Category Archives: Social English

WORLD CUP RAMBLE #4 ⚽️ FIFA 2026 England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 vs Argentina 🇦🇷 and more… (with Zdenek) [BONUS]

Leave a Reply

Recorded the day after Argentina beat England in the semi-final 😭 here is World Cup Ramble #4. Zdenek joins me again as we discuss as many talking points as possible, including what on earth happened yesterday, the intense rivalry between Argentina & England, the historical background to that rivalry, Spain eliminating France, predictions for the final and so many other things, including a passionate conversation about cultural differences and communication style, plus the real heroes and villains of this epic World Cup competition. Normal podcasting will continue next week.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

Want more? Listen to Luke & Zdenek on The Footglish Podcast, recorded earlier the same day.

Subscribe to The Footglish Podcast wherever you get your podcasts ⚽️ 👉 https://pod.link/1751816033

Funny Childhood Memories & Stories (with Martin) [997]

Leave a Reply

Martin returns with a set of questions about childhood, sparking a funny conversation full of stories from school, family holidays, getting into trouble, and formative years of Luke growing up both in urban West London and rural West Midlands. Expect a premium episode dealing with vocabulary in this conversation.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

https://youtu.be/5mVHR3qW-yo?si=xCWOUf9Vp-KXYjjA

Get the PDF transcript here 👇

Funny Childhood Memories & Stories (with Martin) Episode TranscriptDownload


WORLD CUP RAMBLE 3 – FIFA 2026 with Fred [BONUS]

Leave a Reply

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 Eyangoh. Leave your comments below and join the discussion!

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

Debating Skills in English (with Ray Addam) [996]

Leave a Reply

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.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

Get the PDF transcript 👇

Debating Skills in English (with Ray Addam) [996]Download

Links for Ray

Ray’s Preply profile, where students can book one-to-one English tuition with him 👇

Ray’s school website, where students can access his courses and join live group sessions to practise English together, as well as develop soft skills such as debating and public speaking 👇


How to talk about HEATWAVES like a (sweaty) British man [995]

Leave a Reply

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 documentary about Luke trying to buy lunch on a red-hot Paris boulevard, and plenty more. PDF notes available.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

https://youtu.be/cJniaswOsRs

Get the episode PDF with notes and full transcript 👇

How to talk about HEATWAVES like a (sweaty) British man [995] PDF & TranscriptDownload


Music, Marketing & Memories with Jez Booker [993]

Leave a Reply

In this episode I reconnect with an old friend after 25+ years of not seeing each other. Expect a chat full of natural English expressions and slang, plus some marketing vocabulary, as Jez and I reminisce and jog each other’s memories of things we did together years ago, and talk about Jez’s career and recent projects.  Check out the premium episode accompanying this conversation: P82 Vocabulary Quiz for LEP992.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

Check out Jez’s channel “Get Out” 👇

https://www.youtube.com/@getoutfilms

Get the PDF transcript 👇

Music, Marketing & Memories with Jez Booker [993] Episode TranscriptDownload

Check out the vocabulary preview/review for this episode in P82 Vocabualry Quiz for LEP993 with Jez Booker – available now with LEP Premium.


Vietnam Travelling Diary [992]

Leave a Reply

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.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

https://youtu.be/JlWff3Opb9M

Get the episode PDF with full transcript 👇

Vietnam Travelling Diary [992] TranscriptDownload


10 Questions about Food with Martin [985]

Leave a Reply

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.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

https://youtu.be/uEZkemBkRPU?si=d2CTn2X56_zD0JL8

Get the PDF transcript 👇

10 Questions about Food with Martin [985] TRANSCRIPTDownload

Join LEP Premium and listen to the vocabulary quiz episode with my wife, and learn 30+ vocabulary items from this episode. Start here 👇 it’s episode P79.


Martin’s previous appearance on LEP 👇

896. A Rambling Chat with Martin Aaron

English Language Haiku Master John Stevenson (Interview) [983]

Leave a Reply

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.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

Get the PDF transcript 👇

English Language Haiku Master John Stevenson (Interview) [983] Episode TranscriptDownload

Links for John’s work 👇


Room 101 with Charlie Baxter [980] Funny British English Listening Practice

Leave a Reply

[980] 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 forever. What would Charlie like to remove from the world to be kept inside this room? And what is the shocking revelation about a certain popular British English YouTuber 👩‍🏫that could break the internet? 🤔

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

https://youtu.be/dCJ5rFjhc9A

Get the PDF transcript 👇

Room 101 with Charlie Baxter [980] Episode TranscriptDownload

Luke’s Room 101 choices on The British English Podcast this week 👇

Listen to The British English Podcast wherever you get your podcasts 👉 https://pod.link/1533216336

🙇 Sign up to LEP Premium to listen to an episode with a vocabulary quiz and full review of 30+ vocabulary items from today’s episode. (Episode P77) 👇