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

Small talk is not just a pointless way to fill silence in social situations, it is also an opportunity to make great social connections, build your network and just have an interesting conversation with someone new, but how do we do it successfully? How can you deal with your shyness and awkwardness about small talk moments, particularly in English? How can you develop your confidence, and take the right approach to making good connections with people you meet? That's what this episode is all about, as I am joined again by Ray Addam, who has plenty of good advice and stories to share.
Get the PDF with phrase bank and full transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/A-Big-Talk-about-Small-Talk-with-Ray-Addam-1007.pdf
Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/10/20/a-big-talk-about-small-talk-🗣️-with-ray-addam-improve-your-speaking-skills-in-english-1007/
LEP Premium 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/premium
Ray's Instagram 👉 https://www.instagram.com/learnenglishwithray/
Ray's Preply page for 1-to-1 lessons 👉 https://preply.in/RAY6EN200844011?ts=17815602
Ray's online courses 👉 https://www.skool.com/elevate-english-6228/about?ref=77d17e9d6acf4bf1ae51158796ecaa0f
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Listen to a selection of 9 fascinating stories written by listeners, one of which will win the competition which I launched earlier this year. Finally, the wait is over and the creepy story competition episode is here. I had to work very hard to narrow down the entries from 74 to only 9. Anna Brooke and I chose our favourite, as you will hear.
These are extremely mysterious and extraordinary stories sent in by my listeners. They describe very bizarre and spooky experiences, often involving the sad loss of a family member, spirits from the past searching for peace, or just disturbing coincidences that are hard to reconcile.
All 74 stories are available to read on the episode PDF, and there are plenty of very interesting entries there too. Thank you to everyone who sent a story, and congratulations to the winner, who will win a copy of Anna Brooke's "Death by Chocolate".
Get the episode PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/True-Ghost-Stories-Unexplained-Mysteries-from-Listeners-LEPster-Writing-Competition-1006-.pdf
Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/10/13/9-true-ghost-stories-unexplained-mysteries-from-listeners-lepster-writing-competition-1006/
"Death by Chocolate" by Anna Brooke 👉 https://www.chickenhousebooks.com/books/death-by-chocolate/
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This episode is a celebration of a living-legend of British life & culture - Sir David Attenborough, who is best known for making documentaries on the BBC about the natural world. Listen as I give an overview of his life and career, explain why he is so loved by people, share anecdotes from people who have met him, describe memorable animal moments from his documentaries, and do a few impressions of his distinctive voice.
Get my PDF notes 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Sir-David-Attenborough-Britains-1-National-Treasure-1005_compressed.pdf
Get the episode transcript PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Sir-David-Attenborough-Britains-1-National-Treasure-1005-Episode-Transcript.pdf
Episode page with video clips & more 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/10/07/sir-david-attenborough-1005-britains-1-national-treasure/
Sign up to LEP Premium 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/premium
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Retelling the story of your favourite film, or book, can be a great way to practise your speaking skills in English. It can help you focus on narrative tenses, vocabulary recall and spoken fluency, while having fun reliving some great moments from cinema or literature. In this episode I demonstrate this, while giving you an entertaining re-telling of Steven Spielberg's classic dinosaur adventure, Jurassic Park (the original and best in the franchise).
Listen as I tell the story from the point of view of one of the main characters. Notice the phrases and descriptive words I use, and check the PDF transcript later to reinforce your learning through reading. In the second half of the episode to hear my own self-corrections and feedback, focusing on better vocabulary and scientific terms I could have used in the episode.
Improvising this version of the story was both a challenge, and a lot of fun for me! You can try it too. No need to use the original plot - feel free to get creative and just have fun telling your own version of a story you know well.
Get the PDF transcript here 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Lukes-Improvised-Storytelling_-Jurassic-Park-1004-Listen-Learn-English-Full-Episode-Transcript.pdf
Episode page with links to more episodes like this 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/09/25/auto-draft/
Sign up to LEP Premium for the really good stuff: vocabulary review, quiz and pronunciation practice based on this episode 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/premium
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Following a challenge from the comment section, I decided to see if it was possible to make an entire episode with my friends Amber and Paul based on the table of irregular verbs. This is the result. I decided to test the POD-PALS on their grammatical knowledge, and to see what anecdotes and funny comments I could get from them. The result is both a classic Amber & Paul episode, and quite a revealing demonstration of how English native speakers process grammar in their first language.
Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/09/22/testing-my-friends-on-english-grammar-irregular-verbs-with-amber-paul-🎯-1003/
LEP Premium 🏆 https://teacherluke.co.uk/premium
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