stronger though my pronunciation still makes people laugh sometimes. Even though I started learning French and Korean before English, it became my second language simply because I used it the most.

After a student exchange in Switzerland, I was introduced to German and fell in love with the sound of it. I thought French was hard but German? I wasn’t ready for that, haha. Still, it made me excited to keep going and to dream of speaking it as comfortably as I speak English one day.

Social sciences studies, when you learn that everything is subjective.

Studying social sciences has added so much depth to all of this. It gave me knowledge I wouldn’t have gained just by traveling or learning languages alone. I began to understand how societies form, how cultures evolve, and how human behaviors are shaped.

My studies sparked a particular interest in prehistory and hunter-gatherer societies, how our ancestors lived, interacted, and built the foundations of the world we know today.

This new perspective fueled my curiosity about the past, about how early humans navigated their environments and developed complex social structures long before written history. It made me eager to learn more about the evolution of human nature, culture, and community.

Even if my future job isn’t directly tied to social sciences, I know this knowledge has deepened my understanding of the world and the people around me.

How I Learn Languages.

The most powerful way I’ve learned is through traveling and full immersion.

Being surrounded by the language, hearing it every day in real situations, and needing to use it even imperfectly helps me grow naturally. I absorb not just the words, but the tone, the gestures, and the rhythm of how people truly speak.

I also learn a lot through music and movies.

A song can teach me expressions I wouldn’t find in a textbook, and movies give me a glimpse into the culture and daily conversations. It’s an effortless way of learning while enjoying the atmosphere of another world.

When I need more structure, I take intensive classes. They help me stay focused and understand the foundations. It’s a different kind of learning, but it gives me clarity and the discipline to keep going.

Children’s books are another gentle and effective tool. They are simple, repetitive, and comforting. Reading them makes me feel more confident, and it brings back a childlike joy in the learning process.

Finally, I use language apps like LingoDeer Plus. They let me practice quietly, at my own pace. It’s a nice way to stay connected to the language, to learn it in a playful way every day, even just for a few minutes.

Each method adds something special.

I like to mix them depending on how I feel.

For me, learning a language is a slow and beautiful journey, like planting a garden.

It grows with time, care, and curiosity.

Learning a new language is like opening the door to an entirely new world. It’s not just about words or pronunciation, it's about discovering a different way of thinking, understanding people, and stepping into their stories.

Each language holds a country's history, culture, emotions, and values. When I learn a new language, I also learn how people live, what they believe in, how they express love, sadness, joy. It’s a journey into the heart of a community.

Every language I learn opens up new destinations, new cultures, and new adventures.

Thanks to the languages I’ve learned, I've been able to explore places I never imagined visiting, creating memories and connections that are truly global. Languages have been my passport to the world.

Conclusion :

Languages don’t just connect me to others they’ve helped me understand myself better, too.

Through studying social sciences, I came to understand something essential: everything is shaped by perspective. Culture, beliefs, identities even truth itself can look different depending on where you stand.

This opened my mind deeply.

I stopped searching for one right answer and instead became curious about why people think the way they do :

It reminded me that learning isn’t just about facts : it’s about empathy, context, and questioning what we take for granted.

Pic 🖼️ : designed by freepik.