

Teacher Talking Time
teachertalkingtime
Teacher Talking Time is a podcast for language teachers who want more: more clarity, more autonomy, and more lasting impact, both inside and outside the classroom.
Hosted by Leo and Andrew, each episode features thoughtful, in-depth conversations with the educators, researchers, and teacherpreneurs shaping the future of language education. Guests have included Scott Thornbury, Bill VanPatten, David Little, Jennifer Jenkins, John Levis, Angelica Galante, Sarah Mercer, Enrica Piccardo, Claudia Fernández, Shawn Loewen, Paul Nation, Sheila Thorn, and many more.
From the latest in second language acquisition research to honest stories of teachers building lives and businesses on their own terms, every conversation invites you to think deeper, teach more intentionally, and take charge of your professional path.
We release two episodes each month - with full video versions on YouTube - to help you reflect, stay inspired, and grow as a teacher and changemaker.
Subscribe, listen, and join a global community of educators leading with intention.
Hosted by Leo and Andrew, each episode features thoughtful, in-depth conversations with the educators, researchers, and teacherpreneurs shaping the future of language education. Guests have included Scott Thornbury, Bill VanPatten, David Little, Jennifer Jenkins, John Levis, Angelica Galante, Sarah Mercer, Enrica Piccardo, Claudia Fernández, Shawn Loewen, Paul Nation, Sheila Thorn, and many more.
From the latest in second language acquisition research to honest stories of teachers building lives and businesses on their own terms, every conversation invites you to think deeper, teach more intentionally, and take charge of your professional path.
We release two episodes each month - with full video versions on YouTube - to help you reflect, stay inspired, and grow as a teacher and changemaker.
Subscribe, listen, and join a global community of educators leading with intention.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 16, 2020 • 1h 38min
Episode 31: 2020 Year in Review
Mike, Leo, and Andrew sit down and reflect on the year that was in 2020. In a year unlike any other in our lifetime, many things happened. They discuss:
takeaways from the top 5 most listened to Teacher Talking Time episodes of the year
lessons learned in 2020 and reflecting on their 2019 goals
what goal setting for next year looks like staring down a pandemic
For more information on this episode, see our blog post about it.
Podcast Creation:
This episode was created with support from Thinkific & Podbean. If you're looking to launch a course or start a podcast, we highly recommend them - and use them ourselves.
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our Memberships
Join Our Mailing List
Our Online Courses
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time

Nov 15, 2020 • 48min
The Cult of Learning 8: Mastering the Art of Conversation
/CULT/K^LT/A fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people’s lives/The cult of learning encourages people to find and pursue what they are passionate about/
*”The Cult of Learning” are episodes for learners of languages. These episodes will discuss tools and strategies for learning and provide opportunities for effective listening practice. These episodes are also part of our Self-directed Learning Portal, which helps thousands of people around the world improve the English skills important to them.
Mike, Leo, and Andrew all cram into the digital studio for the first ever Cult of Learning episode with all three musketeers. The guys talk about conversations, why they can be difficult, reasons for them breaking down, and strategies to use to increase your conversation skills.
They also present a technique they've designed called the "4 A's: Mastering the Art of Conversation." The 4 A's are:
ask
answer
add
ask
If you're looking for tips to improve your English conversation skills, this is the episode for you. Listen to the full episode for examples, analysis, how to use the A's - and a few stories, jokes, and humour along the way.
If you'd like to take your English conversation skills to the next level, check out our online lesson on just this topic.
Also, check out our blog post for more information on today's episode.
Thank you for listening! If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Download our E-book for FREE on our website. We hope it helps you learn outside the classroom!
Improve your English Skills with our Self-directed Learning Portal - only $5/month
Our Website
Join our Mailing List
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time
Use our LYE Discount on your Next Creative Project. Get your First Month Free when you:
Start a Podcast with Podbean
Publish an Online Course with Thinkific

Nov 1, 2020 • 1h 34min
Episode 30: Luke Meddings
Leo invites Luke Meddings into the digital studio. Luke is a teacher, trainer, and author with over 30 years in the ELT industry. In 2009 he co-authored "Teaching Unplugged" with Scott Thornbury, a book that represented a revolution in English Language Instruction. In 2020, Luke founded "The Context," which helps students, teachers, and institutions in the industry.
Luke reflects on the Dogme movement, why it was viewed as controversial, where it is now, and if he still views it as contentious.
In much more detail, he tells us:
his teaching beginnings and why it led him to a "teaching unplugged" approach (3:00)
the first school he started - "Explore Your English" - and why it was idealistic (18:00)
the genesis of Dogme and meeting Scott Thornbury (25:00)
why presenting on Dogme at conferences was met with both excitement and contempt (40:00)
the writing of "Teaching Unplugged" and why they didn't use the word "Dogme" (44:00)
the 10 principles of Dogme and why they chose the 3 they did for their movement (55:00)
his thoughts on progressive education and how we still need to do better (1:02:00)
For more on Luke Meddings:
Follow him: @LukeMeddings
Visit his website
Follow The Context on Instagram: @thecontext_edu
Get your copy of Teaching Unplugged
For more information on this episode, see our blog post about it.
Podcast Creation:
This episode was created with support from Thinkific & Podbean. If you're looking to launch a course or start a podcast, we highly recommend them - and use them ourselves.
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our Memberships
Join Our Mailing List
Our Online Courses
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time

Oct 18, 2020 • 58min
The Cult of Learning 7: Visualizing Yourself in English
/CULT/K^LT/A fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people’s lives/The cult of learning encourages people to find and pursue what they are passionate about/
*”The Cult of Learning” are episodes for learners of languages. These episodes will discuss tools and strategies for learning and provide opportunities for effective listening practice. These episodes are also part of our Self-directed Learning Portal, which helps thousands of people around the world improve the English skills important to them.
Mike and Leo discuss "visualization" and how it can help you become a better language learner. Visualization or "mental imagery" is is commonly used by many top performers, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Phelps, and athletes when preparing themselves for a competition, a race, or a match.
How does this apply to learning a language? Mike and Leo talk about:
how important the mind is in language performance
famous athletes who use this technique
how we visualize all the time even if we don't do it on purpose
why it's important to have realistic goals in your language learning
strategies you can use to visualize your "future L2 self"
Check out our website for more information on today's episode.
Thank you for listening! If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Download our E-book for FREE on our website. We hope it helps you learn outside the classroom!
Improve your English Skills with our Self-directed Learning Portal - only $5/month
Our Website
Join our Mailing List
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time
Use our LYE Discount on your Next Creative Project. Get your First Month Free when you:
Start a Podcast with Podbean
Publish an Online Course with Thinkific

Sep 30, 2020 • 1h 37min
Episode 29: Dr. Masatoshi Sato
Leo and Mike chat with Dr. Masatoshi Sato about academic research, second language teaching, and why a lack of implementation still exists between research and classroom pedagogy.
Dr. Sato (PhD: McGill University) is a Professor in the Department of English at Universidad Andrés Bello, Chilé. He currently teaches pre-service and in-service English teachers in Chile. His research agenda is to conduct theoretical and practical research in order to provide practitioners with evidence-based pedagogy. In particular, he has conducted research focusing on peer interaction, corrective feedback, learner psychology, teacher psychology, and research-pedagogy dialogue.
He recently published a paper titled "Do Teachers Care about Research? The Research-Pedagogy Dialogue" which is the focus of this episode.
*Note: the paper is free to read.
Dr. Sato tells us:
how he became a researcher (2:00)
misconceptions on the purpose of second language research (12:00)
what the "research-pedagogy" dialogue is and why it's important (18:00)
why he believes teachers usually don't interact with research (30:00)
what researchers need to do for their work to be more useful to teachers (34:00)
why motivation cannot be the cause of learning (47:00)
his study analyzing motivation and the "ideal self system" and its link to second language learning (52:00)
For more on Dr. Sato:
Follow him: @masatoshi_sato
Read his research
For more information on this episode, see our blog post about it.
Podcast Creation:
This episode was created with support from Thinkific & Podbean. If you're looking to launch a course or start a podcast, we highly recommend them - and use them ourselves.
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our Memberships
Join Our Mailing List
Our Online Courses
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time

Sep 14, 2020 • 56min
The Cult of Learning 6: Why Learn a New Language?
/CULT/K^LT/A fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people’s lives/The cult of learning encourages people to find and pursue what they are passionate about/
*”The Cult of Learning” are episodes for learners of languages. These episodes will discuss tools and strategies for learning and provide opportunities for effective listening practice. These episodes are also part of the Learn YOUR English Learner Membership Community.
In this episode, Andrew joins Leo in studio and they discuss reasons for learning a new language, both good and bad. In the last segment, the guys talk about motivation vs discipline, and how to make language learning a habit and not a chore.
Why do you learn new languages? What habits have you developed along the way?
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Ted Talk - 4 Reasons to Learn a Language
James Clear - Atomic Habits
The Michelle Obama Podcast
LYE Quick Fix
LYE YouTube Channel
Download our E-book for FREE on our website. We hope it helps you learn outside the classroom!
Thank you for listening! If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
If you like the show, we have a Tip Jar on our website for people looking to help with the creation of our show.
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our School of Learning for Students - only $5
Our Website
Join our Mailing List
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time

Aug 31, 2020 • 1h 14min
Episode 28: Ana-Marija Petrunic
Andrew sits down with Ana-Marija Petrunic to discuss her work in post-conflict Kosovo in the late 1990's, how language & identity factor into teaching, and if there is such a thing as neutrality in education. Ana-Marija spent years in post-war Kosovo as part of a project working towards reconstructing an education system in the ethnically diverse region.
Ana-Marija is the Chair of the School of ESL at Toronto’s George Brown College. Previous to that, she spent more than a decade with the University of Calgary, serving roles as instructor, professional development advisor, and in education management. She is continuing her academic path with doctoral studies in the School of Management at the University of Bath.
In this episode, Ana-Marija delves into:
how her feeling of being "suspended in identity" led her to a career in ELT
her work in Kosovo - what it was, why she went, and how it happened
the challenges of re-constructing education in a post-war region
how identity impacts language learning and teaching
why she believes neutrality does not exist in education
why teachers need to embrace tension and discomfort in their classrooms, and have tough, meaningful, and impactful discussions with their students that will impart social change
For more information on Ana-Marija:
Follow her: @ampetrun
Read her thesis from the University of Calgary
For more information on this episode, see our blog post on our website.
Podcast Creation:
This episode was created with support from our listeners. If you enjoy our work, consider contributing to our tip jar
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you like the show, consider subscribing on Spotify, iTunes, or Google Podcasts, and sharing it with a friend. If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our Memberships
Join Our Mailing List
Our Online Courses
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time

Aug 3, 2020 • 45min
The Cult of Learning 5: Setting Clear Language Goals, Part III
/CULT/K^LT/A fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people’s lives/The cult of learning encourages people to find and pursue what they are passionate about/
*”The Cult of Learning” are episodes for learners of languages. These episodes will discuss tools and strategies for learning and provide opportunities for effective listening practice. These episodes are also part of the Learn YOUR English Learner Membership Community.
In episode 5, Leo and Mike complete our mini series on setting clear language goals. The series looks at the 7 "Cs" of goal setting. This episode looks at the last two Cs:
The Sixth C: Character
A good CHARACTER to guide us and keep us on a proper course.
The Seventh C: Capacity
A capacity to enjoy the PROCESS along the way
Playing the long game
For each, they pose these questions:
What are they?
How do they help us learn?
Why are they important?
The LYE School of Learning:
If you would like to join our School of Learning, it’s only $5 one time. Sign up and start learning today!
Download our E-book for FREE on our website. We hope it helps you learn outside the classroom!
Thank you for listening! If you like the show, consider subscribing on Spotify, iTunes, or Google Podcasts, and sharing it with a friend. If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
If you like the show, we have a Tip Jar on our website for people looking to help with the creation of our show.
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our School of Learning for Students - only $5
Our Website
Join our Mailing List
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time

Aug 2, 2020 • 1h 44min
Episode 27: Chiara Bruzzano & Marc Jones
In Teacher Talking Time’s first round-table episode, we focus on the topic of teaching and developing listening skills. Leo and Andrew are joined by Marc Jones and Chiara Bruzzano, both researchers on the topic of listening.
Marc and Chiara help us parse what current research and findings on listening says, and discuss what strategies and approaches we as teachers can utilize in our classes to best help our students.
This episode is divided into 3 sections:
1. The Differences between teaching, practicing, and testing listening (3:20)
2. Analyzing the standard approach to teaching listening (34:00)
3. Looking at what can be improved and suggestions of how to go about it. (1:02:00)
Three questions were used to help us define this round table discussion:
1. Is there a problem that our industry faces that you would like to address?
2. How is this topic relevant to teachers?
3. What outcomes do we expect to achieve at the end of this round table?
*This episode works in conjunction with the LYE Course "Teaching Listening Made Easy."
Follow Chiara:
Twitter: @chiara_bruzzano
View her website: ETprofessional
Read her work
Chiara is also the founder of LanguagEd, a group of teachers, researchers and graphic designers producing professional development courses for teachers.
Follow Marc:
Twitter: @marcjonestyo
View his websites: Marcjones.tokyo and getgreatenglish.com
Read his most recent article
*For anyone interested in learning more about teaching listening, listen to the end of the episode for a discount code for the LYE course “Teaching Listening Made Easy.”
For more information on this episode, see our blog post on our website.
Podcast Creation:
This episode was created with support from our listeners. If you enjoy our work, consider contributing to our tip jar
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you like the show, consider subscribing on Spotify, iTunes, or Google Podcasts, and sharing it with a friend. If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our Memberships
Join Our Mailing List
Our Online Courses
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time

Jul 1, 2020 • 42min
The Cult of Learning 4: Setting Clear Language Goals, Part II
/CULT/K^LT/A fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people’s lives/The cult of learning encourages people to find and pursue what they are passionate about/
*”The Cult of Learning” are episodes for learners of languages. These episodes will discuss tools and strategies for learning and provide opportunities for effective listening practice. These episodes are also part of the Learn YOUR English Learner Membership Community.
In episode 4, Mike and Leo continue our podcast series on Setting Clear Goals in Language Learning. In this series, we discuss the 7 Cs of Goal Setting. In Part I, we talked about the first two: conception and confidence.
In this episode, we talk about the next 3 Cs: Concentration, Consistency, and Commitment:
What are they?
How do they help us learn?
Why are they important?
Mike and Leo also talk about very exciting announcements for Learn YOUR English:
A. Free E-book for Students called "The 3 Myths of Learning" - download for free now!
B. The LYE School of Learning - learn for only $5 for your whole life!
C. LYE Quick Fixes: Improve one part of your language quickly and effectively.
The LYE School of Learning:
If you would like to join our School of Learning, it’s only $5 one time. Sign up and start learning today!
Download our E-book for FREE on our website. We hope it helps you learn outside the classroom!
Thank you for listening! If you like the show, consider subscribing on Spotify, iTunes, or Google Podcasts, and sharing it with a friend. If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
If you like the show, we have a Tip Jar on our website for people looking to help with the creation of our show.
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our School of Learning for Students - only $5
Our Website
Join our Mailing List
Follow Learn YOUR English
Follow Teacher Talking Time


