Hello Dear Listeners,

As you probably already know, this time last year I won the Macmillan Dictionary Love English Award for Best Blog 2011! I talked about it all the time after I won. That’s because I was really happy to have won it. I work very hard on Luke’s English Podcast and so I am really pleased to find out that so many people around the world listen to it, improve their English with it and also enjoy some entertainment. It felt like my hard work had paid off, and that I had managed to make a success of Luke’s English Podcast.

Well, it’s that time of year again, and I’ve been nominated for their award for Best Blog 2012. Naturally, I want to win it again! I feel I now have to compete with myself. Can I achieve what I achieved last year? I certainly hope so. Doing that would give me the confidence and the reassurance that I am definitely helping people with their English and giving them an entertaining and informative service. It would really help to push me into 2013 and hopefully expand the audience of the podcast even further.

So I need your help.

If you like the podcast, and you want me to win the competition. Please show your support by voting for me! You can do it here. Click this link: THIS LINK! Then scroll down until you find Luke’s English Blog and then click Vote. Thank you, you have just helped! Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the podcast wins again. I might need you to encourage your friends to vote too. It could make all the difference. Currently I am in 2nd place, so I will need quite a lot of votes too.

Also, the Macmillan website is a very good place to learn English and there are links to plenty of other useful pages and blogs there. Are any of them quite as good as Luke’s English Podcast? Only you can decide that! But, I must say that not many of them provide the full 100% experience you get from Luke’s English Podcast, do they? Do they really?! With my podcast you can not only read English, but listen to a real native English speaker teaching directly to you in your earphones. It’s like being there with the teacher as he teaches you. In fact, it’s like being in the UK itself, perhaps in a pub with some English speaking friends. It’s the best way to learn the language, isn’t it? Directly from English speakers talking to you.

I really hope you agree, and that you vote!

Thanks a lot and have a great morning/lunch/afternoon/evening/night.

Luke

The competition is now closed. Voting ends on 16 May 2012.

Thank you very much for your entries. I am now processing them and I will upload them in a podcast (or two) in the very near future, and you will be able to listen to all the comments people have sent me. Then you can vote on which one is your favourite.

Other news, I am back from my skiing holiday and I had a great time. I did fall over a lot, but I didn’t injure my mouth so I can still speak!

Expect more podcast episodes to be uploaded soon.

Luke

Hi everyone,

I have been nominated for an award for “Best Blog” in the Macmillan “I Love English Awards”.

I really want to win this competition. It would be really good for Luke’s English Podcast and I think that I deserve it after putting in a lot of effort over the past 3 years.

The prize for winning is a Macmillan dictionary and the respect of winning a Macmillan award. If I win I will give the dictionary to one of my listeners (I’ll create my own competition).

So, I NEED YOUR VOTES! Please click the link below and vote for Luke’s English Podcast. It’s really easy and there’s no registration needed. PLEASE VOTE!!! I need 1000 votes to win, so please ask your friends and family to vote too. It’s only 1 vote per IP address. We must win this award for Luke’s English Podcast!

Here’s the link: CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Thanks for your vote ;)

Luke

This is the transcript to my YouTube video called “UK Royal Family Opinions – English Interviews in London”. You will find a full transcript and vocabulary definitions below.

Watch the video here:

Transcript here:

UK Royal Family opinions – English Interviews in London

TRANSCRIPT – What do people think of the UK Royal Family (Part 1)

Some words and expressions are defined at the bottom of this page.

Man wearing a tie and sunglasses
[This man is originally from Wales but now spends his time in London, Wales and Vancouver Canada. He speaks with an RP accent, without strong regional pronunciation. He comes across as quite posh, well spoken and well educated]
Luke: Right, I’m asking people about the Royal Family today
Man: Yes
Luke: So what do you think? Good thing? Bad thing? Bad thing? Good thing?
Man: Are you talking about the family or the institution of the monarchy?
Luke: Well, let’s start with the institution of the monarchy
Man: Fabulous
Luke: Yes
Man: Can’t imagine why anyone would want to elect some super-annuated politician, as head of state
Luke: Ok, alright, so what about the family then, as people
Man: Well, families are families, we all have problems
Luke: Yes, yes, ok. Umm, alright, do you have a favourite or a least favourite member of the Royal Family?
Man: Well the Queen herself, obviously.
Luke: Obviously?
Man: Obviously
Luke: Why exactly?
Man: Because I’ve been… As long as I’ve been alive, pretty well, not quite… I was born in her grandfather’s reign but only just. So I survived her father’s reign, and he survived… me, and the war, we survived together. But the Queen has been around while I’ve been an adult.
Luke: What do you think of Charles? Do you think he’ll be a … do you think he’ll become King?
Man: Of course he’ll become King, there isn’t any other way! You start thinking about that then what are you doing? You’re electing a president. Thank you very much, no.

Couple in Green Park
[The young man is from London but has been travelling in India for a few years. The girl is from Sheffield in the north of England and recently moved down to London. They both speak without strong regional accents, so they speak with standard RP accents]
Luke: I’m asking people about the Royal Family. So what do you think? Are they a bad thing or a good thing? Good thing or a bad thing? What do you think?
Girl: Good thing.
Luke: Yeah? Yeah? What makes you say that?
Girl: It’s nice to have a figurehead. They don’t really have much power but they do a lot of good for charity. That’s nice.
Luke: Yeah, yeah, ok. What do you think?
Young man: Yeah, it’s nice to have, like, erm… Like there’s the stereotypical. like, English image is always really good, and you know, like, drinking cups of tea and bowler hats and like, I think the Royal Family is definitely part of that. I think that’s really really nice to have. It’s a bit of a drain on our economy, but in the general scheme of things we probably spend a lot of money on other things as well.
Luke: That image of people, sort of, erm, drinking cups of tea and being very posh and everything, is that really what we’re like?
Young man: No, not at all but it’s great to have the stereotype there.
Luke: Really?
Young man: I think it’s a really nice thing to have. Well, like, I think as Britain becomes a multi-cultural nation like I think we have been for so long now, like, the true British identity is definitely lost. But I think, you know, just to still have part of it there is still really good.
Luke: Yeah, ok. Do you have a favourite or least favourite member of the Royal Family?
Young man: I don’t know. I actually really like Prince Harry. I think he’s a really nice guy. I’ve seen a few interviews with him recently and he comes across like a really, you know, pleasant chap.
Luke: Yeah, yeah yeah.
Young man: But, err, least favourite.
Girl: Don’t have a least… I dunno
Young man: I don’t know them well enough, to be honest.
Luke: What do you think of Kate?
Young man: I have no opinions of her. I think she’s, you know, married rich, like, well done.

Man in reddish-pinkish-purple T-shirt
[This guy comes from Leeds so he has a slight Leeds accent (Yorkshire). Leeds is in the north of England, so he pronounces the /a:/ sound differently – listen to my podcast about British Accents for more information on that ;) ]
Luke: so what do you think of the Royal Family?
Man: Err, they’re all right, you know, they’re they’re sort of, just a figurehead err body, aren’t they, really. I don’t think they do much apart from cost us lots of money, and bring in tourists. So that’s good I suppose. The fact that tourists come here just to see, just over there, the Buckingham Palace, the Royal Family, yeah.
Luke: Would you keep them? Or would you get rid of them?
Man: Errrrm, I think yeah, I think we should keep them but I think that, I don’t know, I’m just amazed and confused as to why the media seems to love them so much, I mean, yeah.
Luke: Who’s your favourite Royal?
Man: Err, (laughs)
Luke: or least favourite
Man: Least favourite? My least favourite Royal. I don’t really like Prince Charles. Yeah. I dunno why, I just, I dunno, I wouldn’t like to think of him as being King. I think they should just skip. I think he should just do the honest thing and not, not, not accept the throne, when, when his time comes. Yeah.
Luke: Thank you. Thanks very much.
Man: That’s alright. That’s alright, ok.

Woman and man from Canada
[This couple come from Quebec in Canada. Their first language is French, so they (she) have French/Canadian accents.]
Luke: So what do you think of the Royal Family?
Woman: The what family?
Man: The Royal Family
Luke: The Royal Family. The people who live in that house behind us.
Woman: You have an accent. (Laughter) I think that they are very useful for newspaper(s)
Luke: Oh yes
Woman: They are making money for, they are making… making newspaper(s) making money
Luke: Yeah, they’re making money for newspapers
Woman: No no, they’re not… well they are helping newspaper(s) to make more money
Luke: I see
Woman: Don’t you think?
Luke: Well, yes, certainly, yeah, yeah. Okay , err. (Laughter) You’re being controversial, which is great. That’s a very good…. What, err, there’s a bit of history, isn’t there, sort of, in Canada and err, with the Royal Family, what’s the situation in Quebec. How do people in Quebec feel about, err, The Queen, ’cause you have in Canada the Queen on your bank notes, don’t you.
Woman: Yeah, well we don’t mind so much about the face of the Queen on the bank notes, but, you know, we don’t like, well, ‘we we’ it’s not us but in general people don’t like The Queen but this summer we had a visit of William and Kate and they were very very very very appreciate(d).
Luke: They… really?
Woman: Kate.
Luke: Yes
Woman: Kate was appreciate(d)
Luke: Not William?
Woman: Yes, yes, but you know he was just there as the boyfriend of Kate.
Luke: So, she’s a celebrity, she’s not, sort of, err…
Woman: Yeah because she’s elegant and she’s… you know? It was her, her, how do you say in English – wardrobe? Wardrobe?
Luke: Yeah, her wardrobe, yeah. Her outfits and her clothes.
Woman: Yes, it was very important. That was the subject of discussion.
Luke: Yes, so you like Kate basically, don’t you? In Canada I mean, in Quebec at least.
Woman: No, in Canada they love everybody, but in Quebec Kate was appreciate(d) because she was natural.
Luke: Right, yeah yeah. She’s sort of, erm, yeah, she’s a normal person.
Woman: Yeah, a human being.
Luke: (Laughs) Are you saying that the Royals aren’t human beings? What are they, like, robots or aliens or…?
Woman: We don’t know, we don’t know, perhaps. What do you think?
Luke: Erm, I don’t know, I think they’re, I think they’re human beings but err, I don’t know, it’s, they’re different kind of people, you know.
Woman: But obviously people like because you know, you have, you see all those people next to the, to to to, to the fence
Luke: to the gates
Woman: to the gates, and they are like, “ooh!” You know, so here we feel some attachment
Luke: Yeah, yeah, yeah
Man: that we don’t have
Luke: Well, erm, I mean a lot of these people you’re seeing are tourists, you know, and they come because it’s, erm, you know, there’s lots of impressive buildings and things, and a lot of money and stuff like that, erm. Well, you see The Queen and the state are kind of the same thing so if you’re… I guess a lot of people are proud of being, you know, from their own country and so they use The Queen as a representation of their pride in their country. Erm, whether that’s a good or a bad thing, I don’t know, that’s err, another question, but err, yeah

Teenage girl
[This girl is from South London and has a typical young Londoner’s accent. Her Dad was also behind the camera]
Luke: I’m asking people what they think of the Royal Family, so what do you think? Do you think they’re a good thing or a bad thing?
Girl: Good for tradition. Not much help. I dunno, they don’t do much. I don’t think.
Luke: Really? Yeah?
Girl: I don’t know
Luke: Do you feel like you have a strong opinion about The Royal Family?
Girl: Not at all
Luke: What do you think of William and Kate?
Girl: They’re a couple. They’re just… they’re just royal, married people.
Luke: Yeah, yeah yeah
The Girl’s Dad: Do you think they’re a nice couple or not?
Girl: I don’t think it matters. It doesn’t matter to me, personally.
Luke: Do you feel like you’ve got any connection to The Royal Family at all?
Girl: No
Luke: If you had a choice, would you get rid of them or would you keep them?
Girl: Keep them
Dad: Why?
Girl: Because it’s a British thing, I guess.
Luke: Would you rather we had, like, a president that was elected or would you rather we had a queen who wasn’t elected?
Girl: A president
Luke: Yeah? Like in America
Girl: Yeah. It’s more, err, …
Luke: Democratic
Girl: That’s the word!
Luke: Do you want to say anything to the people of the world?
Girl: Hi, people of the world. Bye, people of the world.

Definitions of some words and expressions:
an RP accent = a standard British English accent without any regional differences in pronunciation, a ‘BBC accent’
he comes across as a pleasant chap = seems to be a nice person, gives the impression of being a nice person
a monarch = a king or queen
the institution of the monarchy = the political structure and administrative organisation of the Royal Family
super-annuated = old, out of date, obsolete
head of state = the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state
reign = period of time in which a king or queen serves as monarch
a figurehead = a person who represents a country but has no real power, just a representative function
charity = the practice of giving or caring without expecting anything in return. Charity work is often done by organisations called ‘charities’ such as UNICEF or The British Red Cross
bowler hats = traditional round hats worn by British business men in the past
a drain on our economy = something which takes money away from the economy, something which we spend money on
in the general scheme of things = in the general overall picture/situation
stereotype = a common vision or image of a person or group which is not completely realistic or true
pleasant = nice
chap = man (informal, a bit posh or old fashioned)
body = an organisation or institution
get rid of them = remove them, throw them away
accept the throne = agree to become king
wardrobe = clothes, outfits
democratic = a form of government in which all people have a right to have influence over the way a country is run by voting in elections

Right-click here to download the audio for this episode.

Full transcript and definitions available below. 

More interviews with native speakers in the centre of London. I asked Londoners to tell me about the best and worst things about London. Here is a transcript to this episode:

Guy on Oxford Street (This guy has a normal London accent)
Luke: What’s the best thing about London?
Man: The best thing about London is there’s a lot to do and a lot of places to go. It’s one of the biggest cities there are in the world so you’ll find a lot of culture and diversity.
Luke: OK. Worst thing?
Man: Everything’s expensive and you can not get a job to save your life, and when you do they pay[s] you nothing.
Luke: Alright, great, thank you very much.
Man: Is that it?
Luke: Yeah, that’s all. Thanks a lot.

Girls in Carnaby Street (These girls are from Australia so they have Australian accents)
Luke: So, where are you from?
Girls: Australia
Luke: Whereabouts in Australia?
Girl 2: It’s a little town called , so
Girl 1: In South Australia, down at the bottom, where the Great Australian Bight is
Luke: Don’t you have beautiful weather and beaches and stuff down there?
Girl 2: We do yeah, umm, Adelaide has really nice beaches. It gets really cold in winter, but yes, during summer it’s really really nice
Girl 1: It’s hot and dry, but it’s good, it’s fun.
Luke: Ok, how long have you been in London?
Girl 2: Umm, five weeks now so not too long at all
Luke: Right. What are you doing here?
Girl 2: We’re just travelling around, just exploring. I guess we always want to be, like, somewhere that we’re not, so we thought we’d just come and check out London, check out the sights, make a working holiday out of it. So, yeah, that’s pretty much it.
Luke: So, in your opinions then, what’s the, what’s actually the best thing about this city?
Girl 1: the best thing, hmm
Luke: Yeah
Girl 2: Nightlife is, nightlife is pretty good, and it’s just lots more opportunity I think for work. We, like, da[nce], like we’re performers so we dance, we sing, we act, so there’s a lot more auditions happening, lots more agencies
Girl 1: More than in Australia
Girl2: So, a lot more happening I guess you could say
Luke: It’s a bit entertainment industry isn’t it, here.
Girls: Yes, it’s huge here.
Luke: What about bad things? What’s the worst thing about London?
Girl 2: We were just discussing that! Far too many people!
Girl: And also, it’s kind of like a very l- rushed lifestyle, like, we’re used to just very chilled out slow pace and everyone’s just rushing off to go somewhere else, and it’s just constant… s’like, yeah
Luke: You have to learn to, sort of, walk twice as fast as normal in London
Girl 1: It kind of gets you a bit stressed out as well, ’cause you’re like “why is everyone, like, overtaking me? Oh my god!” You just try to keep up
Luke: You’ve got to go at, like, twice the normal speed.
Girl 2: Oh, exactly, it’s really like go go go, so, it’s been a bit of an adjustment, ummm
Girl 1: We’re slowly getting used to it
Luke: Alright, great, thank you very much
Girls: Thank you!
Luke: Cheers, bye bye

3 Lads in Carnaby Street
Luke: How’s it going?
Lad 3: Good, how are you?
Luke: Fine thank you. So, do you all live in London?
Lads: yeah
Luke: and did you all grow up here?
Lads: Yeah
Luke: oh hold on, I just need to move back a bit. So, what’s it really like than? Because, I mean, this video is for people who don’t speak English as a first language. They might come to London for a few weeks. But what’s London really like?
Lad 3: it’s a beautiful city on the outside. It’s aesthetics, it’s lovely. The buildings are amazing but it’s more sinister than I’ve found, compared to other cities. People don’t seem to be as friendly, it’s a busy place
Lad 1: No-one talks
Lad 3: People don’t care for each other
Lad 1: it’s a really shit community, running through the whole of London. No one knows each other.
Luke: So, it feels a bit unfriendly
Lad 3: The amount of people you meet on the tube, you should have something, like, everyone should speak to each other, so m-m-more people you would know, rather than not everyone sitting there ignoring each other and suspecting something if they speak to you
Luke: Right, so if someone speaks to you on the tube you just think “who’s this weirdo?”
Lads: yeah
Luke: Ok, alright, umm, I was going to ask you what the worst thing is, but I think you’ve just explained that. What about the best thing, unless you’ve already said that?
Lad 2: The sights
Lad 3: The culture. It’s the history and the culture. You’ve got, you get a proper feel for… it feels different to a lot of other places because the British history and stuff that’s ???
Luke: Ok. Thank you very much guys. Have a nice day
Lad 1: see you later
Lad 3: laters

Man in Chiswick:
Luke: So, err, what’s the best thing about London?
Man: err, best thing is, err, the nightlife, is pretty cool up in London. Especially Leicester Square is very lively and everything like that. Err, and, err, yeah that’s pretty much it!
Luke: Alright, what about the worst thing?
Man: Err, traffic is pretty bad in London, and pollution is pretty bad as well. Like, the way so many cars, there should be a lot more bicycles and areas for people to walk, and a lot more public transport to be used as well
Luke: Okay, great
Man: Thank you, bye
Luke: Cheers
Man: *laughs*

Some definitions of some words/expressions you might not know:
“you can not get a job to save your life” – if you can’t do something to save your life it means you can’t do something even if you try very hard
“sinister” – dangerous and threatening

Watch on YouTube:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkXxMOlrpfM&w=480&h=360]

More conversations with native English speakers in the centre of London. Tapescript available below. Enjoy!

Luke’s English Podcast is a free service, but PLEASE DONATE SOME MONEY to help me pay for this website. Only donate a few dollars/euros/pounds if you listen. Your donations make this podcast possible. No donations = no more podcasts.

Video Transcript

Luke: So what’s the best thing about being in London for you?
Man with red tie: The food
Luke: Really? That’s interesting. A lot of people who aren’t from England, foreigners, think that the food’s awful. What kind of food?
Man: Indian. Italian. Good food.
Luke: Right, okay, what’s the worst thing about London?
Man: Feeling unclean when you get home. The grime.
Luke: The, sort of, grime, the pollution and stuff. Okay, thank you very much.
Man: You’re welcome.

Girls: Hi
Luke: Hi, where are you both from?
English girl: Nottingham
Luke: Okay
Canadian girl: And I’m from Canada
Luke: Okay, right, but you’ve both lived in London before, right?
Girls: Yep
Luke: I’m just asking people what the best and worst things about London are…
Nottingham: The amount of things to do… the best thing
Luke: Yep
Canada: Free museums and galleries, those are really good things.
Luke: Okay, right, what about the worst things?
Canada: The tube
Luke: What about the tube?
Canada: Too crowded, too hot, doesn’t work very well.
Luke: Right. What do you think?
Nottingham: That’s about it actually, yeah. Travel, yeah, travelling.
Luke: Alright, thank you very much.
Canada: You’re welcome
Luke: Cheers
Canada: Good luck with that
Luke: Thanks very much, cheers.

White t-shirt man: Hello
Luke: You’re from London as well are you?
Man: I am from London yeah. Do you want me to talk to you or to the lens?
Luke: Umm, both, whatever.
Man: Okay, yeah
Luke: Whatever’s more comfortable.
Man: Alright
Luke: So, what’s the best thing about London?
Man: Umm. I would say, the diversity, the culture diversity, the galleries, the fact that you can walk around the city and there’s so many different types of… walks of life you know, culturally and also it’s constantly changing and reinventing itself. It’s got lots of different opportunities creatively. I think that’s what, really, what makes London thrive really.
Luke: Right, it’s the place where you can, kind of, go with a creative idea and make it work
Man: Yeah, it’s a very dynamic city, culturally dynamic, which is what makes it great
Luke: Okay. What about the worst things?
Man: Err, overcrowding, the tube, erm… stress levels, pressure, people not looking you in the eye when they [are] going through their day to day [life]. That’s probably the worst thing about London.
Luke: So there’s a sort of impersonal thing as well
Man: It can be, yeah
Luke: Okay
Man: Alright?
Luke: Great, thanks very much, bye.

Originally published in January 2011.
This is a very short episode to let you know that I’m going to be away on holiday for a couple of weeks. I’m going travelling around Vietnam, and I’ll tell you all about it when I return.

Right-click here to download.