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. Take your time, learn English properly, join me, relax and enjoy the ride.
Get the episode PDF here, with full vocabulary glossary 👇
Here is an adorable episode with my adorable daughter. In this one, we discuss various absurd questions and end up improvising chats between odd socks, speculating about spaghetti hair, analysing the weaknesses of the human body, considering the importance of sleep, looking at the fear of long words, analysing completely mad nursery rhymes in English and French, speculating about societies run by ducks or cats, being painted by Leonardo DaVinci, and describing the dreams of dogs. All in a normal day spent chatting with my daughter.
This is a natural, funny and heart-warming English conversation full of real spoken English, perfect for English learners who want to improve their listening skills, vocabulary, pronunciation and fluency.
[988] Authentic English listening practice in the form of a conversation with my brother James about the current state of Artificial Intelligence. 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 comprehension, vocabulary and fluency while exploring the hype, risks and promises surrounding AI technology.
Are the massive predictions about AI and the future real, or just hype? Why does the tech industry push frightening narratives about AI and its effects on society? Will tech companies ever make a profit from the huge $$$ investments they have made in AI? How are ordinary people reacting to AI at the moment? How useful is it for Luke in his job? Do people really like or want what is produced by AI? Will AI ever reach super-intelligence? Is Harrison Ford actually a robot in the film Blade Runner? What disgusting thing did James eat for breakfast today? All these questions answered and discussed in rambling style by The Low Tech Bros – James and Luke. PDF transcript available with vocabulary glossary.
[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 will learn something new. ⚠️Warning: some topics are a bit disgusting, graphic or explicit and not for the kids👧🙅.
Includes talk of satanic cats 🐈⬛, animal accents 🐐, unsexy corn flakes 🥣, wolverine toads 🐸, blood-shooting lizards🦎🩸, suicide sex-bees 🐝, British tank tea 🫖, astro pee 🛰️, urine mouthwash 😬, ancient dogs 🐕, 23-hour dinosaurs 🦕 and a lot more. Listen all the way to the end as things get incredible in the 2nd half. Transcript available.
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 line by line and teach you plenty of useful phrases. PDF available as usual!
This story was originally told by the great Irish comedian and storyteller Dave Allen on his TV show in the 1980s (or maybe the 90s). He told the story much better than I ever could.
A funny 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 a conversation full of tangents, recipes, rants and apologies, and a nice range of vocabulary expressions to spot. Enjoy! PDF Transcript available.
Martin’s previous appearance on LEP 👇
[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 and more strange encounters. Anna describes these experiences and we have a discussion about the paranormal. A premium episode with vocabulary review is available for premium subscribers. PDF transcript also available.
Have you ever had a weird, creepy, frightening or unexplainable experience? Tell us about it! Send your description (email, comments section of this episode). Anna and I will judge the entries and choose the one we like the best. The winner will receive a copy of Anna’s new book. I will also read out descriptions on the podcast!
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 poems he has written over the years, giving details of what real events inspired them, what they mean and more about his process of writing haiku in English. I hope this episode is fascinating and inspiring. Keep listening because it becomes more and more revealing as it continues. John was a pleasure to talk to and I think this is the perfect conclusion to the trilogy of episodes I have done on this subject on the podcast recently.
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 reading my haiku selection, including many written by English-language haiku master John Stevenson. Listen to each one, consider the different meanings and interpretations and also learn specific words and phrases to expand your English vocabulary.
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 with all my notes and questions 👇