

The InFluency Podcast
Hadar Shemesh
The InFluency podcast is your go-to resource for learning, speaking and teaching English.
Hadar Shemesh is a pronunciation expert and fluency coach with thousands of students around the world, though she herself was an intermediate speaker of English once.
In this podcast she will share her best strategies for learning English, speaking English with confidence and mastering the American accent.
Discover how becoming fluent has everything to do with acquiring the right mindset, setting goals and learning how to overcome challenges.
Hadar will also share her teaching philosophy and techniques to support English teachers looking to help their students become fluent.
Hadar Shemesh is a pronunciation expert and fluency coach with thousands of students around the world, though she herself was an intermediate speaker of English once.
In this podcast she will share her best strategies for learning English, speaking English with confidence and mastering the American accent.
Discover how becoming fluent has everything to do with acquiring the right mindset, setting goals and learning how to overcome challenges.
Hadar will also share her teaching philosophy and techniques to support English teachers looking to help their students become fluent.
Episodes
Mentioned books

6 snips
Oct 26, 2022 • 11min
262. What to do when you LOSE YOUR FLUENCY
Can you lose fluency in English? What can you do if you need to get it back? In this episode, I’ll talk about how you can measure fluency which will help you know if you’ve lost it. I also talk about tips for what to do to gain fluency back, and how to prevent it from happening! Research published in 2014 about loss of fluency in the Journal of Cognitive Science: https://bit.ly/3D2A4w9 Want more tips on how to maintain and improve your fluency? Check these videos out! 5 Fluency Strategies for Teachers and Students: https://bit.ly/3gxAnHH Want more confidence in English? Do this: https://bit.ly/3TR2SPc This Really Helped Me Become Fluent: https://bit.ly/3VX380S 50 Powerful Fluency Tips (in under 5 minutes) https://bit.ly/3gF5scI Have you ever felt like you’ve lost fluency in English?

Oct 21, 2022 • 3min
261. How to pronounce ‘frustrating’
English words can be really confusing sometimes. In these how-to-pronounce episodes published on Fridays, I’ll help you with the pronunciation of confusing words and common names. This week we’re going to talk about the word ‘frustrating’. Here’s a loose transcription of the word as explained in the episode: Frustrating: fruhs-chrei-ding [IPA: ˈfɹʌstʃɹeɪɾɪŋ] Watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/frustrating/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://hadarshemesh.com/audio-accent-course/ You can also download an interactive list of 50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words: https://hadarshemesh.com/50-most-mispronounced-words/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://hadarshemesh.com/influency-community/

Oct 18, 2022 • 13min
260. Will reading books help you get fluent?
Have you ever had this feeling while reading a book that you’re really making progress? That if someone were to start a conversation with you, all those words and grammar structures you’ve read would be there for you, and come out of your mouth effortlessly? But has that ever happened? Probably, reality hit and you realized that it doesn’t work that way! In this episode I explain why reading books in English, as wonderful as it is, is not enough if you want to become fluent. I’ll also share 5 tips on how you can use books effectively to improve your fluency. Because books should definitely stay a part of our practice, but in a way you might not know about. How To Learn New Vocabulary? Build Pronunciation Confidence https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/how-to-learn-new-vocabulary/ Feel Stuck in English? Here’s Why (The Illusion of Learning) https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/the-illusion-of-learning-english/

Oct 14, 2022 • 5min
259. How to pronounce ‘Forward’ & ‘Backward’
English words can be really confusing sometimes. In these how-to-pronounce episodes published on Fridays, I’ll help you with the pronunciation of confusing words and common names. This week we’re going to talk about the words ‘forward’ and ‘backward’. Here’s a loose transcription of the words as explained in the episode: Forward: for-w’rd [IPA: ˈfɔːɹwəɹd] Backward: bak-w’rd [IPA: ˈbækwəɹd] Watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/backward-forward/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://hadarshemesh.com/audio-accent-course/ You can also download an interactive list of 50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words: https://hadarshemesh.com/50-most-mispronounced-words/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://hadarshemesh.com/influency-community/

9 snips
Oct 11, 2022 • 16min
258. Obedience
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself where the fear of making mistakes in English comes from? We avoid mistakes because making mistakes means that we are “breaking the rules of language”. Following the rules – including the rules that society, native speakers, or people in positions of authority have placed on us, has a greater impact on our English than you might realize! In this episode, I talk about the connection between obedience and how it’s affecting your English Do you follow the rules?

Oct 7, 2022 • 3min
257. How to pronounce Quit, Quite, Quiet
English words can be really confusing sometimes. In these how-to-pronounce episodes published on Fridays, I’ll help you with the pronunciation of confusing words and common names. This week we’re going to talk about the words ‘quit’, ‘quite’, and ‘quiet’. Here’s a loose transcription of the words as explained in the episode: Quit: kwit [IPA: kwɪt] Quite: kwait [IPA: kwaɪt] Quiet: kwai-y’t [IPA:ˈkwaɪət] Watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/quit-quite-quiet/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://hadarshemesh.com/audio-accent-course/ You can also download an interactive list of 50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words: https://hadarshemesh.com/50-most-mispronounced-words/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://hadarshemesh.com/influency-community/

Oct 4, 2022 • 18min
256. The Dark L sound [+ FREE practice download]
Download my FREE L Practice Sheet here. The Dark L is a type of sound that exists at the end of words and before consonants in English, but it may not be in your language! This episode is going to give you all the tips and tricks for knowing how to pronounce the different Ls in English, plus quick tips for how to make this sound easier! Don’t forget to download your FREE L practice sheet so you can keep working on your L! https://hadarshemesh.com/dark-l-276-freebie/

Sep 30, 2022 • 4min
255. The letter O in ‘coffee’, ‘job’, and ‘office’
English words can be really confusing sometimes. In these how-to-pronounce episodes published on Fridays, I’ll help you with the pronunciation of confusing or challenging words and common names. This week we’re going to talk about words with the A as in ‘father’ vowel sound, as in the words ‘coffee’, ‘job’, and ‘office’. Here’s a loose transcription of the words as explained in the episode: Office: aa-f’s [IPA: ˈɑːfəs] Job: djaab [IPA: dʒɑːb] Coffee: kaa-fee [IPA: ˈkɑːfi] or ko-fee [IPA: ˈkɔːfi] Not: naat [IPA: nɑːt] Possible: paa-suh-b’l [IPA: ˈpɑːsəbəl] Possibility: paa-suh-bi-luh-dee [IPA: ˌpɑːsəˈbɪləɾi] Problem: praab-l’m [IPA: pɑː ˈpɹɑːbləm] Watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/aa-as-in-father/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://hadarshemesh.com/audio-accent-course/ You can also download an interactive list of 50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words: https://hadarshemesh.com/50-most-mispronounced-words/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://hadarshemesh.com/influency-community/

Sep 27, 2022 • 8min
254. When TH is the HARDEST and how to make it EASIER | American English Pronunciation
This episode will help you pronounce the English TH consonant sound when there are many in a sentence, and how to make it smoother in sentences and between several tricky consonants. Have a question for me too? Ask me here! https://hadarshemesh.com/ask-hadar/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://hadarshemesh.com/audio-accent-course/ You can also download an interactive list of 50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words: https://hadarshemesh.com/50-most-mispronounced-words/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://hadarshemesh.com/influency-community/

Sep 23, 2022 • 3min
253. How to pronounce Million and Billion
English words can be really confusing sometimes. In these how-to-pronounce episodes published on Fridays, I’ll help you with the pronunciation of confusing words and common names. This week we’re going to talk about the words ‘million’ and ‘billion’. Here’s a loose transcription of the words as explained in the episode: Million: mil-y’n [IPA: ˈmɪljən] Billion: bil-y’n [IPA: ˈbɪljən] Watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/million-billion/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://hadarshemesh.com/audio-accent-course/ You can also download an interactive list of 50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words: https://hadarshemesh.com/50-most-mispronounced-words/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://hadarshemesh.com/influency-community/