Hadar Shemesh used to hide that she wasn't a native English speaker, thinking it made her a worse teacher. She realized her multilingual background actually gives her an edge: she understands what learners struggle with and can teach with real empathy.
I was embarrassed by the fact that English was not my first language. I hated when people asked me where I was from. I hated when people commented on my accent. I hated it when people made fun of my pronunciation. And when I started teaching on YouTube, I never shared that I was a non-native speaker because I felt that it was a sign of weakness, of inadequacy. It took me years and a lot of work and effort to recognize the value in me being a non-native speaking teacher teaching you these things, but because I'm a non-native speaker, there are things that I absolutely love about it that I wanted to share those things with you because I want you to start appreciating the fact that you are a non-native speaker and that 100% is a superpower because the fact that you know more than one language is unbelievable. And only people who speak a second language or third or fourth know what it takes to get to a place where they can communicate confidently in more than one language.
Read Out Loud with me! Dare to Lead by Brené Brown | Pronunciation & Vocabulary practice
