Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar and this is episode number 347 and
today I want to talk to you about motivation in English.
Hey everyone! Today we have a quick mindset talk that I delivered in an event that I hosted
at the beginning of this year, at the beginning of 2023, and in that event, during that event,
every day I gave a 10 minute talk about an aspect related to mindset, confidence,
and how we think about ourselves when communicating in English. And in this talk, I was talking
about motivation, which is very, very important. It's not the only thing that you need to stay on
track with your practice as you will hear, but it's an important aspect of the work that you do
when you learn a second language. You need to find what motivates you. You need to stay motivated
every now and then so that you don't get bored or lose track and lose focus of what's important.
So that's what we're going to talk about today. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it changes
something in how you think about English and about yourself in English. Let's listen.
Today we're going to talk about motivation. Our mindset talk is about motivation and how to find
motivation. So that's a big word motivation and we know that we need it. In fact, we don't need
just motivation to get results and to make things work for us because there's so much more that we
need. We need strong habits. We need effective practice. We need the right strategy. We need to know
how we're practicing effectively. All of that is needed as well. Motivation is just an element
inside of your entire journey. So that is clear. However, I want us to recognize to go back and
try to understand what is your motivation for doing this type of work, for working on your English,
for working on your pronunciation in particular. And here's the thing and here's what I find.
A lot of times when we think about motivation, we not always use the things that we want for ourselves,
but actually we're very much influenced by messages that we receive from the outside world.
And instead of saying things like I want to improve my pronunciation or I want to improve my
fluency because and then you state things that are relevant to you, we end up regurgitating content
or messages that we've heard from other people because we are so immersed in them that is hard
to know what we want and what other people say that we want to regurgitate by the way, that's a
fancy word, means to repeat something without thinking about it or analyzing it or even sometimes
comprehending it and asking yourself, is this really true for me? So for example, a lot of times when
I ask my students, why do you want to be fluent or why do you want to improve your pronunciation,
then I might hear things like I want to sound like a native or I want to be an advanced speaker,
whatever that means, or I want people to understand me better. I want to be better understood
by native speakers, right? And I don't think these are bad reasons or there is anything wrong
with those reasons, but a lot of times it sounds like you are using the perspective of the people
listening to you rather than your own reasons for why you want to do what you do. And today,
I want to invite you to think about your real motivation for doing this type of work.
The way I see it and the way I've seen my students as they go through this journey of
really discovering or really asking themselves these questions, it seems like the act of using
the language in an effortless way or reaching fluency in general, not just pronunciation,
is so much more profound and deeper than how we are perceived by others. It is so much deeper
than how we sound or what people think of us. So yes, of course, when people don't label you,
or when people don't put a stigma based on how you sound when they communicate with you,
it is easier for us. It is. This is how the world works. I'm not trying to say that everything's
perfect and sounding like a native is just a dream that doesn't change anything. Of course,
but at the same time, the reason why we want to feel like we are in our own skin and like we
own the language goes far beyond how we are perceived. I think there is a big gap between how we feel
in our first language and how we feel in a second, third or fourth language that we weren't born into.
And the way it feels in the mouth has a lot to do with it. Of course, it has to do with how quickly
you retrieve words and sounds, but it also has to do with how it feels in your mouth.
And this is why pronunciation work is so incredibly useful when it comes to that.
Because when you feel, imagine like you're always walking in t-shirts and sneakers or flip flops,
and then one day they tell you, you have to start wearing suits every day, every day. Even when you
go to the grocery store, you have to wear a suit or a prom dress. You wouldn't feel like you're in
your own skin because you're not used to it. And on the contrary, if you're used to walking on high
heels and someone says to you walking in flip flops, you wouldn't feel like you are comfortable
because you're used to something and you have made it your own. Language is the same. How the sounds
feel in your mouth really matters. How much effort you put into your speaking. And apart from how
you are perceived, how you feel when you communicate is so incredibly important. So I want you to
think about this idea of motivation and ask yourself, what advantage, what is the benefit of feeling
like you're in your own skin in your own body when speaking in English? What would it feel like not
to put in a lot of effort? What would it feel like for the words to roll out freely of your mouth?
What would it feel like to always be clear and understood and know how to pronounce every single
word? Not just for you to be clearer, which of course, of course, is so important because you
want to get what you want when you communicate to others, but also to know that you're in control,
that you know how to use the language. And that sense of ownership is really important. And I believe
that when you feel like the language is yours, it gives you a lot more permission to use it. It
gives you a lot more permission. You give yourself a lot more permission to speak up, to communicate,
to do things you normally wouldn't do. You wouldn't make yourself small. You wouldn't keep quiet.
You wouldn't start talking and then hold yourself back or bail out on what you want to say
because you're constantly thinking about how it sounds or you don't know how you're going to get
to the end of the sentence. Now, of course, pronunciation and fluency are interconnected.
One does not go without the other. When you work on pronunciation, it definitely boosts your fluency.
And when you develop your fluency, you realize how critical pronunciation is because that is
basically the instrument that produces the language. So it's not one thing or the other. They definitely
go together. Pronunciation is a key component inside of fluency. So what is your motivation for
doing this work? Ask yourself these questions. Why is it important to you? And try to speak from
the perspective of yourself and not from the perspective of the people listening to you or
expecting you to be at a certain level. What freedom would it give you? What permission would it give
you? What are the things that you believe would be possible for you? And I want to talk about one
more thing. One thing that I often see when people start doing this type of work, one of the things
that will come up for you is this feels fake. This doesn't feel like myself. Or maybe even,
okay, it feels good. I sound different. But then what if I go and speak around my friends or
family or colleagues? And they will notice that I sound different. And then they would think,
who do they think they are? Who does she think she is? Who does he think he is? Right?
If these thoughts go through your head, it will affect your motivation to do this type of work.
Because no one wants to do something in the sake of feeling more authentic, but at the same time,
it may actually make them feel less authentic. So I want to address it right at the start.
That feeling fake is a natural process and a natural part of working in your pronunciation.
Because when you're changing habits, and pronunciation is a shift in habits,
when you're changing your pronunciation, you're changing habits. And that is uncomfortable.
That is uncomfortable. And getting out of your comfort zone is really the only way to grow.
So I want you to remember that it is a part of doing this type of work, but at the same time,
if you do the work and if you stay consistent, you'd end up making it your own and it does become
less artificial. It starts to feel less and less fake. So please remember that as you do this work,
and when that thought that comes up, who do they think they are? Or, you know, they're not
American. Why are they speaking like that? Or why they're using the sound? Remember,
these are just your thoughts that are holding you back. Even if people might actually feel that,
it's not supposed to slow you down or hold you back. Because ultimately, you do what's good for you,
not what's good for other people. All right. So I just wanted to touch upon all of those things.
This was really short. And remember, it's all about you and how you feel in this language.
I'll see you later, my friends. Thank you so much.