The InFluency Podcast

In today’s episode, I’m answering questions from my students inside my membership, Beyond. Today you’ll get to hear questions like… [1:42] How can I find my natural voice in English? [13:12] How to improve similar vowel pairs like sheep/ship and pool/pull? [16:05] I feel like everyone speaks better English than me. How can I overcome this? And more! Do you have a question for me? You can ask it here! https://bit.ly/3L71bu8 These questions came from members of my Beyond membership. Get on the waitlist now! https://bit.ly/3ujoc8I  What’s your speaker stage in English? Take the quiz! https://bit.ly/3YaFq4e  Get on the waitlist for my program, New Sound: https://bit.ly/49q8RDB

It’s always a good time to get fluent in English, but this year is one of the BEST times to take advantage of everything that’s happening in the world and in the language learning industry and make progress in your English! In this week’s episode, I’m going to share with you four different reasons for why I think 2025 is going to be a GREAT year to finally reach your fluency goals in English. Get on my newsletter for weekly lessons: https://bit.ly/3DK1jzE Join my free online community! https://bit.ly/47tinnp Join the waitlist for my program, New Sound: https://bit.ly/49q8RDB

How do you even begin to talk about a full year of living in a new country? After relocating to Barcelona on January 4th, 2024, I’ll share the top challenges I faced and the lessons I learned during my first year of relocation in this episode. Join me for a behind-the-scenes look at my relocation journey to Barcelona ✈️ ☀️

Skibidi toilet rizz, ohio, mewing and more…join me and my guest, Assaf, for a vocabulary lesson on Gen Alpha slang. Gen Alpha consists of any person born between 2010-2024, and today, we get schooled by Gen Alpha on some of the newest terms they’re using in English!

Shadowing is one of the best ways you can practice your pronunciation, connected speech and rhythm in English, and today, we’re going to do it with the song ‘Popular’ from the new Wicked movie!  I also prepared for you a free PDF with the shadowing analysis and notes so you can practice this song on your own.  Here’s the PDF with analysis https://bit.ly/4ikUh4l  👉 Join the list for my program New Sound where you will transform your English and learn more about shadowing, pronunciation, mindset, and so much more! https://bit.ly/49q8RDB

Looking to improve your American English pronunciation quickly and effectively? This 5-minute daily exercise is perfect for building clarity, confidence, and fluency! 

Are you ready to act in English? In this podcast, I’ll guide you through a scene from the play The Rabbit Hole, where you’ll get to practice key elements of English like pronunciation, emotion, and flow by reading along with me. Watch the video version with the script here: https://bit.ly/4eDz9mJ Download the PDF of the script here https://bit.ly/48TSuPo or read along with me below: BECCA: Ridiculous, right? Nine weeks pregnant. In a bar. Drinking. HOWIE: You said she wasn’t drinking. BECCA: No, she said. But you know Izzy. Plus the place was probably clogged with cigarette smoke. HOWIE: Not anymore. Clean Indoor Air Act. BECCA: She was in Yonkers. You think they enforce that in Yonkers? HOWIE: I wouldn’t worry about it. If the babies in France turn out okay, I’m sure this one’ll be fine too. BECCA: You think this is funny, Howie? HOWIE: Of course not. But you need to relax about it. Izzy could be right. BECCA: About what? HOWIE: The baby, getting her on track. It can wake a person up. It did us. BECCA: She was bragging about a bar fight. HOWIE: It wasn’t a bar fight. BECCA: They were in a bar! Fighting! HOWIE: Izzy hit someone, she didn’t get into a fight. Blows were never exchanged. BECCA: What is your point? It’s okay for a pregnant woman to be punching people? HOWIE: Well so long as they don’t punch her back, it’s probably all right. BECCA: What are you—? Why are you defending her? HOWIE: I’m not. I just think it’s silly to get worked up about it. BECCA: I’m not worked up. I’m just saying. HOWIE: You’re right, it’s a mess, but what can we do? Maybe it’ll be fine. Izzy’s not a moron. Okay, she acts like one sometimes but... A baby can be good for a person. BECCA: I know that, Howie. HOWIE: Alright then.

Join me for a special bonus episode from a Q&A inside my membership, Beyond. Today you’ll get to hear questions like… How can I find my voice in English? How can I lead a meeting with confidence? How can I become more confident? Why do we improve through speaking? Who are good role models for effective communication?  And more!  Got a question for me? Ask it here! https://bit.ly/3L71bu8 Episodes about finding your voice in English: https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/38/  https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/change-your-voice-in-english/  Book recommendation: Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza

Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams or whatever meeting platform you use… if you have found yourself in an online meeting where everyone has their camera off, understanding your colleagues might be a challenge. In this episode, I’ll share some tips with you about how to understand others better, ask for what you need, and set yourself up for success online! More episodes on how to improve your listening in English: How to Improve Your Listening Skills in English – 9 Tips Strategies to Improve your Listening in English  Can listening to different accents RUIN your pronunciation? How to Understand Fast English Better

Have you used AI to practice your English? What has your experience been? In this episode, I’m going to share with you the truth about practicing with AI, the pros and cons, and my personal opinion about using AI to practice a language. (it may surprise you!) Want to practice with real humans? We’re here! Join my free community on Facebook, The InFluency Community https://bit.ly/47tinnp

👉 DOWNLOAD THE 14-DAY ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION PLAN https://bit.ly/3YAWcJ5 What’s the best way to study pronunciation? What sounds should you start with? How do you really get results? I’m going to share all of that with you here with the 14-day plan I’ve created!

We’re revisiting some of our most popular and favorite episodes on the podcast. As an English learner, you must have wondered – what are the things that are preventing me from reaching a breakthrough in English? You may think it’s just more vocabulary or phrasal verbs, and maybe all those fancy tenses that people use… When in fact, it’s something a lot more basic and primal. It’s not what ELSE you need to learn, but instead – it’s how YOU think about yourself when speaking English. Yes, how we think about our English has a big part in how confident we feel when speaking English. Are we thinking kind and empowering thoughts? Or are we being harsh and critical? In this episode, I’ll dive deep into explaining how you can reach a breakthrough simply by changing the way you think about your English. More useful episodes on the topic: Want to improve your speaking vocabulary? STOP LEARNING NEW WORDS ✋ https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/improve-speaking-vocabulary/ How To Learn New Vocabulary | Build Pronunciation Confidence? https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/how-to-learn-new-vocabulary/

Take the free quiz and determine your speaker stage in English https://bit.ly/3YaFq4e If you think that progress is only about going from A1 to C2 – think again! Your progress as a non-native speaker goes beyond your proficiency level. In a person’s language journey, there are 5 typical speaker types, each characterized by a certain behavior and mindset. And guess what – no one has tried to identify those types before – UNTIL NOW!! In my BRAND NEW QUIZ, I’ll tell you your speaker type … And share my *secret* tips to get to the next stage so your fluency can go from 🐌 to 🚀!!! Click here to take the quiz! 💃 https://bit.ly/3YaFq4e

In this episode, I spoke with Alastair, the host of the podcast, English Learning for Curious Minds. Alastair is originally from the UK but now lives in Sweden. We talked about his experiences moving from London to Malta and then to Sweden, and what’s exciting and challenging about relocating. Alistair also talks about his podcast, English Learning for Curious Minds, where he combines cool stories and history with language learning. He shares how he makes difficult ideas easier to understand and explains why listening is such an important skill. Get useful tips and advice for building confidence in your English! Listen to my interview with Alastair on his channel: https://youtu.be/a9jL3MqfVMw Listen to some of Alastair’s favorite episodes from his podcast here: Liquid Gold | The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Robbery: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/maple-syrup Fredric Tudor | The Ice King: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/ice-king The Affair Of The Diamond Necklace: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/affair-diamond-necklace The Haitian Revolution: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/haitian-revolution How TikTok Took Over The World: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/tik-tok The Marvel Universe: http://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/marvel-universe Prince Andrew | The Black Sheep of The Royal Family: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/prince-andrew Learn more about Alastair and his work by visiting his website: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/

Have you ever wondered why your grammar is nearly perfect when you write, but when you start speaking, you can’t use any of it? In this episode, I’ll dive into why this happens and share tips on how to change it. We’ll explore why you struggle to apply grammar rules in real-time, the difference between writing and speaking, and how you can train your brain to make grammar automatic when you speak. For more grammar exercises, check out my program, Sprint Master, where you will improve your grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and more in short, 10-minute daily exercises. https://bit.ly/3zGqKQX