440. This Pile of Books on my Desk

The Pod-Pals are back on the podcast for another catching up session! Recorded just after the summer holidays, there is talk of Paul's hatred of the beach 🏖️, the English tradition of building epic sandcastles 🏰, other famous people with our names (including an "evil" teacherluke 👿) and what AI gets completely wrong about us 🤦. PDF transcript available. (a.k.a Catching Up with Amber & Paul #15)📄 Get the PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Transcript-Holiday-Hell-Serious-Sandcastles-AI-Inbreeding-with-Amber-Paul-954-2.pdf🔗 Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/09/22/holiday-hell-serious-sandcastles-ai-inbreeding-with-amber-paul-954/🏆 Sign up to LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

22 Sep 56min

My 7-year-old daughter joins me again as co-host in this fun episode. We play "Would you rather?", a conversation game in which we ask each other ridiculous questions about various hypothetical situations. Enjoy listening to another cute and funny chat with my daughter, which covers topics such as food, world peace, wealth, fame, success and Inspector Gadget.📄 Get the PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/A-game-of-Would-You-Rather_-with-my-daughter-953-TRANSCRIPT-1.pdf🔗 Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/09/15/a-game-of-would-you-rather-with-my-daughter-953/🏆 LEP Premium 👉 https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Sep 1h 20min

A description of my recent family holiday to Norway 🇳🇴 including rambling about how I can't stand beach holidays 🏖️, chasing my son around different international airports 🏃, visiting Oslo ⛴️, Bergen 🏠, fjords 🚤 and mountains 🏔️. Edward Munch's The Scream 😱, staying in a cabin with no hot water, shower or washing machine, swimming in a freezing lake 🥶, catching a trout 🎣 and driving an electric Jaguar 🐆(that's a car). Includes a PDF with vocabulary in context, definitions, full transcript, and vocabulary quiz.📄 Get the PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/The-Trip-to-Norway-_-Learn-Vocabulary-in-Context-952.pdf🔗 Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/09/08/the-trip-to-norway-learn-vocabulary-in-context-952/🏆 Sign up to LEP Premium 👉 www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

8 Sep 1h 27min

Dealing with some questions from listeners about pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, namely how to know when 'd is had or would (in writing and pronunciation), the curious origins of the word podcast and a vocabulary lesson about the word cast including various collocations and phrases which include this morpheme (that means a part of a word, not some kind of shape-shifting alien). More groundbreaking and genre-defying content to grace your earphones, and not boring grammar stuff at all, not even a little bit, no, no way, not here. Get the PDF here https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Questions-of-English-Listener-Comments-Bits-Bobs-4.pdfWebsite page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/09/01/questions-of-english-listener-comments-bits-bobs-4-951/Subscribe to LEP Premium for more of this kind of thing https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Sep 1h 21min

Peter, my old flatmate from Japan, is back on the podcast after his previous appearance 11 years ago! We chat about travelling experiences, teaching English in Malaysia and Japan, dealing with jet lag and culture shock, doing stand-up comedy abroad, and some of the funny, strange, and even weird experiences we’ve had while travelling. A relaxed, wide-ranging conversation full of stories, laughs, and cultural insights.Get the full PDF transcript here https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/The-Flatmate-from-Japan-Returns-Travelling-Tales-More-950-TRANSCRIPT-.pdfEpisode page on my website https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/08/25/the-flatmate-from-japan-returns-travelling-tales-more-950/LEP Premium https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25 Aug 1h 45min

In this episode I take a typical multiple choice grammar test that you can find online, explain the answer to each question and give mini grammar lessons along the way. I also discuss what makes a good test of your English, and what good and bad level tests do. Learn more about grammar, and about how to check your language level.📄 Get the episode PDF https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Lets-take-a-C1-English-Grammar-Test-and-critique-it.pdf🔗 Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/08/18/lets-take-a-c1-grammar-test-and-critique-it-949/🏆 LEP Premium https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

18 Aug 2h 6min

In this fun and practical episode I dive into realistic workplace English through improvised role-play conversations. Designed to help you boost your vocabulary, listening skills, and confidence in professional settings, this episode features six humorous and educational role-play scenarios in workplaces like a factory, office, supermarket, and a shop. Listen to me improvising with ChatGPT and see if it can keep up with some ridiculous ideas, and learn some useful practical English in the process.📄 Get the episode PDF https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Workplace-Role-Plays-_-Scenarios-for-Practical-English-948.pdf🔗 Episode page on my website https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/08/11/workplace-role-plays-scenarios-for-practical-english-948/🏆 LEP Premium https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 Aug 1h

This episode is all about choices we have to make relating to technology in our everyday lives, and the vocabulary of technology today. This episode focuses on issues such as information quality & fact checking, digital sustainability, AI and automation, security, surveillance and privacy, tech company ethics, & tech and well-being. All important topics which you should be able to talk about in English! PDF available. Part 2 of 2.📄 Get the episode PDF https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Technology-in-Everyday-Life-Part-2-The-Choices-We-Make-_-Topic-Discussion-Vocabulary-947.pdf🔗 Episode page https://teacherluke.co.uk/2025/08/04/technology-in-everyday-life-part-2-the-choices-we-make-topic-discussion-vocabulary-947/🏆 LEP Premium https://www.teacherluke.co.uk/premium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4 Aug 1h 27min