Luke's ENGLISH Podcast

[972] I talk with multilingual actor Ivan Doan about his multicultural background, his learning of languages and his work as an actor. Ivan shares his insights and experiences of learning English, dealing with different accents in film & TV roles, and the importance of mindset and discipline in his life. There are plenty of language learning insights in this episode, which I summarise at the end. Full transcript available. Get the episode PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Identity-Mindset-Accents-Learning-English-with-Multilingual-Actor-Ivan-Doan-972-Transcript.pdf Episode page with language learning insights 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/01/19/learning-english-accents-identity-mindset-with-multilingual-actor-ivan-doan/ Sign up to LEP Premium (20% off until 31.1.26) 👉 www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[971] Part 2 of 2. Here is the continuation of last week's episode about changes you can make to your lifestyle, mindset and habits in order to become a better learner of English in 2026. Each of these tips is backed up by scientific research from the fields of psychology and psycholinguistics, with insights into human behaviour and thinking processes that result in better learning. Full PDF available. Get the episode PDF here 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/9-Science-based-Life-Hacks-to-Improve-your-English-Learning-Potential-PART-2-971.pdf Episode page on my website 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/01/12/9-science-based-life-hacks-to-improve-your-english-learning-potential-part-2-971/ 20% off LEP Premium until 31 January 2026 (hurry hurry hurry) 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[970] Part 1 of 2. An English podcast about simple habits you can introduce in your life, to be in top condition for learning English all year long. This is all backed up by scientific research into how our brains work, how we learn language, and how little changes in our behaviour can help us perform better and achieve more in the time we are given. Includes top advice for preparing yourself to be a great learner of English in 2026. Part 2 will be available next week. Get the episode PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/9-Science-based-Life-Hacks-to-Improve-your-English-Learning-Potential-PART-1-970-1.pdf Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/01/05/9-science-based-life-hacks-to-improve-your-english-learning-potential-part-1-970/ 20% off LEP Premium until 31 January 2026 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium learn English, English learning tips, English listening practice, English podcast, British English, Luke’s English Podcast, language learning science, learning habits, habit formation, neuroscience of learning, improve your English, English fluency, ESL podcast, 1 percent rule, atomic habits, marginal gains, new year habits, motivation for learning, cognitive performance, how to learn English Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[969] It's time for the annual World News Quiz with 20 questions about some of the curious news stories of 2025. Stephen Devincenzi from the SEND7 podcast is the quizmaster. Can you I improve on my poor performance from last year? Can you beat me? Take a trip through some news highlights from this year. Full transcript available as usual. ⛑️ Donate to MSF today to help people in need https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ 📄 Get the PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WORLD-NEWS-QUIZ-2025-with-Stephen-from-SEND7-Podcast-969-TRANSCRIPT.pdf 🔗 Episode page with questions and answers 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/12/29/world-news-quiz-2025-with-stephen-from-send7-podcast-969/ 🏆 20% off LEP Premium until 31 January 2026 https://lep.supercast.com 🎧📰 Listen to SEND7 podcast here 👉 https://pod.link/1505603790 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[968] The Collins Dictionary Words of the Year is a list of 10 words which capture the cultural zeitgeist - the spirit of the times that we are living in now. These are new words, picked by Collins, which reflect big issues that people have been talking about over the last 12 months. In this conversation, Amber, Paul & I discuss the impact of AI, the ways social media is affecting people's behaviour, how people are using technology to control their health, the strange habits of tech leaders, and more. Pick up new words and listen to conversation about big issues in society. Full transcript available. 🔗 Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/12/25/the-words-of-the-year-2025-with-amber-paul-968/ 📄 Get the PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Transcript-968-The-Words-of-the-Year-with-Amber-Paul-1.pdf 🏆 20% off LEP Premium until 31 January 2026 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[967] A conversation in the podcastle with my pals Amber & Paul. In this one we chat about Paul's ambitious international marathon plans (what is he running from exactly?) what Amber knows about the famous robbery of the Louvre this year, and Paul's dramatic "Jason Bourne" situation which he faced in West Africa recently. Listen to some spontaneous conversation between friends in English. Full transcript available. 🔗 Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/12/22/robbing-the-louvre-escaping-to-nigeria-with-amber-paul-967-catching-up-16/ 📄 Get the PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Transcript-967-Catching-Up-with-Amber-Paul-16.pdf 🏆 20% off LEP Premium until 31 January 2026 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[966] Here is a super-long seasonal rambling episode, which you can listen to while wrapping presents, finishing some last-minute gift shopping, or (if you don't celebrate Christmas) just doing whatever you normally do in December. This is a long one, but the more you listen, the more it will help your English! 💪🎅 📄 Get the PDF with all my notes here https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/The-Ramble-Before-Christmas-966-Episode-PDF.pdf 🔗 Episode page on my website https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/12/15/the-ramble-before-christmas-966-listen-learn-english-with-luke/ 🏆 20% off LEP Premium in Dec & Jan https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium 🎁 Give LEP Premium as a gift (also 20% off in Dec/Jan) https://lep.supercast.com/gifts/new Join me as I chat to you in English for nearly 3 hours about: - LEPster listening habits in 2025 (Spotify Wrapped) 🎧 - Messages and emails with funny stories from LEPsters 📧 - Bits of grammar & vocabulary teaching ✍️ - ChatGPT's questionable teaching skills 🤖🤔 - AI hallucinations 😵‍💫 - Dreaming in English 💭 - Responses to recent episodes 💬 - 12 jokes dissected in the Comedy Corner 😂 🐸 - More funny comments from my daughter 👧 - Another dramatic Hollywood action movie screenplay 🎥 ...and finally a vocabulary quiz for the whole episode. ✅ All of that in your Christmas stocking 🧦 this week, with cosy log fire background sounds 🔥 as well. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is traditional to tell a scary story at Christmas time, so here is one for this year's festive season. The Kit-Bag by Algernon Blackwood is a classic scary tale which will give you a chill, while you stay cosy and warm indoors this winter. Listen and I will explain a lot of vocabulary which comes up in the story. Get the episode PDF with story text and word list 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Kit-Bag-Learn-English-with-a-Short-Story-965.pdf Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/12/08/the-kit-bag-learn-english-with-a-short-story-965/ LEP Premium 20% off in Dec and Jan 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this audio-only episode today you can join me at home as I potter around, and take time to relax while recording a rambling episode for you to enjoy. Enjoy the sounds of street noise outside, and my attempts to find the most comfortable spot in my flat where I can ramble about various things, including several robberies in Paris - one of which is the famous heist at the Louvre museum, where burglars broke in and stole precious jewels worth millions, in broad daylight. The other robbery was more painful - our own apartment, which was broken into earlier this year. Join me as I discuss all of these things and more. The video episode this week is a walk & talk in Paris. Get the episode PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/A-Cosy-Rambling-Episode-at-Home-964.pdf Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/12/01/a-cosy-rambling-episode-at-home-964-walk-talk-mission-in-montmartre/ Walk & Talk: Mission in Montmartre 📺 https://youtu.be/b0THApJaJTs 20% off LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[963] Emma Camara Ortega and I worked together as English teachers years ago, but since then Emma has become a licensed counsellor and therapist - helping people with their mental health. In this episode, Emma talks to me about what is involved in counselling, and we discuss some everyday habits to promote good mental health. This should be full of interesting insights and helpful tips for mental wellbeing, which is so vital for our general lives but also to help us learn as effectively as possible. Full transcript and vocabulary list available. Get the PDF transcript & word list 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Talking-Therapy-Mental-Health-Counselling-with-Emma-Camara-Ortega-963.pdf Episode page on my website 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/11/24/talking-therapy-mental-health-counselling-with-emma-camara-ortega-963/ LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Emma Camara Ortega in the UK Counselling Directory 👉 https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellors/emma-camara-ortega Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[962] Time for another short story on LEP. This one is about a man who has a wondrous experience as a child, which then haunts him for the rest of his adult life. Listen as I read the story to you, and then ramble about its meaning, interpretations and how it evoked some strong memories and strange feelings in me. Then there is a vocabulary review which will continue in an upcoming premium series. Get the episode PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Door-in-the-Wall-Learn-English-with-a-Short-Story-962.pdf Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/11/17/the-door-in-the-wall-learn-english-with-a-short-story-962/ LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[961] Emma Jakobi is the host of MmmEnglish on YouTube, and now the online community Hey Lady! In this episode Emma joins me for a chat about living on the remote Western coast of Australia, "blowing up" on YouTube, her decision to step away from MmmEnglish to focus on Hey Lady! Also, her thoughts on the rise of AI, and some fun facts about singing in the shower, her vintage Lexus car and her phobias of public speaking (surprising) and leeches (understandable). Full transcript available. Get the episode transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Emma-from-MmmEnglish-and-Hey-Lady-961-Transcript-1.pdf Episode page on my website 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/11/10/emma-from-mmmenglish-and-hey-lady-961/ Hey Lady! 👉 https://www.heylady.io/ LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A particularly useful and interesting episode for you today - a conversation about English words which are very similar, but crucially, not the same. My guest Eli Burnstein is the author of “Dictionary of Fine Distinctions” - a book which aims to bring clarity to English words. Expect a funny discussion about subtle shades of meaning between words like poison & venom, accuracy & precision, envy & jealousy and many others. Eli is Canadian, now living in London and so he also shares some key features of Canadian English.  📄 Get the PDF transcript https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Fine-Distinctions-Subtle-Shades-of-Meaning-with-Eli-Burnstein-960.pdf 🔗 Episode page on my website https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/11/03/fine-distinctions-subtle-shades-of-meaning-with-eli-burnstein-960/ 🏆 LEP Premium https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium 📗 Get the book in the UK https://www.waterstones.com/book/dictionary-of-fine-distinctions/eli-burnstein/9781805227229 📘 Buy the book from Profile Books https://profilebooks.com/work/dictionary-of-fine-distinctions/ 📙 Also available on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-Fine-Distinctions-Nuances-Niceties/dp/180522722X/ 🧔‍♂️ https://www.eliburnstein.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People keep asking me in comments, "How can I learn English with your podcast?" so in this episode I am answering that question as simply, directly and efficiently as possible. Expect advice about improving your English across the 4 skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, and the language systems of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and discourse management. PDF available. 📄 Get the PDF here 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/How-to-learn-English-with-my-podcast-959.pdf 🔗 Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/10/27/how-to-learn-english-with-my-podcast-959/ 🏆 Sign up to LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sign up to LEP Premium here 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium If you have ever wondered what happens in premium episodes, this episode will show you. I'll play you some clips from the latest series (P71) including some vocabulary explanations, memory quiz questions, pronunciation practice and discussion questions for speaking practice. For the rest of the series, and all the other episodes of LEP Premium (now over 250, each with PDF worksheets and video versions) sign up and become a Premium LEPster today 🏆 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium 📄 Get the episode PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/A-Free-Sample-of-LEP-Premium-Series-71-_-Vocabulary-Pronunciation-958.pdf 🔗 Website page for this episode 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/10/20/a-free-sample-of-lep-premium-series-71-vocabulary-pronunciation-958/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How many words are there in English? How many do you really need to know? And how many words have I spoken on this podcast? 🧐 Also, what is shadowing, and how should you do it? Can you do episodes about different English accents? What are your top 10 countries for this podcast? In this episode of Luke’s English Podcast, I answer listener questions about vocabulary size, English accents, the shadowing technique and more. PDF available with transcript and vocabulary list. 📄 Get the PDF with transcript and vocab list 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/More-Questions-of-English-Listener-Comments-_-Bits-Bobs-5-957.pdf 🔗 Episode page on my website 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/10/13/more-questions-of-english-listener-comments-bits-bobs-5-957/ 🏆 Sign up to LEP Premium for more lessons on vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My brother James joins me again on the podcast for a rambling chat about diverse topics such as: trousers 👖 sandwiches 🥪 gangster films 🍿 the work of Edgar Allan Poe 📖 vinyl and cassettes 🎵 memories of living together 🎮 annoying behaviour 😤 and English words and grammar that irritate people 😠 plus James has a new vinyl EP out now on Ooz records. Transcript available 📄. 🎧 Get OOZ004 - James' new vinyl EP 👉 https://oozrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ooz004 📄 Get the PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Thompson-Originals-A-Chat-with-My-Brother-956-TRANSCRIPT.pdf 🔗 Episode page on my website 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/10/06/thompson-originals-a-chat-with-my-brother-956/ 🏆 Sign up to LEP Premium for extra episodes about vocab, grammar, pronunciation 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 949 I did an online test which claimed to be for C1 level, but let's be honest - it was more like an intermediate level, the questions were rubbish and it was ultimately a useless scam. This time I'm taking a proper C1 English test - the Use of English section from a Cambridge CAE exam. Let's see what is required to pass this, and what bits of English you can learn from it. 📄 Get the PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lets-take-a-REAL-C1-English-Test-CAE-Use-of-English-955.pdf 🔗 Website page for this episode 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/09/29/lets-take-a-real-c1-english-test-cae-use-of-english-955/ 🏆 LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium 🎧 Listen to my podcast in an app on your phone 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/links What is the pass mark for this CAE test? I forgot to add that the pass mark is 60% for this test, which means you must get a minimum of about 22/36 in the Use of English section (that's 14 lost points). Could you do it? Bear in mind that this is only a part of the whole test, and you'd need to get at least 60% across all 4 sections (also including listening, writing and speaking). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Pod-Pals are back on the podcast for another catching up session! Recorded just after the summer holidays, there is talk of Paul's hatred of the beach 🏖️, the English tradition of building epic sandcastles 🏰, other famous people with our names (including an "evil" teacherluke 👿) and what AI gets completely wrong about us 🤦. PDF transcript available. (a.k.a Catching Up with Amber & Paul #15) 📄 Get the PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Transcript-Holiday-Hell-Serious-Sandcastles-AI-Inbreeding-with-Amber-Paul-954-2.pdf 🔗 Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/09/22/holiday-hell-serious-sandcastles-ai-inbreeding-with-amber-paul-954/ 🏆 Sign up to LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My 7-year-old daughter joins me again as co-host in this fun episode. We play "Would you rather?", a conversation game in which we ask each other ridiculous questions about various hypothetical situations. Enjoy listening to another cute and funny chat with my daughter, which covers topics such as food, world peace, wealth, fame, success and Inspector Gadget. 📄 Get the PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/A-game-of-Would-You-Rather_-with-my-daughter-953-TRANSCRIPT-1.pdf 🔗 Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/09/15/a-game-of-would-you-rather-with-my-daughter-953/ 🏆 LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.