Luke's ENGLISH Podcast - Learn British English with Luke Thompson

Here is the third World Cup ramble, covering the events of the last 16, predicting the outcomes of the quarter finals and beyond, and discussing the various issues, talking points and controversies. Is the World Cup rigged? Are the referees biased? What about the scandal involving FIFA and Trump? Who is going to win this massive competition? I'm joined by football fan and returning guest Fred Eyan...

Win any argument in English with these incredible debating skills. Ray Addam joins me for a discussion about the art of debating, including various strategies you can use to help you win arguments, disagreements and debates. With plenty of examples given and techniques explained, this is surely a useful episode for developing your speaking skills in English. Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co....

Here is the next bonus football rambling episode on LEP. The group stage of FIFA World Cup 2026 is over and teams are now being eliminated in the round of 32. In this episode, which is roughly the same length as the average game at WC2026, I am joined by Zdenek from The Footglish Podcast. Expect discussion of styles of play in modern football, the changes introduced this year and their effects on...

There has been an awful heatwave in Europe recently, with really high temperatures and a humid, sticky atmosphere. In this episode I ramble about the conditions, explore vocabulary with the words "hot" and "heat" and show the typical things British people say when the weather is boiling. Expect various funny tangents, anecdotes and improvisations, including a David Attenborough BBC nature document...

What are the different English accents you can hear if you visit London? In this episode I am talking to Patricio from the YouTube channel Patricio Languages, who makes videos about diverse English accents from around the world. We talk about 4 specific accents that are native to his home town of London, namely Received Pronunciation, Cockney, Estuary English and Multicultural London English. We a...

In this episode I am reconnecting with an old friend after over 25 years of not seeing each other. Jez Booker is from Solihull in the West Midlands and I first met him at 6th form college, where we became friends and later we got into a band together and had many adventures. Jez later went on to work in marketing and has recently started up his own YouTube channel all about getting out and enjoyin...

In 2009 I did a solo travelling experience around Vietnam, and I wrote a diary while I was there. In this episode, over 16 years later, I read out the diary, follow my descriptions of each part of my trip, explore how I was feeling at that time of my life, go off on some comedy and English teaching tangents, and take a journey into the past, across a very different country. Get the episode transcr...

A bonus mid-week episode previewing the FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America. I'll be talking about all the teams, the favourites, the underdogs, the wild cards, the dark horse teams, England's chances, plus various issues and controversies both on and off the pitch. Comments are welcome! This is a bonus episode, and you will get another normal episode (no football) on Monday. Get the episode PDF...

[991] A conversation with English teacher / comedian / cake maker Kate Billington, talking about her academic qualifications, cutting edge subtitling technology for theatres, questions of teaching English including teaching in Taiwan vs in France, Kate's tips for language learning, a cat-village in Taiwan, traffic madness, earthquakes, signage in train stations, using flashcard apps to learn Engli...

An epic rambling episode packed with British humour, listener emails, anecdotes, English teaching, thoughts about AI, parenting, podcasting, language learning, YouTube comments, animals listening to LEP, British communication styles, and much more. Get the episode PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/RAMBLEMAN_-Into-the-Ramble-zone-990_compressed.pdf Episode page on my websi...

In this episode of Luke’s English Podcast, I chat with my 8-year-old daughter as we answer a series of absurd questions, including funny Would You Rather...? questions, imaginative What if...?questions, food questions, science questions, superpowers, animals, fairy tales and more. This is a natural, funny and heart-warming English conversation full of real spoken English, perfect for English learn...

[988] In this episode of Luke’s English Podcast, Luke and James discuss artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, the AI bubble, generative AI, AGI, automation, job displacement, tech startups, Silicon Valley culture, deep fakes, AI hallucinations, cryptocurrency, Blade Runner, and the future of work. This is a long-form British English conversation designed to help learners improve listening comprehensio...

[987] British English listening practice at a natural speed with surprising facts and lots of humour. Pod-pals Amber & Paul join me for an outlandish and outrageous "true or false" quiz 📝. Can Amber and Paul decide if these facts are true, or just total bulls#*t (or maybe that should be b*llocks ?) The episode is long, the English is fast, but the jokes come regularly and I promise that you w...

Another short story on LEP to entertain you and help you learn some more English words and expressions. This one is a creepy tale about a room in a house with a strange, fatal attraction. People can't stop themselves going through the door, but then what happens to them? Follow along with me and try to understand the final, crucial line at the end. I will explain everything, analyse the vocabulary...

A funny British English conversation about food, cooking & eating habits, with my friend Martin. Why is British food a bit of a joke? Do French people have the right to criticise British cuisine? What is marmite, and why don't Brits just throw it away? What did Luke eat for lunch every single day during secondary school? And, who would be Luke's dream dinner party guests? All that and more, in...

[984] English listening practice in the form of an authentic conversation about ghosts and the paranormal. Returning guest Anna Brooke returns to talk about her latest book "Death by Chocolate" which is inspired by various spooky and unexplained experiences she has had recently, including a suspected haunting of her apartment, poltergeist activity, cold and creepy atmospheres, sightings of spirits...

Practise your listening in English with a fascinating conversation with a writer of haiku poetry in English. John Stevenson is one of the world's leading English language haiku poets, and in this episode I had the pleasure of talking to him for an hour. John taught me more about haiku and senryu poetry, revealed how he first became interested in haiku, and then was willing to discuss various haiku...

Haiku poems communicate a lot of ideas, thoughts and feelings into just a few simple words. They can be moving, humourous or meditative, and reading haiku in English allows you to learn vocabulary in a very interesting way. In part 1 I talked about the form and history of haiku, and read out various short poems in English from both Japanese writers and modern English ones. In part 2 here I finish...

In this episode I discuss optimism and pessimism, what forms our outlook on life, which is healthier, how we talk about optimism and pessimism in English and which perspective helps you learn English more effectively. Expect some discussion, science, vocabulary, advice for learning English and a few jokes thrown in for good measure. PDF available. Get the episode PDF (free) 👉 https://teacherluke....

Practise listening to British English conversation and enjoy some complaining, ranting and funny anecdotes in this episode based on the concept of a popular BBC TV chat show. My guest is Charlie Baxter from The British English Podcast. Charlie has chosen 3 things which he wants to be locked inside the mythical "Room 101" 🚪 an imaginary place where all the things you hate in the world are stored f...

Time to learn English with another short story on Luke's English Podcast. Listen to the story and my comments, then learn vocabulary as I break down the text line by line and teach you English in context. This time it is a funny little tale written by Saki - the English author and master of the short story. A mischievous lad is punished by his strict aunt, but who ends up having the last laugh? Ge...

Following my chat with my mum last week, now it's my dad's turn! In this episode my plan was to ask my dad lots of questions about his life, and to listen to him talking about the various choices he has made, and experiences he has had, as well as details about his parents. The result is another deep chat about family history, and my dad's life story. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I...

[977] Recently I visited my parents at their home, and while I was there I took the time to record conversations with them both. This first one is with my mum. I asked her questions about her life story, our family history, her memories of growing up and so many other things that I was curious about. The result is this recording. I hope you will find that it is not only good for your English liste...

Here's an epic rambling episode in which I talk about learning English with BBC Radio and TV 📻 vocabulary expressions with the word 'thumb' 👍 the story of how I became a taxi driver on the streets of Paris 🚖 the grammar of Yoda 🐸 fantastic haikus written by my listeners ✍️ and getting pecked in the face by a swan 🦢. 3h30min+ of English listening and learning from me to you. #learnenglish #bri...

What skills are involved in being a good writer? What makes a good piece of writing? How is writing different to speaking? What are the challenges faced by learners of English who want to write well, and what are some solutions to these challenges? How can AI help develop writing skills? And, what does it take to write your own book in English? These are all questions which I talk about in this ep...