The Level Up English Podcast (Natural British English)

#269 Debates, Arguments, & Controversial Opinions

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I share some of my opinions on debate questions provided to me by Chat GPT, ranging from general opinions to deeper more philosophical ones. While doi...

#268 The Best Way to Learn English with Fabio Cerpelloni

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fabio Cerpelloni chats with me on the podcast today around the topic of his new book: 'Any Language You Want: 18 Conflicting Lessons for a New Ki...

#267 Learn English by Teaching

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A listener asked me how they can teach English to their friend, so I decided to give some tips and advice in this podcast episode.I cover some tips yo...

#266 Make English Pronunciation Easier with Assimilation

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In Episode 255, we spoke about Linking. In Episode 262, we spoke about Elision.Now, in Episode 266, we're talking all about Assimilation. This i...

#265 Acronyms to Level Up Your English

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Acronyms are words that use the first letter of each word in a phrase. NASA and LOL are two common examples from very different areas.In the age of th...

#264 Increase Your Confidence to Speak English with Clare

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Clare from the Smart English Coach podcast joins us for a fun chat about confidence, limiting beliefs, and language learning. We expl...

#263 Big Lessons from Visiting Japan

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do you love the rambling episodes? Well this might be for you! Today, I go over my recent trip to Japan and discuss some of the things I did, but most...

#262 Why You Can't Understand Native Speakers (Elision)

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Textbook English is different from spoken English, and a big part of this comes down to pronunciation and how things are said in real conversations. ...

#261 Travel Stories - Phrasal Verbs with 'Turn'

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I get a few requests to continue my series on Phrasal Verbs, and specifically, I had one recently to cover phrasal verbs that use the verb 'turn&...

#260 Playing Games to Learn English (Dylan - British Education)

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dylan (from the YouTube channel British Education) joined me for a fun games session today. We're using games to have a conversation and practice...

#259 Fixing Your Relationship Problems

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since this episode falls on Valentine's Day, let's discuss the topic of Love and Relationships.I'll be basing this episode around a gro...

#258 I Made Very Big Mistakes

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Just a few days into 2024, I already made 2 very big and expensive mistakes.In this episode, I share what happened and exactly why I made these mistak...

#257 How to Live a Long Life (Blue Zones)

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we're taking a deep dive into Blue Zones - 5 areas around the world where people live a long time with great health.I'll be...

#256 Spending 10 Days in Silence - Stories with Bree Aesie

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bree Aesie from Into The Stories Podcast joins us today for a conversation about meditation and stories. This was one of my favourite conversations ye...

#255 The Secret to Natural British English (Linking!)

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Textbook English is different from spoken English, and a big part of this comes down to pronunciation and how things are said in real conversations.Yo...

#254 Ask Me Anything 4

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I answer listener questions on all sorts of topics - ranging from British culture to the fairness of life! And of course, English language questions t...

#253 Use Conjunctions to Debate in English

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Let's look at some conjunctions (also known as connectives) to help improve your conversation and debating skills in English.Conjunctions are an ...

#252 Reflecting on 2023, Planning for 2024

27 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome back to one of my favourite episodes of the year - one filled with reflections and goal-setting at the end of the year. I love this time of ye...

#251 Is English Education Broken? (Gregory Diehl)

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Gregory Diehl is an English teacher and author of the new book: Our Global Lingua Franca: An Educator’s Guide to Spreading English Where EFL Doesn’...

#250 Answer These Mixed Conditional Questions

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Let's learn to use hypothetical situations with confidence in this episode on Mixed Conditionals. It's been a long-time suggestion from list...

#249 Unbelievable Statistics About the UK

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's episode of the Level Up English podcast, we dive into the fascinating world of statistics. Prepare to be amazed by some truly unbe...

#248 I Tracked My Language Learning for 2 Months

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past few months, I've been meticulously tracking my language learning process for Japanese, Thai, and Chinese Mandarin on a Google Sheet...

#247 Digital Nomad in a Van (Paul Creane)

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Creane joined me today to talk about his exciting lifestyle of being a Digital Nomad. We talk about what this means in the episode as well as lot...

#246 Easy Stories in English (Ariel Goodbody)

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I am a big fan of reading for the purpose of learning a language as well, of course as listening, which is why I make podcasts. If you want to improve...

#245 The Ultimate Guide to IELTS Speaking

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, I will be talking about the IELTS Speaking exam.I know the IELTS exam isn't going to be relevant for everyone, although I always...

#244 The Link Between Exercise and Language Learning

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Over the years doing this podcast, the topic of exercise seems to have come up a lot when making comparisons to language learning, so I thought it was...

#243 Should You Learn from Non-Native Speakers?

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I get comments occasionally from people who say “I want to be like a native speaker” and “I don’t want to learn from non-native speakers. In ...

#242 Learn Languages Like a Pro (Xiaogua Chinese)

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, I have a great and casual chat with Zhifei from​ Xiaogua Chinese about language learning, using flashcards, the best mindset for le...

#241 Furry Friends - Team Dog or Team Cat?

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For many of us, pets and animals are a huge part of our lives. We spend a lot of time and money looking after our furry friends, and I definitely have...

#240 Biggest Lessons from Moving Abroad

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I’ve been living in Bangkok, Thailand since the beginning of August, so it’s been over 2 months now. This is the longest I’ve spent in one place...

#239 Never Forget English Words Again

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Memory is something we've covered a few times on the podcast before, but it's always worth coming back to with more ideas and tips. In this ...

#238 Level Up English Live - Giving Advice

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Every now and then, I invite the members of Level Up English to join me for a chat about different topics. This time, we spoke about giving advice. In...

#237 The Power of Groups and Movies with Cara Leopold

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cara Leopold (Leo Listening) joins me once again on the podcast to discuss the benefits of learning English in groups with her experience teaching gro...

#236 Adding 'Up' to Verbs (Part 2)

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we'll be talking about some patterns you can remember when adding UP to verbs.Here are some examples: cloud up, clear up, finish...

#235 Learn English Fast with Comprehensible Input

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I had a great audio question sent in today about learning with comprehensible input. So in this episode, I cover some of the ideas behind the comprehe...

#234 Steve Kaufmann's Language Learning Advice

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Kaufmann is a polyglot who has a good level of proficiency in around 20 languages. Steve is well known for his content online and on his YouTube...

#233 Don't Take Yourself So Seriously

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On the private podcast last week, I chatted a bit about my experience in China and then ended on the idea of the benefit of being silly in your langua...

#232 Making Big Life Changes

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I recently made a huge change in my life and I'm announcing it to everyone in this episode today. I'm going to talk a little bit about this ...

#231 Don't Call Me 'Dear'

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do you know how to use the word 'dear'? A lot of people get confused with this term, and honestly the answer isn't as simple as you may...

#230 Buying a House in the UK

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A listener requested a topic on the housing market in the UK, so I thought I'd give it a shot and make it as interesting as I can. In this episod...

#229 The History of English with Kevin Stroud

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kevin Stroud from the History of English Podcast joins me for a fascinating discussion and dive into... well, the history of English!In this episode, ...

#228 English Vocabulary for Getting Sick

12 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week I’m beginning to come down with a cold. I can feel my throat getting hoarse and it hurts to swallow, and I probably don’t have much time...

#227 Do Phrasal Verbs Need Prepositions?

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I had a listener question about Phrasal Verbs and why some of them use prepositions even though the meaning seems to be the same without them.Can we s...

#226 Ask Me Anything 3

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is the first AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode I have done since #84! It's been a while, but this is where I reach out to Instagram to get some ...

#225 Tips to Succeed in IELTS with Aubrey Carter

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Aubrey Carter from All Ears English and IELTS Energy joins me today for a chat about the IELTS English exam, and a few other topics.We discuss tips fo...

#224 Eat or Eat Up? (Why We Always Say 'UP')

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I got a question about adding "UP" to certain verbs and this learner wanted to know more. As I did more research, I was plunged into a rabbi...

#223 How to Get Natural English with Parallelism

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I see a lot of writing mistakes with learners struggling with parallel structures, or parallelism. This is where features in a sentence have to follow...

#222 What do British People Think of the Monarchy?

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With the recent coronation of King Charles in the UK, people might be wondering why I haven't posted any content related to the royal family.Well...

#221 The Importance of Sleep

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you well-rested and ready to begin today's episode? Sleep is a vital part of human health and I explore this a bit in today's episode. I...

#220 Business English - Anna with 2Ns

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Anna Connelly is known as Anna with 2Ns online and has her own podcast looking at Business English. She joins us today to discuss business English, gi...

#219 Learn English with Jokes

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you ready for a laugh? Well, I can't promise that. But I'll do my best! This is Part 2 of learning English with jokes and humour, where ...

#218 4 Life Lessons from the World's Most Influential People

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you looking for some inspiration this week?Today I look at 4 of the world's most influential people and share some valuable life lessons we c...

#217 Embrace Your Weirdness

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Learn about the benefits you can receive from embracing your weirdness - in other words: accepting your uniqueness. There are so many benefits of doin...

#216 Is it bad to UM and AH? - Valerie Fridland

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Valerie Fridland is a professor, sociolinguist, author, and public speaker. Her recent book is: Like, Literally, Dude. Arguing for the Good in B...

#215 Animal Idioms You Can Use in Daily Conversation

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's episode, we're exploring the fun topic of animals, except we're not learning simple animal words or noises they make. Th...

#214 How to Make Phone Calls in English

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We'll be talking today about making phone calls in English, including tips on being confident and doing it successfully, as well as some useful e...

#213 How Long Until I Get Fluent in English?

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today I'm answering a question I hear all the time - How long until I get fluent in English? How many months or years until I can be done?I answe...

#212 Secrets of a Hyperpolyglot - Richard Simcott

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Simcott has a strong passion for language learning and is described by Wikipedia as a hyperpolyglot (a word I had never heard of before).This ...

#211 Let's Talk About Money in English

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we're talking about money! I share lots of very useful words related to finances, making and saving money, as well as some usefu...

#210 Will Robots Take Over? (AI Wrote this Episode)

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As time goes on, we're seeing more and more impressive advancements in AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology. Recently, a chat bot called Chat ...

#209 Practising Self Love

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we talk about practising self-love, self-acceptance, confidence and more. We relate this to language learning and having the best att...

#208 Why British People Say 'Sorry' So Much

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, I'm very sorry to say that we are talking about apologising! We cover the topic of British culture and why we say sorry so much,...

#207 Talking About Your Passions with Anna (English Like a Native)

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Anna from ​@EnglishLikeANative and I have a casual chat around the topic of interests and passion.We also talk about...- Anna's interesting bac...

#206 Survive a Zombie Outbreak with Inverted Conditionals

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, I talk about my advice on surviving a zombie outbreak based on my extensive experience watching zombie TV series and playing video ga...

#205 Why Take a Break?

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why should we take a break? Well, there are many reasons! In this episode, I talk about some of the benefits of taking a break from coffee, work, rela...

#204 The Best Advice I've Received

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is based on a recent group class I taught looking at giving and asking for advice. In this episode, I'll share some good and bad adv...

#203 Living Away from Home - Tika Teaches English

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tika (Tika Teaches English) is an English teacher from England but now living in South Korea and has been for several months now. She kindly joined me...

#202 British Humour, Puns and Jokes

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Although my lessons on jokes have always been a bit awkward in the past, let's have a go at covering it in a podcast episode today. We'll be...

#201 Shopping & Consumerism

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With the Christmas and the holiday season, we tend to buy a lot and consumerism is rampant. With that, I thought an episode about shopping would be ti...

#200 End of Year Reflections (Episode 200 Celebration!)

28 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Join me for a very special 200th episode! Thank you all so much for listening and supporting me until now.In this episode, I talk about my favourite t...

#199 Introverts and Extroverts

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, I look at the difference between introverts, extroverts and ambiverts. We then go over some key features of each personality type whi...

#198 Habits for Language Learners - Lindsay Williams

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lindsay Williams (Lindsay Does Languages) first appeared on the podcast for Episode 42, and now she's back for a fun conversation where we discus...

#197 Why British Say Wo'ta, Not 'Water' (Glottal Stop)

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The glottal stop is a feature that is common in British English pronunciation where a sound (usually a T) changes quite drastically. In this podcast, ...

#196 How to be More Organised

03 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I look at a few articles on how to be organised. I love the topic of organisation and I really think that, when done correctly, it can help improve yo...

#195 Getting Past the Intermediate Plateau

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The intermediate plateau is a term used to describe a period somewhere between Beginner and Advanced levels in language learning where it feels like p...

#194 - British vs American - Lindsay McMahon (All Ears English)

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lindsay McMahon is the cohost of the All Ears English Podcast and I was delighted when she agreed to join me for a chat about our own cultures! In th...

#193 How to Make More Time

19 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How can we find the time to study, rest and have fun while working all day? I react to some online articles and Reddit posts that talk about how to fi...

#192 How to Improve Your English Spelling

16 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I go over some tips (about 10!) on improving your spelling in English. It's not easy, but there are some things you can try to see improvements o...

#191 How to Score High in the IELTS Exam

09 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a heavily requested episode on the IELTS exam. Let's talk about how you can get a high score and reach your goals in the exam. In this ep...

#190 British Etiquette Foreigners Must Know

05 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In today's reaction episode, I look at a Reddit post from someone moving to the UK and asking some Brits what etiquette (politeness) rules must b...

#189 Deep & Narrow vs Wide & Shallow

02 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a topic I have been thinking about some quite some time. The difference between approaching something Deep and Narrow versus Wide and Shallow ...

#188 England and America's Cultural Differences

26 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today, I decided to do a more casual and relaxed episode since I'm still a bit ill at the time of recording. I discuss my own experiences of the ...

#187 Things We Find Really Cringe

22 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, I start by teaching some phrases related to "cringe". (Full vocabulary list on Level Up English)I then read some Reddit pos...

#186 All About Canada with Teacher Julie

19 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the past, in my series on English-speaking countries around the world, I've recorded guest episodes looking at Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornw...

#185 Implied Meaning in English

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As you might know, English isn't like how we find it in textbooks. In day-to-day conversations, we often don't speak in full sentences, and ...

#184 Language Learning Hacks

08 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I look at several online pages about hacks to learn English more easily.Do you know any language hacks to make things easier?Here's the article I...

#183 Should Humans Go to Mars?

05 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, I talk a bit about space, humanity, Elon Musk, and answer the question of whether humans should move to Mars in the future. I love th...

#182 TV Series to Improve Your British English (Part 2)

28 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I spoke about 14 TV shows to improve your British English in episode 22 of the podcast.Since then, I've got a lot of requests to make a Part 2. T...

#181 A Changing World with Teacher Lewis (@englishwithlewis)

21 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lewis (@englishwithlewis) is an English teacher from the UK who is now living in Spain. He works for Teachify, an online English academy. He joined m...

#180 Things That Annoy Us

17 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome back to another Saturday episode!In today's episode, I'm reacting to another Reddit post on /AskReddit which was "What things p...

#179 Overweight Children... (An IELTS Writing Question)

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A listener requested I respond to an IELTS Writing Part 2 question in an episode, but rather than answer the question in the exam style, I'm allo...

#178 Watching The News

07 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I think we all have love-hate relationships with the news these days, don't we? Some of us are addicted to watching and it harms our mental healt...

#177 Things We Shouldn't Find Embarrassing But Do

03 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the very first Saturday episode of the podcast! This is a reaction episode where I respond to a Reddit post on r/CasualUK talking about thi...

#176 Should I Listen to Slow or Natural English?

31 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I often get people asking me to speak more slowly or sometimes to speed up! I can't please everyone, but in this episode, I talk about the benefi...

#175 Life Experiences with Teacher Zdenek

24 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Teacher Zdenek joined me for a chat about life experiences. We start by discussing his hobbies of football and board games, and then go into some big ...

#174 A Daily Language Learning Routine

17 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I thought it would be a nice time to give a 2022 update on my current language learning routine and what my daily schedule looks like. Hopefully it gi...

#173 Free Resources to Learn English (Should You Pay?)

10 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome, English Learners! Today we're discussing the difference between paid and free resources to learn English. Why paying might sometimes b...

#172 How to Stop Translating in Your Head

03 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Students often ask me how they can stop translating in their head from English into their native language while talking. This is a fantastic question ...

#171 Why We Procrastinate

27 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do you struggle with procrastination?In this episode, I talk about some possible reasons why we procrastinate and some solutions to focusing more on t...

#170 How to Stay Motivated (Live Member's Episode!)

20 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I sent out an invite to members of Level Up English to join me on an episode today to talk about motivation. We spoke about how they get motivated to ...