I woke up this morning to the news that Stephen Hawking had died and I thought - I really must talk about this. He was a British scientist who must be considered one of the most significant people of recent years - a brilliant mind who contributed so much to our understanding of the nature of reality itself while also struggling against some extreme personal difficulties and for those reasons he’s a great inspiration to many people around the world. In this episode I’m just going to talk about him, his life, his achievements, his sense of humour and how he will continue to be an inspiration to people for many years to come. Let's learn some English along the way. Vocabulary list available Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-8cy  italki offer http://www.teacherluke.co.uk/talk  Sign up to LEP Premium on Acast+ and add the premium episodes to a podcast app on your phone. https://plus.acast.com/s/teacherluke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn English from an anecdote told by Sir Paul McCartney. Let's listen to Paul telling a sweet story about something funny that happened to him and George Harrison when they were teenagers, before they became world famous musicians in The Beatles. Let's listen to his story, do some intensive listening practice and then I'll help you understand everything. Also, let's have a laugh with some funny Paul McCartney impressions. Video and notes available below. Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2018/03/10/516-paul-mccartneys-spider-story/  italki offer http://www.teacherluke.co.uk/talk  Sign up to LEP Premium on Acast+ and add the premium episodes to a podcast app on your phone. https://plus.acast.com/s/teacherluke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I'm talking to friends of the podcast Amber Minogue and Sarah Donnelly about the subject of raising children in a foreign country - in this case, France. So this is an episode all about cross-cultural experiences, specifically relating to parenthood. It's also about a new podcast and stage show which Amber & Sarah have just started. Transcriptions, notes and links available. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-8aE italki offer http://www.teacherluke.co.uk/talk   Sign up to LEP Premium on Acast+ and add the premium episodes to a podcast app on your phone. https://plus.acast.com/s/teacherluke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode you can hear me chatting to Fred Eyangoh and Alex Quillian and discussing various topics including growing up in different countries, recognising different accents in English, religious backgrounds, movie re-boots, Arnold Shwartzenegger going "nyarrrgh" and more. Fred and Alex are both stand-up comedians living in Paris who perform in English.  Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-8b4  italki offer http://www.teacherluke.co.uk/talk  Sign up to LEP Premium on Acast+ and add the premium episodes to a podcast app on your phone. https://plus.acast.com/s/teacherluke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A general ramble about things like: dishwasher sounds, online clickbait, updates to the LEP app, my recent appearances on some OPP (other people's podcasts), LEPster meetups and some responses to recent comments on the website. Notes, links & videos available. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-8bt italki offer http://www.teacherluke.co.uk/talk  Sign up to LEP Premium on Acast+ and add the premium episodes to a podcast app on your phone. https://plus.acast.com/s/teacherluke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The host shares his experiences of learning French in a classroom and on his own. He discusses the frustrations of lack of student engagement and the balance of teacher talking time and student practice. The advantages and disadvantages of learning in a classroom vs self-study are explored, along with the benefits of speaking and writing practice, feedback from teachers, and the presence of learning programs and textbooks. Listeners' dedication to learning English is acknowledged and encouraged.

Sharing my experiences of learning French (or not learning it). My French and Me - How I learned some French as a child and how I'm failing to learn it properly as an adult. Includes conclusions about language learning, immersion and the importance of motivation, habit and simply applying yourself. Notes & transcriptions available. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-81p  italki offer http://www.teacherluke.co.uk/talk  Sign up to LEP Premium on Acast+ and add the premium episodes to a podcast app on your phone. https://plus.acast.com/s/teacherluke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode you can listen to Amber, Paul and me as we take an online quiz and try to find out what school of philosophical thought we belong to. Are we empiricists, epicurianists, existentialists, hedonists, humanists, platonists, skeptics or stoicists? Listen on to find out more and to hear a full-on discussion of life, the universe and everything. Episode page: https://wp.me/p4IuUx-88T  italki offer: http://www.teacherluke.co.uk/talk PHILOSOPHY QUIZ LINK - CLICK HERE Sign up to LEP Premium on Acast+ and add the premium episodes to a podcast app on your phone. https://plus.acast.com/s/teacherluke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is all about philosophy and how this applies to language learning. Listen to me describing 8 different 'schools' of philosophical thought. Are hedonists good language learners? How do rationalists and empiricists disagree about how we learn languages? Is language learning an innate ability or just something that can only happen as a result of things we do after we're born?  And, how does philosophy answer life's big questions such as, "What's life all about?" "What are we doing here?" and "What shall we have for dinner?" Transcript available.  Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-88S italki offer http://www.teacherluke.co.uk/talk  Sign up to LEP Premium on Acast+ and add the premium episodes to a podcast app on your phone. https://plus.acast.com/s/teacherluke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn English by listening to Rick Thompson telling some true stories of petty crimes committed in an English town in 1851. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-88W  italki offer http://www.teacherluke.co.uk/talk  Sign up to LEP Premium on Acast+ and add the premium episodes to a podcast app on your phone. https://plus.acast.com/s/teacherluke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.