Luke's ENGLISH Podcast - Learn British English with Luke Thompson

644. The Rick Thompson Report: Is Brexit Done?

644. The Rick Thompson Report: Is Brexit Done?

Talking to my dad about the latest in the Brexit saga including the general election result, Brexit day on 31 January 2020 and the latest government shenanigans by PM Boris Johnson and co.

643. The Intercultural Communication Dance with Sherwood Fleming

643. The Intercultural Communication Dance with Sherwood Fleming

Talking to Sherwood Fleming, author of "Dance of Opinions" about intercultural communication, including common problems and the solutions to help us learn to communicate more effectively across cultures.

Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-aHl

642. The Lying Game Returns (with Amber & Paul)

642. The Lying Game Returns (with Amber & Paul)

This should make you laugh out loud on the bus - it's the return of the Lying Game with Amber & Paul. Listen to our 3 stories. Do you think they are true, or lies?

641. Catching Up with Amber & Paul #9

641. Catching Up with Amber & Paul #9

The pod-pals are back on the podcast and it's time for the usual catching up session in which we talk about how very-pregnant Amber has moved to the suburbs of Paris, the difference between a terrace, veranda, porch and conservatory, the difference between a cave and a basement, Paul's showbiz news, the ongoing joys and struggles of parenthood, the strikes in France, raising bilingual children and more.

P20 parts 4 & 5 will be released next week.

640. IELTS Speaking Success with Keith O’Hare

640. IELTS Speaking Success with Keith O’Hare

Talking to IELTS speaking coach Keith O'Hare about how to get your best score in the IELTS speaking test, plus some chat about the right approach to learning English.

639. 3 Quintessentially British Books (that you might not know about) with Mum

639. 3 Quintessentially British Books (that you might not know about) with Mum

Talking to my mum about some examples of quintessentially British things, in this case it's 3 British books that she particularly likes.

638. 3 Quintessentially British Things (that you might not know about) with Dad

638. 3 Quintessentially British Things (that you might not know about) with Dad

Dad picks his 3 British things to talk about in this episode which covers things like ancient history, British northern landscapes and the canal system which built the industrial revolution and changed Britain forever.

637. 5 Quintessentially English Things (that you might not know about) with James

637. 5 Quintessentially English Things (that you might not know about) with James

Talking with James about 5 typically English things, including conversation about pop culture, writers, TV shows, British humour and more...

636. James &Luke Discuss Star Wars IX (SPOILERS) Final Star Wars Episode Ever?

636. James & Luke Discuss Star Wars IX (SPOILERS) Final Star Wars Episode Ever?

James and Luke ramble about Star Wars IX one more time. This episode is full of little jokes, sketches, voices and full spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker.

635. A New Year Ramble for 2020 (Part 2) Motivation / New Year’s Rules / Bilingual Daughter / Neil Innes

635. A New Year Ramble for 2020 (Part 2) Motivation / New Year’s Rules / Bilingual Daughter / Neil Innes

Luke rambles some more at the start of 2020 about new year's resolutions, holiday stories, raising his daughter to be bilingual and a tribute to Neil Innes (with a song or two). Notes available below.

634. A New Year Ramble for 2020 (Part 1) Pod Stats / Welcome to LEP / Travelling with a Toddler

634. A New Year Ramble for 2020 (Part 1) Pod Stats / Welcome to LEP / Travelling with a Toddler

Luke wishes you a Happy New year and rambles about recent podcast statistics, new year in the UK, welcoming new listeners to the podcast, and some stories about travelling to the UK with a toddler by plane. Transcript available below.

633. Star Wars IX - First Reactions / SPOILER REVIEW

633. Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker (SPOILER REVIEW)

I've seen The Rise of Skywalker - here are my comments and thoughts. Please be aware that this episode is full of SPOILERS!

632. Star Wars IX - Speculations and Expectations (Preview / No Spoilers!)

632. Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker (No Spoilers!)

A new Film Club episode in which Luke does a spoiler-free ramble about Star Wars IX, including various speculations and theories.

NO SPOILERS.

Transcript/Notes available below. 

631. 29 Awful Christmas Jokes, Explained

631. 29 Awful Christmas Jokes, Explained

The annual Christmas episode of LEP is here! Explaining 29 truly awful jokes that you might get in a Christmas cracker this year. Enjoy! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

630. The English Guy with a Sitcom on Japanese TV (with BJ Fox)

630. The English Guy with a Sitcom on Japanese TV (with BJ Fox)

A conversation with English comedian BJ Fox, who performs stand-up in Japan and has his own TV show on NHK. Our conversation includes the story of how BJ managed to pitch the show to Japanese producers, how he learnt Japanese to a proficient level, doing stand-up in a different culture and much more.

629. Do you ever ... ? (with James) Strange Habits & Funny Observations

629. Do you ever ... ? (with James) Strange Habits & Funny Observations

A funny conversation about strange habits that we don't often talk about, with my brother James. Notes & scripts available on the website.

628. OASIS (with James)

628. OASIS (with James)

A conversation with James about the English rock band Oasis, including details about their story, music, lyrics and the sibling rivalry between Noel and Liam Gallagher.

627. Emina's Long Journey to English Proficiency

627. Emina's Long Journey to English Proficiency

My friend Emina Tuzovic has learned English to a proficient level as a non-native speaker of the language. She says it has been "a long journey". Let's find out all about that journey of English learning in this conversation, recorded in London just a couple of days ago.

626. The Rick Thompson Report: Boris Johnson's Brexit Deal / General Election / Football

626. The Rick Thompson Report: Boris Johnson's Brexit Deal / General Election / Football

An update from my dad about Brexit, including details about Boris Johnson's deal, the shutting down of Parliament, the upcoming general election and more. Includes some chat about Premiership football at the end.

Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-ajb

625. 88 English expressions that will confuse everyone (Part 2)

625. 88 English expressions that will confuse everyone (Part 2)

Let's continue going through this list of words from an article I found in The Independent. Here is another list of 30 items of British English slang. Word list, notes and links available.

624. 88 English expressions that will confuse everyone (Part 1)

624. 88 English expressions that will confuse everyone (Part 1)

An episode about British English slang and culture, featuring expressions that Brits know but everyone else finds confusing. Here are the first 30 expressions in a list of 88 that I found on independent.co.uk. Includes plenty of funny improvised examples to make you laugh out loud on the bus.

623. 13 Terrible Jokes, Explained

623. 13 Terrible Jokes, Explained

Actually, it's 17 jokes, including some simple one-liners and a few longer story-based jokes for you to remember and practise telling yourself. Listen to Luke read out and explain some pretty awful but enjoyable word puns and shaggy dog stories, and learn some English in the process.

622. General Ramble (Oct 2019) Learning English / Politics / Recording Setup / Book Recommendation / Beatles / Star Wars / Bill Bailey

622. General Ramble (Oct 2019) Learning English / Politics / Recording Setup / Book Recommendation / Beatles / Star Wars / Bill Bailey

Rambling on my own about all sorts of things including Brexit news, describing my recording setup and microphones, a book recommendation for you, comments about the Beatles Abbey Road 50th Anniversary, the latest Star Wars Episode 9 trailer and Bill Bailey dissecting music in a brilliant way.

621. British TV: Dragons’ Den (Part 3) Discord in the Den

621. British TV: Dragons’ Den (Part 3) Discord in the Den

One more episode about this TV series involving entrepreneurs getting investment for their business startups. In this one there's plenty of disagreement and some strong feedback from the Dragons.

620. British TV: Dragons' Den (Part 2) Negotiation

620. British TV: Dragons' Den (Part 2) Negotiation

Listen to a real business negotiation and learn loads of English in the process. Vocabulary, scripts and notes available below.

619. British TV: Dragons’ Den (Part 1) Business Vocabulary

619. British TV: Dragons’ Den (Part 1) Business Vocabulary

Learn tons of business vocabulary in context in this episode all about a TV show about entrepreneurs negotiating investment for their business startups. 

This episode contains a business ramble about things like equity investments, financial projections, manufacturing, distribution, logistics chains and marketing. Part 2 contains a real negotiation with plenty of emotional moments.

618. The Climate Crisis Explained in 10 Charts (with Cara Leopold)

618. The Climate Crisis Explained in 10 Charts (with Cara Leopold)

A conversation with Cara Leopold about the climate crisis including descriptions of key charts, graphs and data. Notes and transcripts available.

617. Sales and Advertising (with Paul Taylor)

617. Sales and Advertising (with Paul Taylor)

A language-focused episode looking at words and phrases that you often see and hear in advertising and sales situations. Also includes discussion of sales techniques, Apple's sales and marketing strategy and also a classic bit of stand-up by the late great George Carlin.

616. Can you find the 15 idioms? (with Paul Taylor)

616. Can you find the 15 idioms? (with Paul Taylor)

Listen to Luke and Paul play a conversation game and try to spot 15 common idioms. All idioms are demonstrated, explained and listed on the website.

615. Paul Taylor Became a Dad, and you won't believe what happened next

615. Paul Taylor Became a Dad, and you won't believe what happened next

How is Paul getting on as a new dad? How is everything going? What's he angry about this time?