Rambling on my own about getting stuck in a time-loop 🔁, protests and strikes in Paris 🔥, the arrival of child 2 👶, and more.
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815. A River Avon Year: The Wildlife & History of Shakespeare’s Avon, by Rick Thompson (Dad’s New Book!)
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.
A River Avon Year: The Wildlife and History of Shakespeare’s Avon by Rick Thompson is available now! 👇
📖 Amazon
📖 Book Depository
📖 Goodreads
814. The Language of Children & Parenting (with Anna Tyrie / English Like a Native)
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, and some special news from the Thompson family…!
👉 Anna interviews Luke on her podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2038858/12353084
Introduction Transcript
Hello, welcome back to LEP.
Here is another episode with more English listening practice for you to get stuck into, and I have another guest on the show today.
This time it is Anna Tyrie from English Like a Native, the channel on YouTube. You might also know her from Instagram and TikTok.
Anna has recently set up a podcast too, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts. It’s called the English Like a Native Podcast.
In fact, on the same day we recorded the conversation for this episode of my show, Anna also interviewed me for her podcast and we had a good long conversation about all sorts of things. It was very nice to be interviewed by her. You should be able to find that episode on her show now. So if you enjoy this one, go ahead and listen to the one on Anna’s podcast too. You will find a link in the description 👆.
In this conversation: Get to know Anna a bit and talk a bit about her podcast and youtube channel and what the name really means.
The main subject – talking about children. We decided that we could talk about a particular topic for this episode and that topic ended up being children. I’ve had requests from listeners in the past for more on the subject of children and the English language, including the way we talk to children, the way we talk about children and the specific words for lots of things related to children.
We talk about our own kids, and specifically about how we communicate with them, typical things we say to them (in English of course), how we should be careful about the things we say to our kids, the ways adults adapt their English when talking to little children, including examples of so-called “baby talk” or “parentese” and then there is a sort of quiz at the end with questions about specific English words for lots of the different objects, toys and bits of useful equipment that we use with babies and little kids.
As you know I have a daughter and she is 5 so a lot of that baby stuff almost seems like a distant memory now, but, well, it’s high time I remembered all of that vocab again now because – drum roll… yes, my wife is pregnant again and we going to have another baby!
Yes we are delighted.
Thank you – because at this moment of course you are now saying…
“Wow, that’s fantastic! Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!” and then all the typical questions will come to mind, including:
- Can I ask when the baby is due?
- Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl? Would you like to know?
- Are you ready?
- Do you have any ideas for names?
- How’s your wife doing, is she ok?
- How does your little daughter feel about it? Is she excited?
Etc.
I’m sure I’ll talk about it again in another podcast, but I thought I would let you know now.
Of course the child hasn’t even been born yet, so there’s a long way to go.
But all being well, in July there will be a new Thompson arriving 😊
I don’t know how that will affect the podcast.
Of course it’s probably going to disrupt things to some extent as I will be busy at home, with my wife, looking after the baby, helping my wife with anything if she needs it, taking care of our daughter, trying to keep things ship shape and under control and generally just being at home focusing on the family.
So I won’t be able to do much podcasting around the time of the birth and in the weeks after. Who knows, maybe I’ll disappear completely for July and August, or maybe I’ll find a way to keep podcasting.
Maybe, if I’m organised and industrious enough, by the time the baby arrives I will have recorded lots of episodes beforehand, which I will be able to publish over the summer, or maybe I’ll dig into my archives for some unpublished or lesser-known material, which a lot of people haven’t heard – like app-only episodes from the LEP App (which is now defunct by the way).
In any case, there might be some kind of disruption to the show. Thank you for your understanding and your patience and your lovely messages of congratulations and support, which you are welcome to write to me.
Obviously, I’ve just said thank you for a thing you haven’t even done yet, which is kind of against the rules, but anyway. There it is. We’re very happy. We’re hoping everything goes well. I’ll probably talk about it a bit more in another episode later on.
So, now let’s get back down to earth here because this is a conversation with Anna from English Like a Native, getting to know Anna a bit and then talking about the English which we use with kids, about kids and for all the bits and pieces involved in looking after kids.
By the way, this conversation was recorded in January, which is why I say “It’s January” at the start. I probably didn’t need to say this, did I? You probably have the deductive skills to work out that when I say to Anna “it’s January” it’s because we recorded that in January. But just in case you were worried that I don’t know what month it is, don’t worry, I do know what month it is, what year it is and generally where I am and what’s going on. OK, fine.
I will speak to you a bit again at the end, but now let’s get started with the interview right now.
Ending Transcript / Notes
Thanks again to Anna.
You can find a vocabulary list and notes on the page for this episode on my website if you want to check specific words.
A reminder – after recording this, Anna interviewed me on her podcast and as I said earlier we had a good long conversation about lots of things, with little stories and jokes and stuff. A long conversation. I think it was even longer than the one you just listened to. I’m wondering how Anna is going to deal with that, but you can find out for yourself by listening to that episode on Anna’s podcast- English Like a Native, which is available wherever you get your podcasts.
Thanks for listening everyone.
Have a lovely day, morning, evening or night etc. Goodbye!
Vocabulary Lists
Baby-talk in English
Examples of baby talk in English
- Cutie-pie
- Sweetie-pie
- Munchkin
- Cheeky-monkey
- Wee / Wee-wee / pee / pee-pee
- Poo / poo-poo
- Potty
- Dog / doggy
- Cat / kitty
- Jim-jams
- Beddy-byes
- Nighty-night
- Sleepy-time
- Nap-time (do-do)
- Blankie
- Din-dins
- Ickle (little)
- Icky – disgusting
- Bedtime stories / Story time
- Tummy / Belly
- Oopsy-daisy
- Mama
- Mummy / Daddy
- Uncle Jamie
- Grannie / Grandad
- Yuk / yukky
Common words and phrases relating to babies/children/childcare
This list includes words and phrases which came up in the quiz.
- Activity arch / baby arch / arch toy
- Baby bouncer (like a small deck chair)
- Baby carrier / sling
- Baby jumper
- Baby fence / play-pen / baby-gate
- Baby monitor
- Baby-grow (a one-piece outfit that babies wear)
- Bib (to catch or protect against food that falls while they eat)
- Blanket (a lot of children have a special blanket that they use as a comforter)
- Bottle (for milk)
- Breast pump (a device which allows the mother to pump her milk into a bottle)
- Changing mat (where you change the baby’s nappy)
- Cot (where the baby sleeps – a bed with high sides so the baby doesn’t crawl out of bed)
- Drool bib (to absorb drool which comes out of the baby’s mouth when teething)
- Dummy / pacifier (what the baby sucks while sleeping)
- Flannel (an absorbant cloth)
- High-chair (what the baby sits in while eating)
- Mobile (the thing that hangs above the bed and gives the baby something to look at)
- Nappy (US English: diaper)
- Powdered milk
- Pram / pushchair (UK) buggy / stroller (US)
- Pyjamas
- Rattle (a toy that the baby can shake to make a rattling noise)
- Talcum powder / talc (powder which can be put on the baby’s bum to keep it dry)
- Teddy bear / stuffed toy
- Teether / Teething toy(for teething babies) (something the baby can chew while the teeth come through)
- Thermometer (to check the baby’s temperature)
- Wipes (to wipe up the… mess)
796. Language & Local British Identity with MARK STEEL
Special Guest Mark Steel joins me to discuss cultural and linguistic differences between the UK and France, plus accents in the UK and a little tour of some places in the UK that you don’t know about. Also includes a discussion of swearing and rude language in Britain. What is the R word which you should never say in a specific part of the UK? Listen on to find out. Video version available.
Video Version (shorter, with automatic subtitles)
791. ADJECTIVE + PREPOSITION with Amber & Paul (A+P with A&P on LEP)
Amber and Paul join me in my pod room again for a rambling discussion about everything! Includes a language point about adjective + preposition collocations. Notice the phrases and try to find examples of them in context. Video version available.
Video Version (Automatic subtitles available)
Check out the premium series which accompanies this episode (P39 parts 1-3) 👇
Sign up to LEP Premium to get the 3-part series of episodes (audio, video, PDFs) about the language point in this episode.
- P39 Part 1 – All about the grammar of prepositions and how they fit into sentences, including plenty of vocabulary and a quick pronunciation exercise at the end
- P39 Part 2 – Let’s go through my list of adjective + preposition phrases from the conversation with Amber & Paul. I’ll test your memory and help you notice the target language, while clarifying some of the adjectives. Also includes discussion questions for free practise.
- P39 Part 3 – Pronunciation, pronunciation, pronunciation, pronunciation, pronunciation. The 5 Ps. There’s a focus on weak forms of prepositions, -ed endings of adjectives and 40 sentences to repeat after me.
Sign up for LEP Premium here and then add LEP Premium episodes to an app on your phone.
Some vocabulary in the episode
Here are a few words and phrases that you will hear us saying at the start of the episode.
- Let’s do a wager. How long do you think it’s going to be?
- I think he’s probably written a short introduction. The problem is he gets waylaid.
- To go down a rabbit hole.
- There is room for random rambling and tangents. I have factored that into the exercise. That’s all been factored in.
- If I’d been left to my own devices I think I would have cracked that in about 2 minutes, but because I kept getting interrupted by you two, it took longer!
- Zero rigour. I’m not rigorous enough.
763. Rambling in the new Pod-Room / Choose The Adverb / Deal or No Deal
This is a chance for me to just let loose and have a ramble while inviting you to this kind of housewarming party (or perhaps just the first part of the party) in my new pod-room. In this one I am going to welcome you into the new room and do a ramble challenge in which I am restricted to only talking about things inside the room, plus reading from some random books on my shelves. Grammar rules, adverbial collocations and a game show story.
[DOWNLOAD]
Episode Notes
Private Lessons with British Council English Score Tutors https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/english Episode page
LEP Premium https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premiuminfo
LEP T-Shirts & Merch https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/merch
Rules of the Ramble
- Welcome everyone to the pod-room.
- Give a tour.
- I’m restricted to only talking about things inside the room.
- Maybe describe some of the items on the walls and pictures.
- Include some descriptive language.
- Pick up a book and do a random exercise from it.
- Keep talking without pausing or saying “errr”.
Contents
- 00:00:00 Hello
- 00:00:52 Promo
- 00:02:30 Introduction
- 00:03:44 Ramble Rules
- 00:05:26 Welcome to the new pod-room
- 00:05:42 The Electricity & Internet Situation
- 00:10:37 Sound Recording Setup
- 00:17:01 Let me show you around the room
- 00:22:32 The desk
- 00:24:30 A Book from the `Bookshelf
- 00:25:17 English Grammar in Use by Ramond Murphy
- 00:25:38 Present Perfect Simple vs Continuous
- 00:27:04 Build Your Vocabulary 3
- 00:27:31 Choose The Adverb
- 00:47:23 Lighting
- 00:49:25 Random Book: Jon Ronson – Lost At Sea
- 00:51:01 Deal or No Deal story
- 01:00:48 Ending