The InFluency Podcast

In this discussion, Sun Yi, the founder of Night Owls, shines a light on the art of authentic storytelling and its impact on personal and professional branding. With over 20 years in digital branding, he emphasizes the importance of vulnerability in storytelling to foster connections. The conversation also covers navigating identity through language, encouraging listeners to embrace their unique voices. Sun shares techniques for simplifying complex stories and highlights the role of social media in building meaningful relationships.

Download Free English Pronunciation Guide + audio practice for Hindi and Urdu speakers: https://bit.ly/3iqN0BU In this episode, I’m going to talk about the biggest English pronunciation challenges for Urdu and Hindi speakers – all broken down and explained. You’ll learn what those main challenges are, why they are difficult, but more than that – you’ll learn how to overcome them and become a more confident and clear speaker of English. Not an Urdu or Hindi speaker? I bet that as a non-native speaker of English you can still find at least one challenge that is relevant to you Let me know what it is in the comments! Don’t forget to download your Pronunciation Guide here https://bit.ly/3iqN0BU See American English pronunciation guides for Spanish, Russian, Brazilian, Chinese, and Korean speakers. Additional episodes I mentioned: Are you struggling with understanding word stress? Watch this https://theaccentsway.com/how-to-find-the-primary-stress-in-words/ Intonation, Stress, Rhythm & Connected Speech [YouTube Playlist] https://bit.ly/3eB2EJK

In this episode, I’m sharing with you a super helpful way to understand and use the prepositions ‘in’, ‘on’, and ‘at’ correctly when you talk about places. If you missed the episode about prepositions of time, you can find it here: https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/140/ To watch the video version of the episode go here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/on-in-at-place/ 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/

On Wednesday or at Wednesday? In the summer or at the summer? In this episode, I’m sharing with you a super helpful way to understand and remember how to use the prepositions ‘in’, ‘on’, and ‘at’ correctly. This episode will focus on time. In the next episode we’ll talk about using these prepositions when we talk about place. Stay tuned for part 2! To watch the video version of the episode go here: https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/on-in-at-time/ 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/

In this ‘Ask Hadar’ podcast episode I’m answering Silvana, an English learner from Brazil, who wants to become an English teacher. Silvana isn’t sure she can do it, because she still has a lot to learn herself. I get asked this question a lot – whether non-native speakers of English should teach the language. And I always say – absolutely. If pursuing a teaching career is what you want, don’t let anyone – teachers or colleagues – put you down because you’re not a native speaker of English. Because teaching is so much more than transforming knowledge, especially in this day and age. In this episode, I share some thoughts on how to know you’re doing a good job teaching English, whether you’re a native speaker or not. Want to ask me a question on the podcast? Submit your audio recording 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://theaccentsway.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://theaccentsway.com/influency-community/

Strategic tips for improving listening comprehension in English, including understanding different voices and accents, identifying key words, practicing reductions, and focusing on important parts of speech. Tips for enhancing understanding and pronunciation through transcription and exposure to different dialects.

English words and phrases can be really challenging sometimes. In these how-to-pronounce episodes published on Fridays, I’ll help you with the pronunciation of challenging words and common names. This week we’re going to talk about how to pronounce “there are” and “they are”, as well as the challenging TH-S transition. Here’s a loose transcription of the phrases as explained in the episode: They are = They’re = There: ther [IPA: ðer] There are: the-r’r [IPA: ðerər] Is the: iz-thuh [IPA: ɪzðə ] Has them: haz-th’m [IPA: hæzðəm] With some: with-s’m [IPA: wɪθsəm] If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://theaccentsway.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://theaccentsway.com/influency-community/

Are you a lawyer? Or do you like legal drama in TV or movies? If yes, you must be familiar with words you rarely hear in the ‘real world’ – like ‘attorney’ or ‘warrant’. Since I love ‘Law and Order’, ‘Better Call Saul’ and any other show that has the phrase ‘Objection, Your Honor’ at least once every episode – I decided to devote one podcast episode to talking about legal vocabulary. In this episode I’ve compiled just for you some of the most common terms in the field of law so you’ll know how to pronounce them effortlessly and confidently the next time you’re in court, or…just…the next time you want to impress your friends! What is your favorite legal word? Is it on the list? Do you know how to pronounce it? You can look for more legal terms here: https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://theaccentsway.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://theaccentsway.com/influency-community/

In this episode, you’ll learn about language learning from AI (Artificial Intelligence) linguist and English teacher, Yazzy Ares. In this podcast we’ll talk about the field of NLP (Natural Language Processing) and AI, and the difference between humans and computers when it comes to language processing and language acquisition. We also talked about biases and discrimination when it comes to language learning and what we can learn about it from computers. And if you are an English student or teacher, you’ll also understand how to use this AI to improve your pronunciation! To watch the video interview with Yazzy and see her presentation go here: https://youtu.be/7FP5ikdqlCs Check out Yazzy’s website: https://www.yazzyares.com/ Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yazzy.ares/ If you are doing linguistic research and need a hand with your data, you can contact her there.

Are you pronouncing these names correctly? Barbara? Arthur? Siobhan? Not sure how to pronounce these names or you find it really challenging with all the R’s and TH’s?! This episode is for you. Join me on an 11-minute journey through these 11 challenging names to pronounce if English is your second (or third, or fourth) language: Arthur Rory Cory Jonathan Carl Ethan Barbara Aaron and Erin Joaquin Deirdre Siobhan The Schwa: How One TINY Sound Can Make a HUGE Difference https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/09/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://theaccentsway.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://theaccentsway.com/influency-community/