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

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!

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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.

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[984] English listening practice in the form of an authentic conversation about ghosts and the paranormal. Returning guest Anna Brooke returns to talk about her latest book "Death by Chocolate" which is inspired by various spooky and unexplained experiences she has had recently, including a suspected haunting of her apartment, poltergeist activity, cold and creepy atmospheres, sightings of spirits and more strange encounters. Anna describes these experiences and we have a discussion about the paranormal. A premium episode with vocabulary review is available for premium subscribers. PDF transcript also available.

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Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/04/13/paranormal-experiences-with-anna-brooke-984/

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"Death by Chocolate" available now https://www.chickenhousebooks.com/books/death-by-chocolate/

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Practise your listening in English with a fascinating conversation with a writer of haiku poetry in English. John Stevenson is one of the world's leading English language haiku poets, and in this episode I had the pleasure of talking to him for an hour. John taught me more about haiku and senryu poetry, revealed how he first became interested in haiku, and then was willing to discuss various haiku poems he has written over the years, giving details of what real events inspired them, what they mean and more about his process of writing haiku in English. I hope this episode is fascinating and inspiring. Keep listening because it becomes more and more revealing as it continues. John was a pleasure to talk to and I think this is the perfect conclusion to the trilogy of episodes I have done on this subject on the podcast recently.

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"My Red" by John Stevenson available from Brooks Books https://www.brooksbookshaiku.com/Stevenson-MyRed.html

The Heron's Nest haiku website https://www.theheronsnest.com/March2026/index.html

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Haiku poems communicate a lot of ideas, thoughts and feelings into just a few simple words. They can be moving, humourous or meditative, and reading haiku in English allows you to learn vocabulary in a very interesting way. In part 1 I talked about the form and history of haiku, and read out various short poems in English from both Japanese writers and modern English ones. In part 2 here I finish reading my haiku selection, including many written by English-language haiku master John Stevenson. Listen to each one, consider the different meanings and interpretations and also learn specific words and phrases to expand your English vocabulary.

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Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/03/30/haiku-in-english-2/

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In this episode I discuss optimism and pessimism, what forms our outlook on life, which is healthier, how we talk about optimism and pessimism in English and which perspective helps you learn English more effectively. Expect some discussion, science, vocabulary, advice for learning English and a few jokes thrown in for good measure. PDF available.

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Practise listening to British English conversation and enjoy some complaining, ranting and funny anecdotes in this episode based on the concept of a popular BBC TV chat show. My guest is Charlie Baxter from The British English Podcast. Charlie has chosen 3 things which he wants to be locked inside the mythical "Room 101" an imaginary place where all the things you hate in the world are stored forever. What would Charlie like to remove from the world to be kept inside this room? And what is the shocking info about a certain popular British English YouTuber that could break the internet?

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Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/03/16/room-101-with-charlie-baxter-980-funny-british-english-listening-practice/

Listen to Luke's Room 101 choices on The British English Podcast this week https://pod.link/1533216336

Watch Luke on BEP (YouTube version) https://youtu.be/56jqC8Q88oc?si=Gy2w7udJsRR8yaVh

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Time to learn English with another short story on Luke's English Podcast. Listen to the story and my comments, then learn vocabulary as I break down the text line by line and teach you English in context. This time it is a funny little tale written by Saki - the English author and master of the short story. A mischievous lad is punished by his strict aunt, but who ends up having the last laugh?

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Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/03/09/the-lumber-room-learn-english-with-a-short-story-979/

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Following my chat with my mum last week, now it's my dad's turn! In this episode my plan was to ask my dad lots of questions about his life, and to listen to him talking about the various choices he has made, and experiences he has had, as well as details about his parents. The result is another deep chat about family history, and my dad's life story. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed recording it. Full transcript available.

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[977] Recently I visited my parents at their home, and while I was there I took the time to record conversations with them both. This first one is with my mum. I asked her questions about her life story, our family history, her memories of growing up and so many other things that I was curious about. The result is this recording. I hope you will find that it is not only good for your English listening practice, but also fascinating and absorbing as a piece of personal history. Full transcript available.

Get the PDF transcript https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/My-mum-talks-about-her-life-977-Transcript.pdf

Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/02/23/my-mum-talks-about-her-life-977/

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