281. Real Stories About What's Possible | Interview with Gabriel

Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar and today we are going to listen to a real life story about English success. You are going to listen to an interview with one of my students who is going to tell you what is possible now that English is no longer an obstacle. Let's listen.

Hello. How are you?

I'm good. So happy to see you.

This was amazing. It's been amazing.

Yeah.

To share with people around the world, you know, to improve my English skills, which is. I feel great with that, you know, because I feel more. I feel more confident, you know, which is the point.

It's not about English. It's about how you feel about yourself and what's possible, really. It's all about what's possible.

English is very important, of course, in this course in this program, but the thing is how you feel by yourself, how you feel when you talk with another person, how you feel with, when you share your thoughts or your feelings in English, which is wonderful. And I feel in this, in this, in this six months, in the past six months, it's been amazing.

That's so good to hear. Okay, so for those who don't know you, who are not our students.

Okay, my name is Gabe.

Introduce us.

Alejandro Estrada. I am from South America, from Colombia. I'm living here, I live in, in the United States, in Chicago. I've been here for, for 12 years, almost 12 years, and work with people with mental disabilities, especially with people with autism, you know, which I love that, I love that. Work with this kind of population. What else? I have two wonderful kids, daughter and a son. They are teenagers, so. And my wife.

So how old were they when they moved to the U.S. how old were they when they moved to the U.S. came here.

My daughter, I think is what, six? And my son, three. Six. Four. Four. Four years old. Yeah. It's so funny because when they came here, they thought I speak English and they went, came here, they didn't speak any English at all. And they asked me for everything, for everything. And they say, hey, daddy, what this word means? What this word mean, how they pronounce this word? And I try to do my best, you know, I tried to do my best. When I do someday, I said, you know, don't worry about that. Don't worry because in six months you're going to speak better English than me and you're going to correct me, believe me. Really? Yeah, don't worry about that. Don't worry. Precisely six months after that, they start to speak in a wonderful English without pronunciation. Like a native people, like a native.

Oh yeah, yeah. I mean at that age, like you absorb the language with no inhibitions, no issues. Usually knock on wood for all kids.

But it's good now. Now. Thank you to the program. My English is a very. Is better than six months ago. Even being here for 12 years, you know.

Wow, tell me about that. Tell me about that. Like how a lot of people are probably thinking, how is that possible? You've been living there for 12 years, you know, why do you need a course? Why is this? Why is that like, can you tell about this experience mainly as someone who has immigrated to the US Would be.

My dealing with English. You know, we. I start my journey in English in high school. High school I start to, to, to English there. You know, that boring classes just study for grades, you know. Oh, I don't understand English. Yeah. Even. Even in the university. Tell me about it. Oh my God. English classes, which is in, in my countries are mandatory. To get your, your degree, you have to take a second language. You know, I took English because I like it. Supposedly I like it, but I never, I never took the English like English like a very serious, you know, I came here like 12 years ago, I'm going to college and I took the ESL classes, you know, for one and a half year. I finished the course. I think I learned something, you know. But the problem with the courses is they focus on only in the. In the grammar, you know, grammar, Grammar, grammar. They never taught us, taught me about pronunciation, you know, the teacher correct me or something, but I never focus in pronunciation and fluency, you know, only, you know. Oh, just grammar, grammar, grammar. Okay, it's important. Grammar is important, but it's not at all in an English language. So inserting a lot of courses about the how to get a better pronunciation because mostly of the score sell like, hey, you want to talk with a native speaker? Native. So everybody wants to. Every immigrant wants to talk like a native speaker. Native speaker. But I think it's a big mistake. Try to talk like a native speaker and I learn with you, you know, how to just speak like a native speaker.

What did that make you feel like when you had that realization? What did you experience? Because like if up until this point you felt that success for you would be like sounding like a native and then you came across this mindset shift. What did it do for you internally?

The lack of confidence. Lack of confidence is the point when you learn English or any language, you know. So when I try to met with people, I stuck in my words so I've been quiet to don't say anything wrong, you know, to don't look like a stupid guy. Like, it's funny because I always said somebody talked to me and I say, oh, yes, yes, yes. I don't want to look like a stupid. So no, this is. I. I started searching my many programs, you know, that check in YouTube, in the website and everywhere, even here in Chicago, but nothing. Feel me like. But one day in Instagram, I saw a video of a lady called Hadar. And I saw that videos. Yeah. And I said, wow, that's me. Come on, let me see that. And I start to. To heard your videos. I looking for your videos in, in. In YouTube. And immediately I feel the. The vibe. Bam. You hook the program who cut me, you know, And I say, okay, I need more of this. I need more of this. And remember six months ago, the Fluency Fest, the festival, and I woke up and it's a 14 days and enjoyed it a lot. And I said, this is the program. This is the program. And after then I book up the new Sanders and enjoyed it and enjoyed and enjoyed and enjoyed it. And I met with people from around the world, different backgrounds, and I'm here, I'm here talking to you. And now I feel very confident. Of course I need more work, you know, because language is a long, long process, you know, but it's a long process and I feel, I feel more comfortable. I feel more confident. My mindset. Thank you for your program change. You know, even my. My kids told me, hey, Daddy, your. Your English. Yeah, you.

Oh, my God, this is like, you're the second person who said that this week. And I think, like, this is the best compliment ever because kids are very like, they're dead honest. They'll tell you how it is, right? And they'll criticize you even when you don't.

I remember, when I remember, you talk okay, you talk okay, but you talk like a cow. Sound like a cow. It's okay, it's okay. Don't worry.

Yeah, of course the kids, it's not enough. Like, okay, I mean, if I told you that the stuff that my daughters tell me about, like, they have the most incredible imagination and imagery anyway, so.

Yeah, so they, they realize that because.

They speak when they listen to you, like a native.

You know, they've been here for almost 10 years. Even they have my son, he has accent in Spanish, not in English, but in Spanish. But it's funny because. And I feel, and I feel very comfortable when they say that because as you said, the kids are the most critical person to do that, you know. And I love it. And I love it. And thank you for, thank you for the program. I did that and I continue doing it.

What did you focus on mostly when you went through the program? Because I know that you were very diligent and very committed to the work.

But what was your main focus? The pronunciation. And. And you know that my focus because I just, I work with people, people from here, from the United States and nobody, nobody there speak Spanish. So if I want to grow up.

Yeah.

Inside my company, I need a better English, I need a more fluency, you know, And I do it and I go, I, I've been doing, I've been doing. It's good. But for me, basically pronunciation influence and.

How things have changed for you at work, for example, when you now communicate.

Absolutely. You know, I used to, in the meetings, the group meetings, I used to be quiet, don't say anything. But I have to a lot of things to say, you know, but it's better to be quiet. My. My inner voice is better to be quiet. Don't look like stupid. You meant to make a mistake, but after the course, come on, really, I have a lot of things to say. I said with my mistake, with my accent. I don't care that people think about because I realize I can communicate in English, you know, I can communicate and it's wonderful when you talk with somebody and the other people understand you, you know, and the other people said your effort.

Yeah.

To have a better conversation. You know, I remember like a month ago, I. I have a meeting with one of the administration person in my company, which is a big boss. What are you supposed to do? I went there and sit down, sit with this person and I start to talk. We talk like a 45 minutes. 45 minutes. I express myself. I express my, My feeling, my. My thoughts, everything. And wow. I say, yes, thank you, thank you, thank you for that.

Yes. You have no idea how happy this makes me feel. It's just. Yeah. Because this is what it's about. It's about like giving yourself permission to open your mouth and speak, no matter what comes out, without judgment, with compassion, with giving yourself grace to. To not always get it right. And that's it. And I think you said before, I was afraid that people are not going to understand me. And you know that this is a fear of a lot of people and this is why they don't speak or people are going to judge me. But give them a chance. Give them a chance to understand you. Start speaking and give them a chance to understand you, to prove to yourself that it's possible that it's not what you think. Because a lot of times we have a distorted perception of our abilities or, you know, how we sound. It's not objective. So the only way to get the real kind of like, understanding of how you perform in English is just by simply going out there and speaking and doing the work and when you're misunderstood. And this is another important point. And Gabrielle, you can tell me if this has happened to you. Like, we might be doing really well and everyone understands us, and then, you know, one person doesn't understand you, and then you're like, oh, my English sucks. I misunderstood. So we always notice the negative things and we forget about the rest of the time that everything is going really smoothly. And then we think, this is it.

Honestly, oh, it sucks. I screw up. So. No screw up. Just even when I speak in Spanish, when some people. Hey, what did you say? What did you say? Repeat it. Even. Even in our own language, right? You know, sometimes the people don't understand us. But now in English, which is not my language, I have to work more in that. But it's amazing when you can talk with. When you are free to speak in English, you know, or another language, in this case English, you know, and you can understand and you can pronounce better and you can talk with some people and you feel it's worth it. Definitely this program worthy, you know, it's amazing. I love it.

What would you say about, like, how important it is to be with the.

Community around you, you know, to help wonder Communities even. I have a couple friends there, you know, and I talk with Luis Lucian, who's in Brazil. I talk. I. We try to talk every week, you know, we have a meeting every week, and we talk at different topics, you know, but the communities, amazing, because for me, it's very important to know about the other people, you know, the backgrounds, the countries, the food people support each other, you know, nobody's laughing about your mistakes. You know, when I met to the group, this is a people with different levels of.

Of.

Of English. And it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how your advanced or basic English you have. No, it doesn't matter because everybody supports each other, you know, and it's amazing. I love it.

And I think this is so incredibly important. I always say that you're not supposed to do this alone and you're not supposed to, you know, if you want to succeed, like, you always have to have your Team around you, you know, like a team that supports you. And I think that in new sound that definitely happens organically, which is so beautiful coming out. What would be a piece of advice that you'd give someone who is struggling with confidence?

In English?

Yes, in English.

Follow the program. Follow the. Yourself, you know, the confidence to get. You have to believe in yourself. You know, I can do it. I can do it. You know, I made a lot of mistake for a long time, but now I can do it. You know, just follow the program. Take an advice of every. The coaches. You know, believe in yourself. Basically. Believe in yourself and you can do it.

And you know, I think that what I mostly see about you, of course, the pronunciation work, but also the mindset work. Like, I think the mindset work gives you a lot more freedom. And I think that alone improves your fluency because when you're free, the words come out more freely, right?

Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's just to be competent with yourselves, be constant. To follow the program, to do the exercise. You know, you can find it everything in the program, but it depends on you. It depends on every person. It's expert because you can. You can have the better program in the world. But if you know our focus in the program, if you know our commitment in the program, you can find everything. You can. You can do it.

Yeah, and it's a good point what you said, because it is a commitment. Like, there is no. There are no shortcuts. There is no easy way to get to where you are today. It's a big commitment. It's not a lot of work in terms of hours, but it's a lot of work in terms of intention and commitment, you know, and showing up daily to do the work, even if it's for 20 minutes a day. But it's. It really is about making.

Yeah. Like part of classes. I took classes in English here in the United States and I. Okay, I do my. My homeboard or something. But with this program, I've been obsessive. I think it's one of the parts helped me a lot because every single day I woke up with my program. I practice 15 minutes pronunciation daily. You know, E. Ooh, ooh. Every single day I do it, you know, because the program. The program have a lot of elements to help you just not only sit down in front the screen and. And talk with the other people. Know a lot of elements that the two kids. Which is I finish and I going to start again. The springs, you know, the breakup rooms, which is wonderful. It depends on Everybody, it depends on how the, the people focus, but they can do it. They can do it. Because I met with people with, they don't use English in daily basis, but they have a wonderful English, wonderful English. And this program is worth, it works. Definitely.

I'm so happy to hear this. Gabriel, where do you see yourself one year?

I see myself from one year from today in my company, in another position. I'm better with, better with my English, more fluent than I am today, you.

Know, so keep going on this journey. Keep doing the work, allowing it to help you grow.

I am very, I'm very grateful with your program because this is totally different. As I said, it's totally different. It's not the, the normal course. Like I speak like a native, you know, because I can do it. I, I don't speak like a native. I, I, I speak poorly by my accent, as you said. And I love that you said that quote is stuck in my mind. Communication over perfection. At the point I used to talk, when I talk with this guy, I want to talk with that guy. I want to talk, talk, talk with that guy. You know, I want to talk like a native person. But with your program, I realized I don't want to talk like a native. I want to speak very fluently, you know, when I talk with the people. Why? Wanna be?

Yeah, I want to be.

It doesn't matter.

My last version.

I don't care. I don't care because I. Oh, you have a lot of action. Yes. But most important is communication over perfection. And another, and another thing I like about you about the program and you said is when you, the people give 100, 100 every single day. No 1% at the day. At the end of the week, you have 5%, you know, 1%.

Yeah, yeah, we're practical. Yeah, we know what it's like. All, you know, all our students are busy people. You can't be in the program 10 hours a day. It's not possible.

But one person of the day, you know, just 20 minutes, 30 minutes, one hour. You can make it. The people can make it. Absolutely, absolutely. I'm totally sure that people with commitment, focusing the program can do it.

Amazing. Your conviction says it all. So I want to thank you so, so much for showing up here today, telling your story, sharing your story, sharing your experience. And I'm so honored and proud to have you as my student.

And it's my pleasure, Hadar, you know, thank you, thank you, thank you for this wonderful program. It's not a program. It' you is, you have a something different. You are not a regular teacher because you are like a. Like a friend, like a mother, like a sister, like a lot of stuff. Because you life now, you know, with your program, even Jelena, you know, which is a wonderful person too, you know, just amazing. The coaches, the ambassadors, everything. Everything is the thing is wonderful. This program worth everything, you know, if you want to learn English.

And again, like just you showing up, speaking the way you speak, having that confidence in you is just the biggest testament, you know, to the work that you've done. And again, I know the program has helped, but it's all you. So you also need to be so proud of yourself and of your accomplishment.

To get the program. You know, this is an investor your life. You know, this is the best invest I I did in in a long time. And it worth definitely worth definitely.

Gabriel, thank you so so much. Thank you for your wonderful and I'll see you around for sure.

Have a wonderful day and people enjoyed it. Enjoy the journey, please.

Fantastic. Gabrielle, thank you so much and have a beautiful, beautiful rest of your day. Thank you so much for everyone here.

Bye.