Episode 222 How Language Shapes Culture (And Changes How You See the World)

Have you ever wondered how language shapes the way we see the world? In this episode of Emma’s ESL English, we explore an eye-opening story about the Zulu language—which has 39 words for “green”—and what that reveals about the deep connection between language and culture.🌍 Discover how learning Chinese changed my perception of reality🧠 Understand how different languages reflect different worldviews📖 Learn why English may not always be the richest language to describe nature🔤 Hear how older languages like Zulu express concepts we can’t even translateWhether you’re learning English, teaching it, or just love exploring linguistics and cultural diversity, this video will expand your understanding of what it means to think in a language.👇 Tell me in the comments:What’s your native language, and how does it change the way you think compared to English?👍 Like, Subscribe, and hit the 🔔 to support more thought-provoking ESL content.📘 The book was written by Richard D Lewis, a leading scholar in the Intercultural sector, he started off as an English teacher travelling and living around the world. He also speaks 12 languages!The book is 'When cultures collide, leading across cultures.'VocabularyPhilology - the study of the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languagesSavannah - a large, usually flat, grass area with minimal treesOur tongue is seen as poverty stricken - meaning our language is seen as being without very much variety or choice - poverty stricken is a common phrase used to describe people or countries who are struggling with poverty.Finely wrought - carefully made or forgedCausation - the cause of thingsFamiliarizing - the process of becoming familiar with somethingTaboo - subjects or ideas that are not culturally acceptable to discussStraightjacket - a commonly used piece of equipment to limit movement. In this case being used to describe the limitations of languageStereoscopic - stereo means with two or more sources. We have stereo sound and mono sound, the first has two or more speakers, the second only one. In this case stereoscopic refers to our vision being from two eyes.#emmaseslenglish #englishlisteningpractice #englishreading #culture