How do we know when someone's English is good? Is it just about having a "British accent", knowing lots of big words, or speaking with no errors? In fact, there is a lot more to it than that. IELTS can show us how someone's level of English is assessed by looking at a wide range of skills and sub-skills and there is a lot more to it than making no errors while speaking with a "British accent". This episode should help you consider your own level of English level, get some perspective on what language competence really means, and hopefully cause people to think twice when making snap judgements about other people's English. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sNi Get the PDF transcript https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/819.-What-does-it-really-mean-to-be-good-at-English.pdf 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.

My friend Anna has written a book for children (7+) which has a full publishing contract and is available in all good bookshops now. The book tells the story of a boy who accidentally creates a monster when his secret collection of nose bogeys gets struck by lightning! This conversation includes lots of talk of snot and bogeys, as well as stories from Anna's time as a travel writer. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sN1 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 with another short story. This time it's Parson's Pleasure by Roald Dahl, which is an intriguing tale of a dodgy antiques dealer with a nasty twist. Learn vocabulary while you enjoy a fascinating story. 👉 Episode page on my website https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sMo 👉 Buy "The Complete Short Stories" by Roald Dahl https://amzn.eu/d/axqHJjc 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.

Kate Billington returns to LEP for the third time, to drink tea, talk about my pod-room, learning the bassoon, exam results, learning Chinese, responding to listener comments and talking about her videos on TikTok. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sM1 The British Council on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcouncilenglish?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc 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.

An episode all about studying at university in the UK, with loads of advice about student visas, funding your studies with scholarships, extra-curricular social activities and opportunities at the students' union and more. Features a conversation with a German student currently studying a master's in clinical neuroscience at UCL in London. This episode is published in paid partnership with Study UK and the UK Government's GREAT Britain campaign. For more information, follow the links below. Links 👉 Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sMB 👉 The Study UK website with all the info you need https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org/ 👉 Student Visas https://www.gov.uk/study-uk-student-visa 👉 Scholarships and funding https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org/scholarships-funding 👉 Study in Wales https://www.studyinwales.ac.uk/ 👉 Scholarships for Welsh universities https://www.studyinwales.ac.uk/scholarships-and-funding 👉 German Academic Exchange for information about scholarships https://www.daad.de/en/ 👉 German Federal Ministry of Education and Research https://www.xn--bafg-7qa.de/bafoeg/de/home/home_node.html 👉 International Health Insurance Surcharge Refund www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/refunds 👉 Working while on a student visa - The UK Council for International Student Affairs https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/ 👉 Study Guides for Parents in Germany https://www.britishcouncil.de/sites/default/files/studyuk_guide_parents_en_2023_final.pdf 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.

My dad has written a new book and he's come on the podcast to tell us about it. The book follows the path of the river Avon as it flows through the middle of England, telling stories of key moments in British history, nature and the current condition of Britain's rivers. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sLS A River Avon Year: The Wildlife and History of Shakespeare's Avon by Rick Thompson is available now!👇 📖 Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/dIzchIU 📖 Book Depository https://www.bookdepository.com/A-River-Avon-Year-Rick-Thompson/9781803813615?redirected=true&selectCurrency=JPY&w=AFFBAU9680B63XA8YC5K 📖 Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122976600-a-river-avon-year 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 conversation with Anna Tyrie from English Like a Native (YouTube, Podcast) about children, the way we talk to children, and vocabulary relating to children and childcare, with a vocabulary quiz and some special news from the Thompson family...! 👉 Episode page with vocabulary lists https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sKN 👉 Anna interviews Luke on her podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2038858/12353084 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.

Steve Kaufmann is a very prolific language learner. He has learned at least 20 languages to varying degrees during his life. Some of them he learned during his career as an international diplomat and businessman, and others he has learned during his (semi) retirement. In this interview Steve talks about his language learning experiences, methods and motivations. We talk about various metaphors and similes for language learning including ocean voyages 🚢, cows 🐮, skiing ⛷ and cutting grass🏡 and and I ask Steve about cross-cultural experiences he has had during his career. There is a video version on YouTube but only the audio version contains my intro and ending rambles about getting my hair cut and how you need to remember that you're a baby cow-shark on skis 🐄🦈🎿😅. Episode page with video, comment section, MP3 download link etc https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sLt 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.

To qualify for British citizenship, one of the requirements is to pass the "Life in the UK" test. Questions cover things like British history, British life & culture, British politics, British geography and principles of modern British life. What do you think? Can you pass the test? Join me as I test online English teacher Cara Leopold. How much does she know about her own country of origin? What can you learn about Britain? What IS Britain anyway? Find out in this episode! 👉 Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sLh 👉 Cara's website www.leo-listening.com 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.

An episode about two (unconnected) situations, 1) the very recent earthquake in Turkey & Syria which has left many people in urgent need of help, 2) the humanitarian crisis in Iran. During the episode I read from various articles and explain some vocabulary. 👉 Consider donating to the Disasters Emergency Committee to help people affected by the earthquake https://www.dec.org.uk/appeal/turkey-syria-earthquake-appeal 👉 Episode page with transcript & links https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sL5 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 conversation with my brother about a specific musical genre, "ambient". We discuss Brian Eno's inspiration and approach to his first ambient albums, talk about the genre's origins in French 19th century classical music, jazz and the avant-garde and describe ambient trance music from the 80s and 90s including artists like Aphex Twin, The KLF, The Orb and The Irresistible Force. Enter the ambient zone on LEP. 👉 Get James' new ambient EP "Ambient Mode" on BandCamp https://jimthompson.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-mode 👉 Episode page with lots of music recommendations https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sKj 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.

An unedited conversation with Amber & Paul about toilet habits, Titanic (1997), weird videos on TikTok & YouTube and plenty more. Advanced level listening practice with the POD-PALs. Episode page https://wp.me/p4IuUx-sKt 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.