Canguro English

Accent and identity (with Erik Singer)

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you know me and my work then you know that I talk a lot about identity, and especially how your accent is a big part of your identity: your accent ...

The state of modern linguistics | The Story of Language | Bonus episode

13 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this bonus episode we talk about ...

Embodied cognition | The Story of Language | Episode 12

06 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we discuss embodied ...

Dark matter of the mind | The Story of Language | Episode 11

30 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we discuss the conte...

The cognitive revolution | The Story of Language | Episode 10

16 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the co...

Endangered languages | The Story of Language | Episode 9

02 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about endang...

Language acquisition | The Story of Language | Episode 8

18 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the bi...

Metaphor in language | The Story of Language | Episode 7

04 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the fu...

Learn English with a dictionary (with Peter Sokolowski)

01 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

People are passionate about language, especially language change, and words matter. And nobody knows this better Peter Sokolowski, who is an editor at...

1 powerful mind trick to get fluency

26 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast you will learn how Pygmalion and the Wizard of Oz can teach you the secret to fluency in English that has been causing controversy for...

Destroying language myths (with Shana Poplack)

19 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s an unfortunate fact that many people don’t know the truth about how language works outside of their grammar books, in the real world, but rec...

Where words come from and how to remember them (with Mark Forsyth)

10 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There are few people in the world who know as much about where words come from as Mark Forsyth. His first book, The Etymologicon, was a journey throug...

Grammar based on the unfamiliar (with Robert Van Valin)

07 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s an unfortunate fact that most of linguistic theory is based on a few major European languages, especially English, which actually damages our u...

How to speak English faster

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast you will learn the connection between Pixar, red triangles, information, thought, and fluency. Enjoy!

The weight of expectation

05 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast I talk about the positive and negative effects of the weight of expectation, and how living the in past or the future might be stoppin...

Touch wood

30 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode you'll learn why touching wood, throwing salt, and car accidents can help you to see the truth about learning a language.

How many holes does a straw have?

29 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode you'll learn why culture connects London taxi drivers, donuts, smiling Japanese people, and Australian shop assistants.

Immersion is a state of mind

26 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode you'll learn the hard lessons of my army father-in-law, who failed to learn a language after 14 years of 'immersion'.

Question everything to get fluency

22 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode you will learn about the differences and similarities between humans and animals, and why you shouldn't take everything you know about...

Why you need to learn slowly to get fluency

21 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I talk about what mathematics really means, why Mathematicians asked schools to stop teaching calculus, and the parallels between math...

Construction grammar and language learning (with Remi van Trijp)

01 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Recently I had the pleasure of talking to Remi van Trijp, head of the Language Research Unit and the Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Paris, and ...

How Language Began | The Story of Language | Episode 6

01 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about how la...

How language works (with Ted Gibson)

14 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Recently I had the pleasure of talking to Ted Gibson from his eponymous TedLab at MIT which researches why human languages are the way they are, how p...

You are STUPID and LAZY (how to speak English PERFECTLY)

09 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Are you stupid and lazy? Do you want to speak English perfectly? Then this podcast is for you! We are going to take a journey through the light and da...

How to study english well (with Paul Nation)

01 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There is no doubt that this is the best time in history to learn a language, especially English. We are surrounded by content in English, English lang...

The theory and practice of field linguistics | The Story of Language | Episode 5

18 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the th...

Should I learn British or American English? | How are they different?

15 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Students ask me all the time if they should learn British English or American English, and in this video you'll discover the real differences between ...

How to write business English (with Ellen Jovin)

11 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When you think about improving your writing in English, especially business writing, you probably think about studying lots of rules, and memorising s...

Do you want to speak English like a native? (with Heather Hansen)

05 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a sad fact that the English that millions of people learn in classrooms all over the world, often doesn’t match the reality of English outsid...

Linguistic Relativity | The Story of Language | Episode 4

07 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about lingui...

How languages are learned (with Patsy Lightbown)

21 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the world of language there are few people as experienced, or as respected, as Patsy Lightbown, Distinguished Professor Emerita at Concordia Univer...

What is culture? | The Story of Language | Episode 3

17 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about cultur...

Get fluent English in 2020 | 9 tips to help you learn English

06 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Do you want to really succeed at learning English in 2020? It doesn't matter if this is the first or the tenth time you have tried to get fluency in E...

The Piraha Language | The Story of Language | Episode 2

18 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the Pi...

Meet Dan Everett | The Story of Language | Episode 1

03 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. My name is Christian Saunders and I...

Task-based English learning (with Geoff Jordan)

27 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the world of English language teaching there are few people as controversial and divisive as Geoff Jordan. He is not afraid of promoting what he ca...

Daily Digest 06/11/19 | The secret to fluency in English

06 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest answers a question I get asked every day: How can I get fluent in English? To answer this question we have to travel back in time...

Plurilingualism and culture (with Angelica Galante)

01 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Recently I had the pleasure of talking to Angelica Galante from McGill University in Canada. Originally from Brazil, Angelica’s work focuses on soci...

Daily Digest 24/10/19 | Why can't I speak fluent English?

24 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest is a rant about why you might be part of the problem, and not the solution to good language learning (and teaching).

Improve your English IMMEDIATELY (with Pete from Aussie English)

19 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast I talk to Pete from Aussie English about how to improve your English IMMEDIATELY, without learning anything new. We also talk about ou...

Daily Digest 17/10/19 | Speak English without fear

17 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest explains why you are afraid of speaking English, and having conversations, and how you can overcome your fear and use your Englis...

Language and the brain (with Ev Fedorenko)

10 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking to cognitive neuroscientist Ev Fedorenko. She is head of EvLab, her own language lab at MIT, and their mission...

9/10/19 | The advantages of speaking bad English

09 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest shows why having a low level of English, and a foreign accent, and only knowing a few key concepts, are all advantages when you f...

Daily Digest 07/10/19 | Language is universal

07 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest shows what Hindustani music, cave drawings, and Japanese psychology can teach us about linguistic universals, learning a language...

Daily Digest 19/9/19 | Language and sexism

19 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about gendered languages, sexism, culture, and some common myths and misconceptions about the effect that language has on t...

Input vs output in language learning (with Adele Goldberg)

18 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the world of linguistics, there are very few people with a resume as impressive as Adele Goldberg. She has had a major influence on the way we unde...

Daily Digest 17/9/19 | Does language affect the way you think?

17 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest shows how your brain is only interested in content, not language, and why it's so important to have something to say. It also sho...

Daily Digest 16/9/19 | An alien language with no verbs

16 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest is a philosophical journey into the meaning of language, what it means to be human, how we could understand and speak alien langu...

Practice and immersion (with Josh Hartshorne)

11 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

I always talk about how important patience is when you’re learning a language, because it’s really hard, and it takes a really long time, and rece...

The truth about non-native English teachers (with Marek Kiczkowiak)

04 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the world of English language learning and teaching there is an obsession with the native speaker. Recently I spoke to someone who explains exactly...

Daily Digest 30/8/19 | Learn with a flying penis

30 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest shows how you can learn and especially teach language not with grammar and textbooks, but with ideas, concepts, discussion, and d...

Daily Digest 29/8/19 | How to test your fluency

29 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest is all about fluency. What is fluency? How can you test your fluency? How can you get fluency? You might be surprised at the answ...

The shape of language (with Peter Gärdenfors)

27 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Unfortunately, most people view language as grammar, and rules, and concrete concepts. But we need to think about language differently. In this interv...

Daily Digest 26/8/19 | Native language interference

26 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest shows how things are hidden in language, and how your hidden native language structures interfere with your ability to be like a ...

Daily Digest 23/8/19 | The TRUTH about language

23 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest starts with a joke about politicians and then explains how they make us believe lies, what it tells us about the way our brains w...

The myth of the native speaker (with David Crystal)

21 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this interview I talk to David Crystal: a legend in the world of the English language. He is a linguist, lecturer, and broadcaster, and he has writ...

Daily Digest 20/8/19 | Understand native speakers easily

20 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest shows the magic of eye contact and how a trick from the internet might help you to understand native speakers quickly and easily....

Daily Digest 16/8/19 | Why do native speakers talk so fast?

16 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest explains why people from some languages appear to speak faster than others, and why syllables are not the same as information.

Daily Digest 15/8/19 | How to remember vocabulary

15 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about the science of vocabulary learning and why you are more likely to remember magicians and dogs, than newspapers and be...

How to teach English (with Scott Thornbury)

14 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Recently I had the pleasure of talking to Scott Thornbury, a giant in the world of English language teaching. He is a teacher, teacher trainer, award-...

Daily Digest 13/8/19 | Get patience to learn English

13 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about the real meaning of patience, where patience comes from, how to get patience, and why you need it if you want to get ...

Daily Digest 9/8/19 | How to get motivated to learn English

09 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about how motivation is a quality, not a quantity, and the important effect that can have on your language learning.

Daily Digest 8/8/19 | Language is a tool

08 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest starts with a joke about an Englishman and then explains why language is as deeply human as food, water, and shelter.

How polyglots learn languages (with Steve Kaufmann)

07 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this interview I speak to Steve Kaufmann, a well-known polyglot who at the age of 73 has learnt 20 different languages. We talk about language lear...

Daily Digest 6/8/19 | Why you should learn English

06 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest tells the story of a prison debate team and what it shows us about the power of education to change lives, and why it should moti...

Daily Digest 5/8/19 | More pronunciation practice

05 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest continues with a joke about janitors and some pronunciation practice activities for Russian and Greek speakers.

Free education (with Mihalis from Language Transfer)

03 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the world of language teaching there are people who teach, and then there are others who go beyond simply teaching, and into real learning, and tod...

Daily Digest 2/8/19 | Pronunciation practice activities

02 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest moves from pronunciation theory to practice. I am going to show you how Arabic, German, and Spanish speakers can improve their En...

Daily Digest 1/8/19 | Babies and accents

01 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest show the amazing accent abilities of 11-month-old babies, and what that tells us about the difference between accent and pronunci...

Daily Digest 31/7/19 | Meatballs and pronunciation

31 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest explains why most people practice pronunciation in the wrong way, how our human instruments are not perfect, and how Spanish meat...

Daily Digest 30/7/19 | How to pronounce English

30 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest shows what Thai and Arabic can teach us about the English alphabet, and why consonants are the only things that matter in pronunc...

Daily Digest 29/7/19 | How do you feel lettuce?

29 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest shows how some strange science involving gasoline, hydrogen, and lettuce might explain why we learn some words better than others...

Language and computing (with Steven Piantadosi)

27 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this interview I speak to Steven Piantadosi, assistant professor of the computation and language lab at UC Berkeley. We talk about language acquisi...

Daily Digest 25/7/19 | Subtitles or no subtitles?

25 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest answers the question of whether you should watch English films and series with subtitles or no subtitles. And the answer might su...

Daily Digest 24/7/19 | How do I learn English?

24 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest answers a question that I get asked every day: "How do I learn English?". The answer involves elephants, bees, and children play...

Daily Digest 23/7/19 | Illusions and language learning

23 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest explains what audio and video illusions can tell us about how our brains work, and the best way to prepare ourselves for fluent E...

Daily Digest 22/7/19 | A photographic memory for English

22 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about why I seem to contradict myself, how children remember everything they hear, and what it tells about how adults might...

Daily Digest 19/7/19 | Learn English by doing nothing

19 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about what sign language can tell us about spoken language: why children are more successful at learning than adults, and h...

Daily Digest 18/7/19 | Your name controls your life

18 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about how sound symbolism can work in two directions, why you should change your name to pass that English exam, and how to...

Daily Digest 17/7/19 | How to write better in English

17 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about how to learn how to write in English, and why you really have no excuses in 2019. You can become my patron here: htt...

Daily Digest 16/7/19 | Adults learn languages better than children

16 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest is about a group of rich and irritating Greek philosophers, and why children DO NOT learn languages better than adults.

Daily Digest 15/7/19 - In defense of non-native English

15 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about the myth of beautiful and ugly language, and why the critics are wrong about non-native English.

Language and communication (with Daniel Everett)

13 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this interview I talk to one of the most important and influential people working in the field of language today about the origins of language, lan...

Daily Digest 12/7/19 - Left and right

12 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about how superstition and bad science has led to hundreds of years of social and linguistic consequences for left-handed p...

English is a global language (with Jennifer Jenkins)

11 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this interview I talk with professor Jennifer Jenkins, the Chair of Global Englishes at the University of Southampton and the creator of ELF (Engli...

Daily Digest 11/7/19 - Winking and blinking

11 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about having one eye closed, what it means in various cultures, and what it tells us about non-verbal communication.

Daily Digest 10/7/19 - Banks and bunks

10 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's daily digest talks about my upcoming interview with Scott Thornbury, and also the relationship between benches, money, and myths. You can bec...

Daily Digest 9/7/19 - Mondegreens and eggcorns

09 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s daily digest shows how words are formed by accidents, and the relationship between being full, and vegetables. You can become my patron her...

Daily Digest 8/7/19 - Old vs new

08 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s daily digest is about how far we've advanced in 80 years, except with language learning and teaching. You can become my patron here: https:...

Daily Digest 5/7/19 - Hunting and hearing

05 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s daily digest starts with a mother-in-law joke, moves to an old English word which has become a fossil, and then explains why we need to stop...

Daily Digest 4/7/19 - Crushed rocks and gestures

04 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s daily digest goes back to the future, to incorporate various things that we have learned over the past few episodes. You will discover how a...

Daily Digest 3/7/19 - Soldiers and teeth

03 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s daily digest story starts with a joke about a soldier, then moves to teeth, and finally to why we can’t change our accents.

Daily Digest 2/7/19 - Peaches and sour grapes

02 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s daily digest is about fruits, what they tell us about how we see the world, how we form adjectives, and where words come from. You can beco...

Daily Digest 1/7/19 - Pigs and Babies

01 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s daily digest is about pigs, chaos, repetition, and the importance of talking to children, especially if you’re poor. You can become my pat...

Episode 9: The Pregnant Fireman

18 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I am going to be talking about euphemisms, bears, and the magical power of language. See you in class!

Episode 8: It's ALIVE!!!

15 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I'm going to be talking about language change, why we should learn to love it instead of hate it, and why language is exactly like Fra...

Episode 7: Thirty Million Words

12 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I’m going to reveal the secret to fluency that is too good to be true, and show you how you can control the future, only by talking....

Episode 6: Chinese Restaurants and Frank Sinatra

29 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I talk about a fascinating language paradox, how it predicts the future of the English language, and how it explains why the music of ...

Episode 5: Birds and Babies

16 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I talk about HOW we learn to speak a language, and the incredible importance of the similarities between birds and babies. See you in ...

Episode 4: Fifty Words For Snow

19 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I talk about words. What exactly are they? How do they represent ideas? Can they change the way we think? And you will finally discove...