The InFluency Podcast

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 'acknowledge'. Here's a loose transcription of the words as explained in the episode: Know: now [IPA: noʊ] Knowledge: naa-l'dj [IPA: ˈnɑːlədʒ] Acknowledge: uhk-naa-l'dj [IPA: əkˈnɑːlədʒ] You can watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/acknowledge/ 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/

We grow up learning that to get what we want we have to work hard, behave well and do what other people want us to do. And because of that, sometimes we feel like we need to work really really hard to be worthy of the things we want. And you can BET this affects your experience speaking English. In this episode, I make the connection between feeling unworthy and why you're not seeing the results you want in your English. You can watch the video version with subtitles here: https://youtu.be/xUgS67i7K8s More episodes about mindset: Expectations https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/220/ Feeling Invisible https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/188/ Challenges https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/29/

English words can be really challenging sometimes. In these how-to-pronounce episodes published on Fridays, I'll help you with the pronunciation of confusing or challenging words. This week we're going to talk about words with TH+R clusters. Here's a loose transcription of the words as explained in the episode: Three: three [IPA: θɹiː] Thrill: thril [IPA: θɹɪl] Through: thruw [IPA: θɹuː] You can watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/th-r/ 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/

Join the Beyond Waitlist: https://hadarshemesh.com/wait-beyond/ What is the best way to become fluent? Practice! But not every practice is equally effective. In this episode, I'm sharing with you my top 5 fluency practice strategies that my coaches and I have been using with our students for years, and that have gotten great results! Here's a short recap of my 5 fluency practice strategies: 1. Speaking with feedback (even when you don't have anyone to give you feedback) 2. Daily speaking practice on varied topics 3. Imitation 4. Listening & Transcribing 5. Challenging yourself For more details, see this post: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/5-fluency-strategies-for-teachers-and-students/ Wordtune https://www.wordtune.com/

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 'focus'. Here's a loose transcription of the word as explained in the episode: Focus: fow-k's [IPA: ˈfoʊkəs] You can watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/focus/ 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/

Download my Analysis of Taylor Swift's Speech: https://hadarshemesh.com/taylor-swift-speech-analyses-pdf/ Listen to this episode to learn new phrasal verbs, understand connected speech, and ask the question with me – What makes a good speech a good speech? Because it's not just the words, it's how we say the words, as well. The words we choose to emphasize, the melody we use to tie it all together. And listening to and watching speeches can teach us a lot about reductions, stress, connected speech, and intonation. For this episode I've chosen some parts of Taylor Swift's commencement speech at NYU and analyzed the way she used her speech to convey a powerful message. I also prepared for you a free PDF with my speech notes so you can practice this speech later at home. Here's the PDF with analysis again: https://hadarshemesh.com/taylor-swift-speech-analyses-pdf/ More Speech Analyses for your to practice: America Ferrera's Ted Talk analysis Reese Witherspoon's speech analysis Kamala Harris's Speech Analysis Simon Sinek's Speech Analysis Bill Murray's Movie Speech Breakdown Shonda Rhimes's Ted Talk Analysis Lizzo's Song lyrics Analysis

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 'interpretation' and 'interpret'. Here's a loose transcription of the word as explained in the episode: Interpretation: in-t'r-pruh-tei-sh'n [IPA: ɪntəɹpɹəˈteɪʃən] Interpret: in-t'r-pr't [IPA: ɪnˈtɜːɹpɹət] You can watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/interpretation/ 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/

Have you ever thought about the expectations you have of yourself when speaking English? And while there's a common belief that high expectations lead to great results – is that really true? In this podcast episode, I discuss how your expectations may affect your speaking experience, and may do more harm than good. More episodes on this topic: Why do I feel like a fraud every time I speak English? https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/11/ 10 Things You Should Stop Doing if you Want to Speak English Fluently https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/05/ Download our 30 Most Powerful English Speaking Affirmations https://hadarshemesh.com/freebie-30-affirmations/ 50 Powerful Fluency Tips (in under 5 minutes) +PDF https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/105/ Watch the video version:

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 'quarter'. Here's a loose transcription of the word as explained in the episode: Quarter: kor-d'r [IPA: ˈkɔːɹɾəɹ] or kwor-d'r [IPA: ˈkwɔːɹɾəɹ] You can watch the video version here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/quarter/ 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://theaccentsway.com/mispro-signup/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://hadarshemesh.com/influency-community/

Sometimes it's HARD to understand the lyrics of songs when you're listening to it for the first time. There's so much information coming your way – the melody, rhythm, stress, and of course words. Yet, I think it's such a great tool to use when practicing English. It strengthens not only our vocabulary but also our listening skills and pronunciation – especially when it comes to rhythm and connected speech. In this episode I'll use a huge hit by Lizzo, About Damn Time, and really break it down and explore the beat, the stress and reductions, and everything that makes this song so awesome. Lizzo About Damn Time | Official video https://youtu.be/IXXxciRUMzE Full About Damn Time lyrics: https://hadarshemesh.com/lizzo Lizzo Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/Lizzo/videos