In this final part of the series I'm going to evaluate ChatGPT's ability to work as a dictionary with definitions, example sentences, synonyms, phonetic transcriptions, etc. I test its ability to convert texts into British English or other varieties, see if it can help with sentence stress and word stress, and check its ability to create grammar and vocabulary quizzes and other useful exercises. Episode page with transcript https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sOb...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 3 min
In this series I am evaluating ChatGPT as a language-learning tool. In this part I'm experimenting with role-play conversations, job interview practice, creating texts and dialogues and seeing if it can help you prepare for Cambridge exams like IELTS or CAE. Episode page with transcript https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sND
Apr 29, 2023•53 min
An episode exploring the various ways that ChatGPT might be able to help you learn English. Can it create study plans? Can it correct your errors and explain the corrections? Can you use it to simulate natural conversations? This is the first of a three-part series in which I test ChatGPT's usefulness as an AI language learning tool. Episode page with transcript https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sMP
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr 12 min
Rambling on my own about getting stuck in a time-loop 🔁, protests and strikes in Paris 🔥, the arrival of child 2 👶, and more. 👉 Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sMu 👉 Tony Kaizen interviews Luke on his podcast https://youtu.be/rIolbmPGKRU
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr 5 min
How do we know when someone's English is good? Is it just about having a "British accent", knowing lots of big words, or speaking with no errors? In fact, there is a lot more to it than that. IELTS can show us how someone's level of English is assessed by looking at a wide range of skills and sub-skills and there is a lot more to it than making no errors while speaking with a "British accent". This episode should help you consider your own level of English level, get some perspective on what lan...
Apr 12, 2023•1 hr 35 min
My friend Anna has written a book for children (7+) which has a full publishing contract and is available in all good bookshops now. The book tells the story of a boy who accidentally creates a monster when his secret collection of nose bogeys gets struck by lightning! This conversation includes lots of talk of snot and bogeys, as well as stories from Anna's time as a travel writer. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sN1
Apr 05, 2023•1 hr 19 min
Learn English with another short story. This time it's Parson's Pleasure by Roald Dahl, which is an intriguing tale of a dodgy antiques dealer with a nasty twist. Learn vocabulary while you enjoy a fascinating story. 👉 Episode page on my website https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sMo 👉 Buy "The Complete Short Stories" by Roald Dahl https://amzn.eu/d/axqHJjc
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 28 min
Kate Billington returns to LEP for the third time, to drink tea, talk about my pod-room, learning the bassoon, exam results, learning Chinese, responding to listener comments and talking about her videos on TikTok. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sM1 The British Council on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcouncilenglish?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc...
Mar 22, 2023•2 hr 5 min
An episode all about studying at university in the UK, with loads of advice about student visas, funding your studies with scholarships, extra-curricular social activities and opportunities at the students' union and more. Features a conversation with a German student currently studying a master's in clinical neuroscience at UCL in London. This episode is published in paid partnership with Study UK and the UK Government's GREAT Britain campaign. For more information, follow the links below. Link...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr
My dad has written a new book and he's come on the podcast to tell us about it. The book follows the path of the river Avon as it flows through the middle of England, telling stories of key moments in British history, nature and the current condition of Britain's rivers. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sLS A River Avon Year: The Wildlife and History of Shakespeare's Avon by Rick Thompson is available now!👇 📖 Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/dIzchIU 📖 Book Depository https://www.bookdepository.com/A...
Mar 08, 2023•58 min
A conversation with Anna Tyrie from English Like a Native (YouTube, Podcast) about children, the way we talk to children, and vocabulary relating to children and childcare, with a vocabulary quiz and some special news from the Thompson family...! 👉 Episode page with vocabulary lists https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sKN 👉 Anna interviews Luke on her podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2038858/12353084...
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 41 min
Steve Kaufmann is a very prolific language learner. He has learned at least 20 languages to varying degrees during his life. Some of them he learned during his career as an international diplomat and businessman, and others he has learned during his (semi) retirement. In this interview Steve talks about his language learning experiences, methods and motivations. We talk about various metaphors and similes for language learning including ocean voyages 🚢, cows 🐮, skiing ⛷ and cutting grass🏡 and...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 16 min
To qualify for British citizenship, one of the requirements is to pass the "Life in the UK" test. Questions cover things like British history, British life & culture, British politics, British geography and principles of modern British life. What do you think? Can you pass the test? Join me as I test online English teacher Cara Leopold. How much does she know about her own country of origin? What can you learn about Britain? What IS Britain anyway? Find out in this episode! 👉 Episode page h...
Feb 15, 2023•1 hr 53 min
An episode about two (unconnected) situations, 1) the very recent earthquake in Turkey & Syria which has left many people in urgent need of help, 2) the humanitarian crisis in Iran. During the episode I read from various articles and explain some vocabulary. 👉 Consider donating to the Disasters Emergency Committee to help people affected by the earthquake https://www.dec.org.uk/appeal/turkey-syria-earthquake-appeal 👉 Episode page with transcript & links https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sL5...
Feb 09, 2023•1 hr 28 min
A conversation with my brother about a specific musical genre, "ambient". We discuss Brian Eno's inspiration and approach to his first ambient albums, talk about the genre's origins in French 19th century classical music, jazz and the avant-garde and describe ambient trance music from the 80s and 90s including artists like Aphex Twin, The KLF, The Orb and The Irresistible Force. Enter the ambient zone on LEP. 👉 Get James' new ambient EP "Ambient Mode" on BandCamp https://jimthompson.bandcamp.co...
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr 14 min
An unedited conversation with Amber & Paul about toilet habits, Titanic (1997), weird videos on TikTok & YouTube and plenty more. Advanced level listening practice with the POD-PALs. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sKt
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 34 min
James Harris is a writer, comedian, English teacher and language learner (French, German, Chinese) from England. In this funny chat, we talk about learning Chinese, being married to a Chinese woman and his semi-autobiographical book, "Midlands" which tells several funny and touching stories about two ex-pats living in Germany; Stuart, who is a stand-up comedian trying to understand the Germans, and Doug who gets involved in a love affair. James reads several passages from the book during the epi...
Jan 25, 2023•50 min
A conversation about two legends of contemporary popular culture - Bob Dylan and John Lennon, with pop-star academic Jon Stewart (guitarist in The Wedding Present and Sleeper). 👉 Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sJE 📖 Get Jon's book here https://a.co/d/fPBgTel (other bookshops are available) Jon Stewart is an interesting mix. He is both a university lecturer and a pop star. He runs a Masters Degree course in Music Business and Popular Music Practice at the BIMM Institute in London and he also...
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Santiago has a top job in the English teaching industry. He is the managing director of English teaching at Oxford University Press. But English is not his first language. He learned it as an adult when he moved to London in his twenties. This conversation explores how he progressed in his English learning and in his career, while dealing with daily challenges and failures in English. The conclusions are that motivation and positivity are vital, you have to keep going through the difficult times...
Jan 11, 2023•1 hr 11 min
A rambling episode about making a fresh start in the new year, and some things I just have to tell you about listening to Luke's English Podcast using a podcast app on your phone + lots of tangents. I hope you enjoy it! Episode page on my website (with transcriptions, notes, video version etc) https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sIV
Jan 05, 2023•1 hr 36 min
The third (and final) adventure in this series of mini-mysteries on LEP. Can I improve my detective skills to work out the disappearance of a priceless painting and a series of gruesome murders? Story by Peter Carlson and available on textadventures.co.uk 👉 Episode page with links https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sJd 👉 Play Victorian Detective Interlude by Peter123 yourself here https://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/abwfcm2vke6b6nbmqh2v1w/victorian-detective-interlude...
Dec 31, 2022•47 min
The second in a trilogy of text adventure stories by Peter Carlson. In this one we are chasing a ghostly serial killer with a few tricks up his sleeve. Do I have the detective skills to solve the mystery and avoid certain death? 👉 Episode page on teacherluke.co.uk https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sJ7 👉 Play "Victorian Detective Interlude" on textadventures.co.uk https://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/abwfcm2vke6b6nbmqh2v1w/victorian-detective-interlude...
Dec 30, 2022•21 min
Let's do another text adventure mystery story by Peter Carlson. Listen to me read the story and make choices to solve the mystery. You can read the story with me (link below) or do the game yourself later. This is the first in a series of 3 stories from Peter's "Victorian Detective Interlude" game on textadventures.co.uk Episode page (including a message from Luke - "2022, A Year In Podcasting") https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sIa Play "Victorian Detective Interlude" on textadventures.co.uk https://textadv...
Dec 29, 2022•34 min
Stephen from the SEND7 Podcast asks Luke 20 quiz questions about international news stories from 2022. Do you know the answers? Can you beat Luke in the quiz? Listen for some serious moments, some funny moments and a re-cap of some key events from the year. Episode page on my website https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sCl
Dec 23, 2022•1 hr 49 min
A quick ramble about why this is the final part of episode 800, why there was a delay between part 2 and part 3, some comments about having flu, and about World Cup 2022. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sH4
Dec 21, 2022•16 min
Celebrating episode 800 by answering a massive list of questions from listeners. This episode covers things like how to improve your speaking when you live in a non-English speaking country, the headphones and microphone I use, my current favourite episode, the afterlife and spirit world, my favourite brands of tea, my favourite video games, being a father and the recent Star Wars series Andor and plenty plenty more. Video version available. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sA7...
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Celebrating episode 800 and responding to lots of questions sent in on social media. Expect questions about my ill-fated music career, grammar, favourite authors, my daughter, life as an English teaching podcaster and plenty more. Video version available. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-siR
Dec 09, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Luke reads an extraordinary email from a listener in an sos situation in a hospital. Contains some disturbing descriptions of fear, anxiety and horror, but there's a happy ending! 👉 Free ELSA app download link (download ELSA free & get 7 days pro membership free): https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/elsa 👉 ELSA Discounts page - ELSA PRO (85% off lifetime & 40% off one year ELSA memberships): https://elsaspeak.com/inf/LukesEnglishPodcast/ Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-shK...
Dec 05, 2022•35 min
A bonus mini-ramble about my plans for episode 800 (send me your questions) and why I haven't done any World Cup episodes yet, but you can listen to me talking about it with Zdenek on his podcast (link available). Website page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-stM Check out my conversation with Zdenek about World Cup 2022 https://youtu.be/PZOOa-PVXcw
Nov 28, 2022•5 min
In conversation with Mysterious Al, a contemporary artist / street artist from London now living in Melbourne, Australia. The conversation covers Al's background, how he makes his art, the difference between street art & graffiti, attitudes towards graffiti, how Al needs to use social media (but doesn't like it!) his recent ghost train exhibition, and more. Al's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mysteriousal/ Al's website https://www.mysterious.al Video version also available . Episode pag...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 48 min
