This conversation is a preview of my Zoom workshop on Thurs 18 April 2024 at 10AM (UK time), as part of the Advanced English Summit. In my workshop I will be talking about how to really learn vocabulary, and not just stare at word lists. This is a conversation about the subject of the workshop, and summit organiser Clare Whitmell asks me questions about why vocabulary is important, why I love teaching it, common mistakes made by learners, ways of learning vocabulary more effectively, and some to...
Apr 11, 2024•34 min
Listen to me rambling about Daylight Saving Time, weird AI generated images for Luke's English Podcast, and lots of comments and responses to recent episodes including the Birthday Party story 🎂 , the MBTI Personality Test 🙇 and the Walk & Talk in Paris 📹🚶. 🔗 Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2024/04/08/876-thoughts-comments-on-recent-episodes-a-spring-equinox-ramble-2024/ 📄 Get the PDF (no email needed) 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/876.-Thoughts-comm...
Apr 08, 2024•2 hr
Learn English with another short story. I'll read the entire story to you, and then go through the text again explaining and clarifying the main events and plenty of vocabulary. This is a wonderful adventure story written by HG Wells, a very influential and imaginative English writer from the late 19th century. The story is full of vivid descriptive language, action, adventure and extraordinary moments. I hope it captures your imagination and lets the English come alive in memorable ways. The st...
Apr 01, 2024•3 hr 23 min
Here is an episode in which I walk through the streets of Paris, rambling about a particular subject. This time the subject is Paris itself. This summer Paris is hosting the Olympic Games. The city will be filled with visitors. I am very curious to see how the city will handle this moment. Will it be a huge success? What will visitors think of the city? Will anyone suffer from the mysterious "Paris Syndrome"? Join me on my walk, follow my words, look out for vocab and consider using my questions...
Mar 25, 2024•1 hr 19 min
The MBTI Personality Test (aka "16 Personalities") is a very well-known and widely used test which claims to be able to give you a "freakishly accurate" analysis of your personality type. In this episode I take the test, explain the reasons for my answers, explain some vocabulary and give my thoughts on the test results and the test itself. Includes plenty of expressions for describing personality traits, behaviour, ways of thinking and feeling and the subject of psychological testing. 👉 Episod...
Mar 18, 2024•2 hr 4 min
Learn English with another short story. This time it's a 300-word story by Katherine Brush often used in literature classes, full of vivid imagery and with an emotional twist. I read the story to you, and then go through each line, explaining vocabulary and grammar. 👉 Episode page with story text and vocabulary notes https://teacherluke.co.uk/2024/03/11/872-the-birthday-party-learn-english-with-a-short-story/...
Mar 11, 2024•48 min
A very long rambling episode with a big mix of vocabulary, stories about my trip to Rome, comments from listeners, lots of thoughts about episodes I've published over the last 12 months, more advice about learning English, and a story about being Jackie Chan's English teacher. 👉 Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2024/03/04/871-rambling-through-my-episode-archive-listener-comments-gold-youtube-creator-award/ 👉 Download the PDF https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/871.-Rambl...
Mar 04, 2024•3 hr 10 min
Returning guest Kate Billington suddenly decided to move to the other side of the world, to Taipei in beautiful Taiwan. In this episode we talk about meeting LEPsters in Taipei, her decision to move there, and how everything is going, with the usual conversational tangents along the way. 👉 Episode page on my website https://teacherluke.co.uk/2024/02/26/870-kate-billington-moved-to-taiwan
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 48 min
In international diplomacy, "communication is everything". This is the main point of this conversation, in which I talk to my friend who works for the UK delegation at UNESCO in Paris. We discuss the work that UNESCO does, and the various communication challenges involved in working together with representatives from countries all around the world, including the collaborative writing of official documents where the use of a single comma can be debated for hours, and the meetings and conversation...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 59 min
Talking to Lindsay from All Ears English about social, economic and political changes happening in the USA (and the UK) at the moment. Includes some rambling and a song at the end of the episode. 👉 Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2024/02/12/868-how-the-usa-is-changing-with-lindsay-mcmahon-from-all-ears-english/ 👉 Listen to Luke on All Ears English talking about American & British English https://pod.link/751574016/episode/d4b5eabd02763c0770be33d021098248...
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 14 min
This episode is all about the different modes of communication that we use beyond the 4 linguistic skills of reading, writing, listening speaking. My guest is Nik Peachey who has helped to write a new paper published by OUP called "Multimodality in ELT: Communication Skills for Today’s Generation". Listen to Nik and me chatting about the importance of multimodal literacy in our social interactions and in the ways we consume and produce media online. 🔗 Episode page with intro notes 👉 https://te...
Feb 06, 2024•1 hr 26 min
Here are my reactions to getting 1 million subscribers on YouTube, and probably 1 million+ on audio platforms too! Listen to me rambling on my own and with my daughter (6 years old now) while the subscriber number gradually goes up, and eventually reaches this big milestone. Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2024/02/02/1-million-subscribers-on-youtube-x1f389/
Feb 02, 2024•50 min
The return of the lying game on LEP! Amber, Paul and I play a speaking game which I sometimes use in my English classes. Listen to our stories and try to work out if we are lying or telling the truth. The second half of the episode contains story summaries and vocabulary explanations. 👉 Episode page with vocabulary list, etc https://teacherluke.co.uk/2024/01/29/866-the-lying-game-9-with-amber-paul-with-vocabulary-explanations/...
Jan 29, 2024•1 hr 56 min
Amber & Paul return to the podcast for another tangential conversation about various things, including: why Paul is angry (again) 😤 how Amber gets crushed in her own bed 🛌 how our British children don't need to wear coats 🧥 the special gifts Luke has prepared for Amber & Paul 🎁 the highs and lows of Paul's global comedy tour 🎭 how Paul's been telling the Russian joke on stage 😐 Amber's recent trip to London 🇬🇧 The Beatles' "Now & Then" 🎶 the next step in Paul's career ⏩ Ambe...
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 22 min
Join me as I talk without a script about lovely cold weather ❄️ being too lazy to wash my cups 🍵 feeling exhausted because my son won't sleep 👶😮💨 New Year's Eve celebrations 🛋 performing stand up comedy to 4200 people 🎤 a recommended YouTube channel about adventurous missions in the UK countryside 🥾 and recent horror films I've seen 🙀. Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2024/01/15/864-a-winter-ramble-x2744xfe0f-learn-english-with-lep/...
Jan 15, 2024•1 hr 24 min
A new year episode to welcome you back to my podcast, to encourage you to reflect on your learning of English over the last 12 months, to consider your English learning in 2024 and how this podcast can help you. Includes plenty of ideas for how to improve your English, some reflections on my learning of French, and some 'help' from my baby son 👶. 📄 Get the PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/863.-Your-English-in-2024-with-LEP-PDF-Transcript-reduced-size.pdf 🔗 Episode p...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 58 min
[2/2] Stephen from the Simple English News Daily podcast asks me questions about news events from this year. This is part 2 of a 2-part episode. 🔗 Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2023/12/27/862-world-news-quiz-2023-part-2-with-stephen-from-send7-podcast/ *Edits - On reflection, I decided to remove questions 11 and 12 because they were about the war in Ukraine and I think the tone of our conversation was not appropriate considering the solemnity of the situation. I regret not expressing m...
Dec 27, 2023•50 min
[1/2] Stephen from the Simple English News Daily podcast asks me questions about news events from this year. This is part 1 of a 2-part episode. 👉 Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2023/12/27/861-world-news-quiz-2023-part-1-with-stephen-from-send7-podcast/
Dec 27, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Listen to me telling this classic Christmas ghost story - "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. I have read this story on the podcast before (in episode 320) but it's a good one so let's do it again, shall we? 📄 Download the PDF here 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/860.-Charles-Dickens-Christmas-Ghost-Story-Learn-English-with-a-Short-Story-PDF.pdf 👉 Episode page on my website https://teacherluke.co.uk/2023/12/22/860-charles-dickens-christmas-ghost-story-learn-english-...
Dec 22, 2023•1 hr 22 min
How about some English rambling at Christmas time? ChatGPT (who can speak now) helps me with some questions and ideas, and I ramble about Christmas plans, traditions, post-gift melancholy, upcoming episodes, how to do a King Charles impression, and more... 👉 Episode page on my website https://teacherluke.co.uk/2023/12/20/859-a-christmas-ramble-2023-with-chatgpt
Dec 20, 2023•46 min
This is part 2 of this double episode. Please listen to part 1 first! Sarah and Fred are trivia quiz nerds with a new trivia podcast. In this episode they joined me for some trivia quizzing and conversation. In this second part you can listen to my quiz for Sarah and Fred, and then Fred's quiz for me. Can you answer the questions? Can you follow the whole conversation? Listen carefully! 👉 Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2023/12/15/858-trivia-quizzing-with-sarah-and-fred-part-2/ 👉 Listen...
Dec 15, 2023•53 min
Sarah and Fred are trivia quiz nerds who have been doing trivia nights in Paris for years and now have a new trivia-themed podcast. In this episode we get together to discuss trivia quizzing, and to quiz each other with our own trivia questions. In this first part we get to know Sarah and Fred again, talk about their new podcast and then Sarah quizzes me with some cleverly-written questions. Can you understand and answer the questions? The quizzing continues in part 2. 👉 Episode page https://te...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 12 min
Talking to my brother about his new album "Glytek Audio - Mood Selector" (available now on Touched Revolutions records) and then discussing music including the first album we ever bought, and favourite albums in different genres. 🎧 Click here to get James' new album https://touchedrevolutions.bandcamp.com/album/mood-selector 👉 Page for this episode on my website https://teacherluke.co.uk/2023/12/07/856-my-brothers-new-album-is-out-now-music-chat-with-james/...
Dec 08, 2023•1 hr 17 min
Talking to Cara about films, movies, her movie club for English learners and a discussion about films and what they mean. Episode page with all the links you could ever need! 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2023/12/06/855-discussing-films-with-cara-leopold/
Dec 06, 2023•1 hr 38 min
🎧 Learn English with a short story. 🗣 Listen & repeat after me if you'd like to practise your pronunciation. 💬Learn some vocabulary in the second half of the video. 📄 I found this story in answer to a post on Quora.com asking about true scary stories. I thought I could use it to help you learn English. Can you understand the story, and predict the twist at the end? 📄 Read the original by Lance Stephenson here https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-short-scary-stories 🔗 Page for this e...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Join me as I meet and get to know Rhiannon, an English coach whose mission is to help you feel awesome about your English. I had never met Rhiannon before this interview, so listen as I get to know her and we chat about her English & Welsh roots, moving to Edinburgh, studying theology at university, early experiences as an English teacher, why learners often feel ashamed of their English, and how she can help. We also discuss the wonders of fish & chips and deep fried Mars bars which you...
Nov 22, 2023•1 hr 20 min
How does it feel to have a visual impairment? How do blind people navigate the world? How do other people treat you, if you are blind? And, how do we talk about blindness and other forms of disability in English? This episode is inspired by a listener called Hafid, who contacted me recently. I talk about the subject of blindness and disability in general, read an article written by a partially sighted person, and explain a list of words and phrases we should use when describing different forms o...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 37 min
A listener left a comment on my website asking for my thoughts on the new Beatles song which was released last week, and I was happy to ramble about it for 45 mins. Listen to hear me give my thoughts and tell several stories related to what is being described as the last Beatles song. I talk for about 10 minutes about burning down my apartment, and my thoughts on the content I make for this podcast and then start talking about The Beatles until the end of the episode. To skip straight to the Bea...
Nov 08, 2023•49 min
Fabio has written a book about language learning, based on his own personal experiences of learning English. Each chapter ends with the same sentence: “This is how to learn a language”. But each chapter disagrees with the next. There are many ways to learn a language, and none of them is the only right way to do it. In this episode, we talk all about this and Fabio shares some of his stories. Fabio is the host of "Stolariod Stories" a self-development podcast which includes lots of lessons about...
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 39 min
Bed bugs in Paris & London, Mosquito hunting in the middle of the night, a home invasion by fleas and the terrors of cockroaches - listen to some anecdotes about encounters with insects with Zdenek who has recently relocated to Vietnam. Watch out for various insect idioms which appear during the conversation. 👉 Episode page on Luke's website (with list of insect idioms 🦟 & more) https://teacherluke.co.uk/2023/10/25/849-stories-of-insects-bugs-creepy-crawlies-with-zdenek-lukas/ 👉 Zdene...
Oct 25, 2023•1 hr 54 min
