In this episode of the show I had an amazing conversation with Hadar Shemesh, an incredibly skilled and insightful accent and fluency coach from Israel. She moved to NYC when she was 21 to pursue acting, where she worked as a bartender at a Jazz club to support herself. According to her, she used to get criticized because of her strong Israeli accent, but acting helped her become a "diligent speech student." We start off talking about how we can often feel uncomfortable speaking a foreign language because we can't express our identity, and her experience of this while living in New York. We discuss why it is less important than you think to speak like a native, and much more important to discover how to speak like yourself. We cover extensively about native-speakerism and discrimination towards English learners and non-native teachers, and how you can overcome imposter syndrome and share your passion with the world. No matter where you are on your language learning journey, whether you are a non-native teacher or a student, you will get a lot out of this interview. So, let's jump in! Show notes here. .......... We’re super excited to announce that we have publicly launched much anticipated RealLife English Podcast and Speaking App, which will give dedicated learners, just like you, the opportunity to listen to podcasts, not only with audio and transcripts, but also to speak English with other learners from around the world, at the touch of a button, for free. Download the App Here .......... Sign up for the RealLife Native Immersion Course here .......... Follow Hadar on : Theaccentsway.comThe InFluency Community InFluency Podcast YouTube Channel: Accent's Way English with Hadar Facebook: Accent's Way English with Hadar Instagram Hadar’s course: New Sound Follow us on : RealLife English (YouTube) Learn English with TV Series (YouTube) Instagram: reallife.english Facebook: RealLife English