Luke's English Podcast - Learn British English With Luke Thompson

Here it is, finally! The long-awaited episode 1000. It has taken me weeks to finish this. If you listen, you will understand why it has taken so long! This is a celebration of this podcast after 17 years and 1000 episodes. It includes a lot of rambling, an interview with my brother, questions from friends and family, and the voices of various guests who have been on this podcast over the last few years. Also, regular interruptions from my daughter and all sorts of other random moments such as the sounds of dogs, woodpeckers, neighbours, and more! Thank you to all the LEPsters around the world and my guests for helping to make this achievement possible! ❤️Episode page

Back by popular demand, here is another Sherlock Holmes mystery for episode 999. How will Watson deal with his mini-mission to an opium den, before joining Holmes on one of his most singular cases so far, attempting to solve the disappearance of a gentleman and the suspicious involvement of the man with the twisted lip? Listen to the story and then keep listening as I break it down paragraph by paragraph. Get the story PDF here

Some podcast housekeeping is necessary in this episode, as I talk about current LEP news, moving into a house in the countryside, sketchy plans for episode 1000, an update on the scary story competition, final thoughts on the World Cup, and more. My daughter joins me with various comments throughout, and at one point a bird even flies into the room. What fun we had. PDF transcript available.Get the PDF transcript

Recorded the day after Argentina beat England in the semi-final

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.Get the PDF transcript

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!Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/07/08/world-cup-ramble-3-fifa-2026-with-fred-bonus/LEP Premium https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.Episode page

Here is the next bonus football rambling episode on LEP. The group stage of FIFA World Cup 2026 is over and teams are now being eliminated in the round of 32. In this episode, which is roughly the same length as the average game at WC2026, I am joined by Zdenek from The Footglish Podcast. Expect discussion of styles of play in modern football, the changes introduced this year and their effects on the game - including VAR updates, time wasting measures, plus an overview of England today (30 June) and Czechia, who is the true GOAT - Messi? Who will get to 1000 first? Luke or Christiano Ronaldo? Plus various meme-worthy moments of weirdness and hilarity. The Footglish Podcast

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.Get the PDF with notes and full transcript

What are the different English accents you can hear if you visit London? In this episode I am talking to Patricio from the YouTube channel Patricio Languages, who makes videos about diverse English accents from around the world. We talk about 4 specific accents that are native to his home town of London, namely Received Pronunciation, Cockney, Estuary English and Multicultural London English. We also chat about Patricio's study routines for learning Spanish and Portuguese.So, plenty of insights about British English pronunciation, how to understand native English speakers, and some tips for language learning. Perfect topics for another episode of LEP, right? Full transcript available, and listen all the way to the end to hear me turn into a proper cockney geezer.Check out Patricio's YouTube channel

In this episode I am reconnecting with an old friend after over 25 years of not seeing each other. Jez Booker is from Solihull in the West Midlands and I first met him at 6th form college, where we became friends and later we got into a band together and had many adventures. Jez later went on to work in marketing and has recently started up his own YouTube channel all about getting out and enjoying the British countryside. Expect a chat full of natural English expressions and slang, and a journey into the past as Jez and I reminisce and also jog each other's memories of things that we did together years ago.Check out Jez's channel "Get Out"  @getoutfilms  Get the PDF transcript

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.Get the episode transcript PDF

A bonus mid-week episode previewing the FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America. I'll be talking about all the teams, the favourites, the underdogs, the wild cards, the dark horse teams, England's chances, plus various issues and controversies both on and off the pitch. Comments are welcome! This is a bonus episode, and you will get another normal episode (no football) on Monday.Get the episode PDF https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/BONUS-FIFA-WORLD-CUP-2026-PREVIEW-MEGARAMBLE.pdfEpisode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/06/04/bonus-fifa-world-cup-2026-preview-megaramble/LEP Premium https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[991] A conversation with English teacher / comedian / cake maker Kate Billington, talking about her academic qualifications, cutting edge subtitling technology for theatres, questions of teaching English including teaching in Taiwan vs in France, Kate's tips for language learning, a cat-village in Taiwan, traffic madness, earthquakes, signage in train stations, using flashcard apps to learn English, testing Kate's Chinese by making her translate jokes, and drinking coffee in Taipei! Just that! Check out P81 a premium episode with vocabulary review for this conversation.Get the PDF transcript

An epic rambling episode packed with British humour, listener emails, anecdotes, English teaching, thoughts about AI, parenting, podcasting, language learning, YouTube comments, animals listening to LEP, British communication styles, and much more. Get the episode PDF

In this episode of Luke’s English Podcast, I chat with my 8-year-old daughter as we answer a series of absurd questions, including funny Would You Rather...? questions, imaginative What if...?questions, food questions, science questions, superpowers, animals, fairy tales and more.This is a natural, funny and heart-warming English conversation full of real spoken English, perfect for English learners who want to improve their listening skills, vocabulary, pronunciation and fluency.

[988] In this episode of Luke’s English Podcast, Luke and James discuss artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, the AI bubble, generative AI, AGI, automation, job displacement, tech startups, Silicon Valley culture, deep fakes, AI hallucinations, cryptocurrency, Blade Runner, and the future of work. This is a long-form British English conversation designed to help learners improve listening comprehension, vocabulary and fluency while exploring the hype, risks and promises surrounding AI technology.Episode page

[987] British English listening practice at a natural speed with surprising facts and lots of humour. Pod-pals Amber & Paul join me for an outlandish and outrageous "true or false" quiz

Another short story on LEP to entertain you and help you learn some more English words and expressions. This one is a creepy tale about a room in a house with a strange, fatal attraction. People can't stop themselves going through the door, but then what happens to them? Follow along with me and try to understand the final, crucial line at the end. I will explain everything, analyse the vocabulary line by line and teach you plenty of useful English phrases. PDF available as usual!Get the episode PDF

A funny British English 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.Sign up to LEP Premium to hear the vocabulary review for this episode with my wife