[976] Here’s an epic rambling episode in which I talk about learning English with BBC Radio and TV 📻 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 from me to you.
[972] I talk with multilingual actor Ivan Doan about his multicultural background, his learning of languages and his work as an actor. Ivan shares his insights and experiences of learning English, dealing with different accents in film & TV roles, and the importance of mindset and discipline in his life. There are plenty of language learning insights in this episode, which I summarise at the end. Full transcript available.
Ivan’s “levels” are a good model:
Messages implied by Ivan’s story:
A return to Luke’s Film Club with a conversation about one of the funniest and most controversial films of all time, also voted one of the UK’s favourite films. Antony and I discuss the film’s writing, production, story, famous scenes, deeper meanings and acting by the various members of the Monty Python team. Transcript available.
Sarah Donnelly comes back onto LEP to catch up and to tell us about her stand-up special, now available to watch on YouTube, and to do a British English vs American English pronunciation quiz.
Sarah’s show is called The Only American in Paris and we discuss some of the themes of the show – the real experience of being a US citizen living in Paris, the Netflix show Emily in Paris, cultural differences, learning French, plus a pronunciation quiz to help you compare UK and US English.
Sarah and Fred are trivia quiz nerds who have been doing trivia nights in Paris for years and now have a new trivia-themed podcast. In this episode we get together to discuss trivia quizzing, and to quiz each other with our own trivia questions. In this first part we get to know Sarah and Fred again, talk about their new podcast and then Sarah quizzes me with some cleverly-written questions. The quizzing continues in part 2.
Talking to Cara about films, movies, her movie club for English learners and a discussion about films and what they mean.
Hello!
In this episode you will be able to listen to a conversation with Cara Leopold all about films.
If you are a long-term listener to this podcast, then you will know Cara. She’s been on this show a few times before.
Just in case you need a reminder, Cara is an English teacher from the UK, currently living in France, and she loves films and uses them to help people learn English. In fact she is the creator of the Leo Listening Movie Club, where she helps advanced, film-loving English learners understand and discuss iconic movies together in order to master conversational English.
Cara Loves films.
I love films too, who doesn’t?
We all love films, don’t we?
And it’s very common to talk about films we’ve seen.
Are you able to do that in English?
I want you to think about what is involved in having a conversation about films in English.
When we talk about films, we do a number of things, including:
How do we do those things in English? Are you familiar with the language of cinema and the language of talking about films?
What I want to do with this episode is let you listen to a natural conversation (one that isn’t scripted in advance) about films in order to let you hear all those things being done.
So that’s what this is!
1) Just listen for enjoyment, listen to what we have to say about various different films, and just try to follow the conversation, and practice your general listening skills in the process.
2) Focus on noticing the specific vocabulary or grammar that we use to do all the things I mentioned before. Listen out for the ways we describe, summarise, give opinions and generally share our thoughts about films.
We mention lots of different films in this conversation and one thing which I’m thinking about is that those films might have different titles in your language. I hope you are able to identify the films.
You can see a list of the names of the films we mention on the page for this episode on my website. If you want to check out those movie titles, and perhaps google them to find out what they are called in your language, just go to the episode page on my website and you’ll see all the titles listed there, plus various other links to things which we mention or which you might find useful.
Right then. It’s now time to listen to my conversation with Cara.
I will talk to you again briefly at the end of this but now, let’s get started.
Thanks again to Cara.
You can check out her work.
On her website you can see details of the different courses and resources I mentioned before, which involve improving your English with films.
Also check out her YouTube channel where she has been posting videos lately. Some of the videos there include things like:
Also you will find a link to Cara’s LinkedIn page where she has been writing posts about various things.
As well as that, on the page for this episode on my website you’ll also find
Also! Links to the episodes about Groundhog Day that we mentioned.
Episode 129 (parts 1 & 2) of Daniel Goodson’s podcast “My Fluent Podcast” in which Daniel and Cara discuss Groundhog Day
And a list of all the names of the films Cara and I mentioned in this conversation, in case you wanted to google them to find out what they are called in your language.
“The Glib Brothers” reunite on the podcast to discuss more music, films, books, scary AI and UFO sightings. James is my older brother and he’s probably been on this podcast more than any other guest. Listen for another deep and humorous conversation with lots of cultural reference points.
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Celebrating episode 800 by answering a massive list of questions from listeners. This episode covers things like how to improve your speaking when you live in a non-English speaking country, the headphones and microphone I use, my current favourite episode, the afterlife and spirit world, my favourite brands of tea, my favourite video games, being a father and the recent Star Wars series Andor and plenty plenty more. Video version available.
I recorded parts 1 & 2 on Thursday 8 December. Since then England got knocked out of the World Cup by France (ouch!) and also I got ill with a horrible case of flu which put me in bed for 4 days. I’m still ill, but definitely starting to feel better. I’m going to record the rest of these episodes when I am well again, but time is running out fast before Christmas arrives. I am not sure I will have time to do a World Cup episode, but who cares now that England are out? 😂 (I’m joking – I’d love to talk about the football, but I don’t know if there will be time. We’ll see.) Anyway, enjoy the part 2 of this episode 800 mega-ramble! 🎆🎆🎆
Hello Luke,
How are you?
I kicked off listening to your podcact because of your Mom. In one of your first episodes, you were talking about the Beatles. I so much liked her wise answers to your questions, her voice, accent, and most of all her straightforward way of speaking . She’s great!
My question Mr Thomson.
What are High Hopes in your mind ? I’m now referring to Pink Floyd’s song.
Thank you very much,
Best of luck.
Lobzhanidze Aftandil.
Hi,Luke.Please add some special videos for IELTS listening multiple questions.There are different sounds and also so fast for this reason it is hard to define.
Thanks in Advance
Hi Luke ️I have a suggestion for creating a discord server in order to connect LEPsters around the world therefore they would be able to talk and have a chat with each other, what’s your take on this Luke? (anyway you can easily notify LEPsters through discord about contents too and it’s utterly free, that’s awesome isn’t it?) and thanks a lot for your awesome contents, have a blessed day
Hello Luke . Can you make a video about how to be confident on camera? Maybe you could interview some of your YouTuber friends or maybe Paul and Amber , they haven’t been on the podcast for a while have they ?
Hi Luke～How do we improve our speaking skills if we are not living abroad～I mean English language speaking country～ Do you have any practical suggestions? I feel like my listening is much better than speaking~Your podcast is awesome ~thanks~
4 ways of speaking to yourself
How are you
Lv Bri • 10 hours ago
Hi luke, why your headset look so ugly? I don’t mean to be rude, but they seems to be fixed with a plastic bag.
Lv Bri • 10 hours ago
I was joking haha. A more real question: I am curious about if the podcast is your main job or do you teach in a real school? You are a great teacher and I wish you all the best with the podcast.
Hi Luke, thank you for your brilliant podcast. is your daughter friends with Amber’s and Paul‘s children?
Hello, Luke! Which episode do you like the most and why?
Hi Luke, what do you like the most about being a podcaster?
Could you perhaps read short stories to repeat more often. I think this is the best way to practice pronunciation. That would be great.
I have a suggestion for you to make your podcast greater. You should make more episodes about vocabulary, like topic vocabulary, everyday expressions and some difficult grammatical structures, for example:
I ate anything but an apple
which means I only ate an apple.
I ate nothing but an apple
[Luke: actually this isn’t correct – listen to the episode to hear my comments]
Berdiyev Azamat from Uzbekistan
Hey teacher Luke’ How are you? My question is how many Languages do you speak? Second question Which club do you support in the premier league? Thanks an advance!!!
Hello, Luke! My question is, what is the best gift you have ever received?
Do you have any movie lists to recommend ?
Last question : I know you travelled to lots of countries . Haven’t you thought of starting a travelling blog ?
I hope you will end episode 800 with a song!
Hello, Luke. Do you believe in the concept of the After Life ?
Have you ever been interested in the spirit world ?
Hello Luke. What kind of dance you will do online on your YouTube channel if England win the Qatar championship ?
Teacher luke, good morning, greetings from a small country in the horn of Africa called SOMALIA. my question is, can you connect me to an online English Teacher or School where I can study English. Thank you so much.
what is your fav British tea brand?
What is the best random conversation you overhead?
Can you describe you as a luckiest person
What is your favorite video game?
Hi, what was your childhood dream? Do you have any dreams now?
Please read about YouTube algorithms to reach more audience.
Have you ever been to Poland ?
why do you wear a headset while recording?
Hello are you fine
Maria Osipova • 21 hours ago (edited)
Hi Luke, what is the best thing about being a father?
Hóa học Phương trình • 6 hours ago
Why i can hear u,but i can’t hear american speak ?
みき • 5 hours ago
And Can I ask what is the name of the microphone? Your voice is really clear and nice.^^@
Stas Miroshnikov • 40 minutes ago
Hi again, have you watched new TV Star Wars series Andor? If yes, did you like it and why?
• 1 day ago
Hello, Luke! I’m a new listener of your podcast, but I already like it a LOT! I love your sense of humor! Have you seen the movie Hot Fuzz? What do you think about it? Maybe you can recommend some interesting movies with great British humor? Good luck to you and thank you very much for your excellent job!
Elena Buzalskaia • 1 day ago
Hello, Luke! Could detective stories and poetry be more frequent or somehow regular in your podcast? Do you think they are like boosters for vocabulary, or they can make listeners feel a little bit passive? Do you have a special formulae for the balance between different types of lessons?
Alessandro Clavenna • 1 day ago
Hi Luke. Have you ever been to Italy.
Aurora Contreras • 1 day ago
Hi, I’m new a subscriber! Great Podcasts! I’d like you to dedicate an episode to the MBTI personality test, which is very popular nowadays.Kind Regards! 🇨🇱🇬🇧
Jerry Han • 1 day ago
Could you please make a new episode about British English? like the tips of sounding more british and the things we have to mind if we wanna master British English. Thank you so much!
Maria Osipova • 1 day ago
Hi Luke, what is your best life-changing non-fiction book?
Agnieszka Stodulska • 16 hours ago
Hi Luke, Have you ever been to Poland?
HI Luke, Have you got any pets? Dogs or cats?
Hi Luke, What is your favourite dish? Do you prefer french or english cuisne?
Hi Luke, I like the podcasts with yout brother. Do you plan to organise the meeting with him on you tube? He has a very interesting voice. I’d like to see him :)
Hi Luke, Can you imagine that I need to have contact with your podcast every day? It is like an addiction:) Have you got some patent to be so good?
Hi Luke, What is in the picture on the left in your podroom?. I see a red geometric figure but what does it mean?
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.
Last week a very special guest visited one of our comedy shows in Paris. I was given a ticket to the show, so I decided to record a podcast while riding through the streets on the way to the show, wondering if I might be able to interview this guest on LEP. Listen to find out what happened, and to hear some rambling and atmospheric sounds of Paris streets at night.
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