One of the strongest desires we humans have is the need to belong. Even the most individualistic people – the ones who like being alone and working on their own – strive to have a community of like-minded peers with whom they can share their views, ideas, and passions.
As I was on my way to New York City last weekend, I knew that I was about to participate in one of the greatest community gatherings. I flew from California to NYC to join the community meetup that Hadar Shemesh, an incredible English pronunciation coach had organized. Members from both her programs – New Sound and Beyond – flew from different parts of the world to meet her and their fellow community members.
Over the weekend, there were plenty of activities, starting with an all-day pronunciation, fluency, and voice coaching sessions on Friday, followed by a whole day of community gathering, food, drinks, laughter, and dance on Saturday. We all gathered for a picnic in Central Park on Sunday, where we continued our conversations and bonding with each other.
Friday
One of the best things that happened during the Friday workshop was the personalized feedback that Hadar gave to each participant. While she taught the difference between some English vowels, she walked from one student to the next. In this interactive session, each student repeated words and got direct coaching. As one of the participants put it, “I never imagined that one day I will have Hadar’s face with her tongue out right next to my face.” 😅
Another milestone that day was meeting the incredible dialect coach Samara Bay, who joined us for a workshop about voice and power. I can’t wait to read her upcoming book “Permission to Speak.”
Saturday
On Saturday I learned something that I’d never done before. I learned how to open champagne as I was responsible for making Mimosas for the participants in the Meetup. I owe this new skill to my colleague and friend Christina, whom I met for the first time in real life. And I managed to open not only one, but four bottles of champagne without hurting anyone. If you think I’m bragging now, you are absolutely right 😅. There was also plenty of food and other drinks, and everyone enjoyed chatting and taking pictures with one another.
On a more serious note, there was a Q&A session with Hadar and Gil, in which they answered questions about how they handle their growing business while parenting their two little girls. Some participants also shared their stories about how their English skills and confidence level have grown since they became a part of Hadar’s community.
Sunday
On Sunday we were lucky as the weather in NYC was still beautiful, allowing us to have a relaxing picnic in Central Park. I got to chat with more community members and we took plenty of pictures. My new Hungarian friend and a radian community member Orsi taught me how to say “It was great meeting you” in Hungarian:
“jó volt, hogy megismertelek”
/ˈjoː ˈvolt ˈhoɟ ˈmɛɡiʃmɛrtɛlɛk/
If you think English is hard, try Hungarian. After that you’ll find English a breeze. 😅
In the end, saying goodbye was hard. We all enjoyed jumping out of the computer screen and meeting each other in real life. But the memories from this remarkable weekend will live in our hearts for a very long time.
What makes this community different
Hadar’s Beyond and New Sound programs are not a typical English school. People who join this community learn and grow together, support each other and share knowledge with one another. Learning alone could be isolating, but sharing your struggles with your peers not only makes the language learning journey easier, but it allows friendships to blossom. It is through sharing stories that people realize that they are not alone. Learning a foreign language is often intimidating, but in this group people get to know each other’s stories, desires, struggles, joy, wins, and all these feelings that we share.
Learning a language is not just about grammar and new words
Language is about self-expression. It’s true that to be able to express ourselves, we need to know grammar and vocabulary, but the old-school traditional English classes used to focus too much on correct grammar, and not enough on human communication. Language’s main purpose, however, is communication. We humans strive to share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences with one another, and the lack of “perfect” language skills is not going to change that. And last weekend’s meetup in NYC was an incredible reminder of that.
How I became a part of this community
About four years ago, I came across Hadar’s YouTube channel, and shortly after I became her student and a part of the community she created. I participated in her Fluency Challenge and later in the Accent Makeover – the precursor of the mind-changing program now known as New Sound. It was thanks to her and this incredible bunch of people that I realized how much I love phonetics and teaching English overall, which in turn led me to a career change. I went back to school (University of San Francisco) and completed my Master’s to become an ESL teacher, and I joined Hadar’s new English Teachers Academy to learn how to teach pronunciation to other fellow nonnative speakers. When about two years ago Hadar asked me to join her team of coaches, I felt deeply touched and honored.
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Have you experienced such a strong feeling of belonging? What is the best memory you have from a community gathering?
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Birds of a feather flock together.
The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.
– Coretta Scott King
There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.
– Margaret J. Wheatley
Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much
– Helen Keller
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