Category Archives: Social English

922. Words of the Year (with Amber)

Amber joins me for a discussion of some words which reflect various cultural movements of the last 12 months or more. Learn some trending words and listen to discussions of topics such as the influence of online content on mental health, the Oasis concert ticket scandal, an exploration of the ‘lore’ of LEP, romantic fantasy books, the rise of AI and more. Includes a PDF with my episode notes and vocabulary lists.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

https://youtu.be/z2VRyVsQG44?si=LyHjUX5zg_RSI3Mo

Get the PDF with notes and word lists 👇

Links

Previous episodes of “Words of the Year”

An example of NotebookLM’s AI-generated audio podcast “deep dive” 👇

Nick (from the comment section crew) used NotebookLM (a generative AI language model available from Google) to create this AI-generated podcast about episode 922 Words of the Year. He inputted the PDF for this episode into NotebookLM, and it generated this. It is 100% AI generated, including the voices of the hosts. This is what AI can do today, in February 2025.

919. Catching Up with AMBER & PAUL #14

Another fun chat with my friends Amber Minogue & Paul Taylor. This one was recorded in early January and we talk about running & fitness 🏃, falling out of bed 🛏️, my phone’s battery issues 🪫, our Christmas meals 🍗, Amber’s family bingo game 😅, Paul’s horrendous Christmas rat story & some rat facts 🐀, insights into the lives of urban pigeons and country cats 🐈, handheld microphone technique 🎤 and Paul’s lovely new jumper (or is it a sweater, or a pullover?)

No homework and no PDF this time. Just enjoy keeping up with this conversation and catching up with Amber & Paul once again.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

Watch Paul’s latest one-man-show “Bisoubye” here (and switch on the English subtitles) 👇

Listen to “Paname Podcast” by Amber Minogue 👇

https://pod.link/1241927554

914. A Midwinter Ramble ❅ Luke’s English Podcast

An end-of-year rambling episode with some seasonal good wishes 🎄, comments on recent episodes 🎧, an update about upcoming content 📲, anecdotes about seeing Paul McCartney live in concert 🎸, playing music at the British Ambassador’s residence 🇬🇧 and visiting the British Library in London 📚, lots of library jokes (explained) 😂 and a vocabulary review at the end 🙇‍♂️. PDF available.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

Get the PDF with vocabulary quiz 👇

912. Bits & Bobs 3: Questions of English (Part 3) More Listener Comments

Part three of a series featuring collected bits & bobs for the podcast, with mini-lessons on vocabulary and grammar. Topics include listener comments on listening twice, a joke about double negatives & sarcasm, staying safe while listening to LEP in the car, the phrase “don’t be shy, give it a try,” fun facts about Paraguay, and a Quentin Tarantino eggcorn. Learn English with LEP!

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

https://youtu.be/PtiRE5HTF6s?si=Y1kKwM_-Q4IX5K0j

Get the PDF 👇 Includes detailed vocabulary list

900. Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results (with Amber & Paul)

It’s a catchy title! Episode 900 is here, and what better way to celebrate than by inviting my pals Amber & Paul back onto the podcast? Amber & Paul have been regular guests on this podcast for 10 years. We usually have light-hearted and tangential conversations and these episodes are often very popular with long-term listeners. This time we talk about Episode 900 celebrations 🎉 the title of this episode 🔁 Paris Olympics 2024 🏟️ encounters with dead animals in Paris 😢 Paul’s Olympic marathon run 🏃 the dangers of sneezing 🤧 and more…

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YouTube video version👇

Paul’s Olympic marathon medal 👇

897. Dysfluent (Learn English with an Interactive Story)

“Dysfluent” is a piece of interactive fiction, all about communication. The story shows what it is like to live with dysfluency – a condition which makes it difficult to produce smooth, fluent speech. How does a speech impediment create challenges in someone’s life? Listen to the story, follow my choices and learn new vocabulary along the way.

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👉 Play Dysfluent online here

896. A Rambling Chat with Martin Aaron

Martin Aaron is an old friend of mine from the days when I taught English in London. In this episode we chat about being an English teacher, travelling to different countries, the status of English in other places, how native English speakers (don’t) learn languages, stories of learning French in school, and Martin’s memories of boarding school.

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Listen to Marton’s podcast 👉 https://pod.link/1742336735

892. You’re not a LEPster, by any chance, are you? (July 2024 Ramble)

Join me on another rambling episode as I encourage ninjas to come out of the shadows 🥷, touch on some present perfect continuous verb forms 🔁, give some podcast updates, give a report about the stand-up comedy show 😂 & live podcast recording 🎤, teach some polite and diplomatic language with a dramatic bank robbery scenario 🔫, give a summary of the UK’s general election results 🗳️ & more…

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Episode PDF 👇 with transcript and notes

Listen to The Footglish Podcast – Learn English with Football ⚽️👇 (s01e28)

Pod links for The Footglish Podcast 👉 https://pod.link/1751816033

On YouTube 👇

891. The Bilingual Journalist (with Charles Pellegrin)

Talking to bilingual journalist Charles Pellegrin (France 24) about how the conventions of broadcast journalism influence the way the English is used in news reports, how Charles started as a journalist, the challenge of making TV news reports, our time at university, the Olympics in Paris, and Charles’ experiences of living and working in China.

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My guest today is Charles Pellegrin, a bilingual (English & French) journalist working for the TV channel France 24. Charles currently works as the presenter of a morning business program, but used to be based in China, where he lived in Beijing for 3 years. Charles also does stand-up comedy in English, which is how I know him, and we are doing a 2-man show together this Friday, 19 July 2024 (details below).

In this conversation we talk about why reporters speak in a certain way when they read the news, how the conventions of broadcast journalism influence the way the English is used, how Charles started as a journalist, the challenge of making TV news reports, our experiences at university, the Olympics in Paris and whether it will be beneficial for France, and Charles’ experiences of living and working in China.


Links

Luke & Charles’ stand-up comedy show in Paris on 19 July

Charles on Instagram & X
https://www.instagram.com/chpilgrim/
https://www.x.com/chpilgrim/ https://www.instagram.com/charles_pellegrinf24/

886. Networking in English (with Rob from The Business English Podcast)

Talking with Rob from The Business English Podcast about networking in English. 🗣️ Networking is when you speak to other people, probably in a professional context, in order to build relationships, expand your social circle and make work contacts that can lead to business opportunities in the future. This is all about socialising, speaking spontaneously, active listening and being aware of cultural factors which can affect everything. Listen to the episode to hear plenty of comments, anecdotes, advice and language tips relating to networking in English in a professional context.

[DOWNLOAD AUDIO]

https://youtu.be/3P6kZ5wWYPk?si=02vP0PQ6oQbcVm5y

Listen to Part 2 👇

👉 The Business English Podcast – Networking part 2 – links here

👉 Rob’s website https://www.thebusinessenglishpodcast.com


👉 Luke’s stand-up comedy show

Luke & Charles “Same Difference” 19 July 2024, Au Soleil de la Butte, 32 rue Muller at 8PM. More details here https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/comedy

👉 My other YouTube channel where I play bass, guitar & ukulele

https://www.youtube.com/@lukulele30