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Keeps optional. You're listening to Luke's English Podcast.
For more information, visit teacherluke .co .uk.
Hello, welcome back to Luke's English Podcast.
How are you doing? You doing all right?
Yeah, I hope so. It's nice to be talking to you again on the podcast.
This is going to be episode number what?
892? Indeed, I think so.
Episode 892. How nice to be able to talk to you like this from the comfort of my own podcast room, talking to all my listeners around the world completely free for you.
How nice. Hello. Episode 892.
Right. I think so. I think it is 8892.
Episode 900 is coming, isn't it?
It's not going to be long, a couple of months maybe, and then it'll be episode 900.
I have absolutely no specific plans for that.
No idea what I'm going to do.
We'll see. I'll probably just, I'll deal with that when that comes up.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, right?
No, let's focus now instead on this episode right here, right now um all right I'm gonna I've got a sort of a yeah I've got a pdf for this one which you can download from my website you'll find a link in the description I'll be reading from the pdf during the episode this is just like some notes some of this stuff
is scripted some of it's spontaneous but I'll be using the pdf as my kind of uh my notes basically bits of script bits of spontaneous speaking right so I'm going to start reading from that pdf in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Here we go right now.
Okay. So this is where I start the PDF.
July 2024 ramble working title.
Working title, that means that when you haven't decided what the actual title of a thing will be, like in this case, a podcast episode, but it could be something else like a film or a documentary or a song or something, you haven't decided what the title will be.
We use a working title and that in this case, that's July 2024 Ramble, which is just very descriptive.
Anyway, so hello. This is a podcast for learners of English around the world.
Hello. Are you a learner of English?
Are you around the world?
Yes. Then this podcast is for you.
Now, if you've been listening to this show for ages and you're a certified Lepster, you've actually got a certificate.
I've never actually issued any certificates to prove that you're a Lepster.
Maybe that's something I can do.
Maybe I need to start issuing special Lepster certificates.
But anyway, if you are a sort of unofficial, if you're a Lepster, basically then hi it's nice to be talking to you again and some people are thinking what what's a lepster what's that is that what's a lepster so a lepster is a citizen of lepland and you're thinking what lepland like is that is that not where santa claus
comes from no it's not that's lapland l -a -p -l -a -n -d and we're not talking about lapland here it's LEPLAND.
LEPLAND, L -E -P, that's L -E -P, that means Luke's English Podcast.
I'm typing while I'm talking here, which is high -level multitasking.
Not really, not really high -level multitasking.
It's not exactly like being a fighter pilot.
Anyway, LEP, that's Luke's English Podcast.
LEPLAND, that is the kind of metaphysical world or space in which, it's the metaphysical place where all my listeners are from so fans of this podcast all come from the same imaginary place which is called lepland so if you if you're a lepster from lepland then hello if you're a ninja who just listens
and never comes out of the shadows to leave a comment or get in touch perhaps i can coax you out of the shadows kind of like try and persuade you to come out, right, to coax someone, is to kind of try and gently persuade someone to do something, like, for example, come out and say hello.
If you are a ninja, and this is a kind of a predefined term, by the way, on this podcast, a ninja is exactly that, someone who listens to the show, but never actually comes out of the shadows to leave a comment or to get in touch in any way.
If that is you, maybe I can coax you out of the shadows just to come here, come out in to the limelight sort of thing and write a little comment on this episode, either on the website page or on Spotify where you can leave comments or on YouTube.
Write a little comment to say hello and if you feel like it, to answer any of these questions.
So this is just a little call to action for you to stop being a ninja and actually sort of write something in the comment section.
So, write an answer to any of these questions in the comment section.
So, here are a few questions.
So, where are you from?
How long have you been listening to my podcast?
Oh, there's a bit of grammar.
How long have you been listening to my podcast?
This is not a grammar test, but there's a bit of present perfect continuous.
Why not? Why not use this moment to just quickly review this particular bit of grammar.
So how long have you been listening to my podcast?
So this bit of grammar, right, present, perfect, continuous, we use this to talk about like how long, to say how long for a present action, but the how long refers to the time when, the time between when it started and now.
Does that make sense?
For example, what are you doing?
oh I'm listening to Luke's English podcast oh that's interesting how long have you been doing that oh for about about five minutes now I've been listening to this particular episode for about five minutes so you could be funny and say uh about five minutes Luke but what I meant was how long have you
been listening to the podcast sort of regularly in your life you might say I've been listening to LEP for about I don't know six months or I've been listening to LEP for about you know, a week.
Maybe you just discovered the podcast or maybe you're a super long term listener and you can say, I've been listening to LEP for 16 years.
And if that is the case, then I don't know how you've done that because I've only been doing the podcast for 15 years.
So if you've been listening to this podcast for 16 years, then congratulations.
You have found a way to travel through time.
Good for you. Could you please kind of go back into the past and correct certain things in history?
Just be careful, though.
Actually, don't do that.
Don't go back into the past to correct the course of history, because that will probably lead to some sort of terrible outcome, which would be even worse than what you expected.
OK, that's a bit of a random tangent there while I was trying to explain present perfect continuous.
Basically, for a thing you're doing now, if you want to say sort of how long you've been doing it, I mean, if you want to talk about how long for a present thing, we often use present perfect continuous, right?
That's often the way it's used.
You know, I've been living in France for over 10 years now.
I've been doing this podcast for over 15 years.
I've been working as an English teacher for about 23 years now.
You see? So, what about you?
How long have you been listening to my podcast?
You could be funny and say about five minutes.
In fact, it's more like eight minutes now.
Or you could just be straight about it and say, I've been listening to your podcast for or since as well, right?
I've been listening to this podcast since it started, Luke.
I've been with you from the very beginning.
Or I've been listening to this podcast since I discovered the show during the COVID lockdown, and I was looking for things to help me improve my English online.
Or I've been listening to this podcast since my friend introduced it to me three three and a half weeks ago.
Exactly. OK, so how did you discover Luke's English podcast?
How would you describe your level of English?
Right. Why do you want to learn or improve your English?
Do you listen to any other podcasts to improve your English?
Which ones do you listen to?
What, for you, is the best way to improve your English?
What works for you?
Now, you might not think, wait a minute, Luke, I'm no expert.
Yeah, but still, I want to know.
I want to know what works for you.
What have you found to be a good way to do this?
If you want to know my thoughts, you can go back into my episode archive and look at the old episodes I've done about how to learn English with Luke's English podcast.
There's even an episode called how to learn English.
You could check that one out.
Just go into my episode archive, teacherluke .co .uk slash episodes.
You know what? Because I'm because I'm nice.
I'm going to find that episode for you right now.
How to learn English.
I've done a few in the past about, you know, techniques, methods, ways to improve your English, but we can just go with that one.
So I'm looking at my episode archive.
I'm going to do, because I use an Apple Mac laptop, I'm going to press command F and I'm going to be able to find this episode, how to learn English.
Command F opens a little search bar on my browser.
I use Google Chrome.
When I press hold command and tap F, the search bar opens, and I can then search for keywords on that particular website, and it just takes me straight there.
Did you know about that?
On a Windows computer, you can do Control F, and you can do the same thing.
A very kind of convenient way to, for example, search my episode archive, which you can find at teacherluke .co .uk slash episodes.
So I've done that, and I've found the episode.
It's number 669 and it's called How to Learn English, giving you as much advice as possible about learning English across the four skills of reading, listening, writing and speaking.
Full transcript available.
So you could check that one out, right, if you wanted to know some of my thoughts.
But anyway, what about your thoughts?
What do you think are the best ways to improve your English in your personal experience?
I'd like to know, please.
So share your thoughts.
Next question. Are you an audio listener or a video viewer?
Because there are audio listeners who are listening to the audio version of this podcast using a podcast app on their phone, no doubt, maybe on my website.
Or are you a video viewer watching this on YouTube?
Which one are you? And are you both?
In which case, you know, in which conditions do you listen to the audio version?
And when do you watch the video version?
I suppose most people listen to the audio version when they're doing something else, like, for example, when they're driving a car or maybe driving something else, driving a horse drawn carriage through the streets of Victorian London.
That's that person who's managed to travel back in time.
Yeah. Or, you know, maybe you listen to the audio version when you are walking or on public transport or something.
Let us know. Um, next question.
Are you a premium subscriber?
Um, in which case, which pop, which podcast app do you use, uh, to get all your premium episodes?
Are you using Apple podcasts, pocket casts, something else?
No, I'm not going to now go into excessive levels of detail about how to add LEP premium to a podcast app on your phone.
Not this time, folks.
Uh, next question. Which episode do you remember as one of your favorites?
Do you have a particular favorite that you remember?
Anything sticky in your memory in terms of an episode that you've enjoyed?
Let us know what that is.
What kind of episodes do you like?
Because I do different types of episode on this show.
I'm curious to know what kinds of episodes are your favorites?
Stories, jokes, conversations, certain guests, rambles like this one.
Can you think of any moments from this podcast, like specific moments that that that stick in your mind, right?
Any particular little moments on the podcast that stick in your mind?
What kind of moments do you enjoy in these episodes?
Is it moments where bits of language come up and I explain them for you?
Or are there moments where just like little bits of random humor arrive or something like that?
What are your what moments do you like?
Do you usually manage to listen all the way to the end of each episode?
And if you do, do you do that in one single listening session or do you break it up into sections, which I should remind you is possible.
You don't have to listen to the whole thing in one single go.
If you're using a podcast app, you listen to a bit, stop, go off, do something else, close your phone.
You can even turn your phone off and turn it back on again the next day.
is there anyone who does this in the world i don't think so is there anyone out there on earth who actually switches off their phone at the end of the day well that's the end of the day i'm going to switch off my phone pew power it down and in the morning oh brand new day let's see have a bit of breakfast
shower get dressed and everything get all ready and then oh i suppose i better turn on my phone then no one does that right there's just your phone is just on all the time if your phone is off.
You know, something's wrong.
Oh no, my phone's offline.
Anyway, you could even turn off your phone and your podcast app will remember where you stopped.
And on YouTube, if you're signed in with your Google account, it should also remember where you stopped watching the video.
And when you come back to it, it'll carry on from that point.
But anyway, do you listen in one single go or do you break it up into sections?
What else? What's your favourite colour?
This is irrelevant, of course, but I'm curious.
What's your favorite color?
And what is the average wing speed of a fully laden African swallow?
Just a kind of a bit of trivia there at the end.
I don't know the answer.
I just got thrown into the into the chasm of doom from that film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
OK, that's a that's a question for Monty Python fans, which will probably leave many of you scratching your heads at this point.
Stop. What is your name?
It is Arthur, king of the Britons.
What is your quest?
To seek the holy grail.
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
What do you mean? An African or European swallow?
I don't know that. Who do you know so much about swallows?
Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
OK. All right. Anyway, let's carry on.
So my main aim with these episodes is to help you get more listening practice into your life in order to help you learn English as it is spoken by a human.
In this case, that human is me.
Hello. So I'm Luke.
I'm an English teacher, podcaster and stand up comedian from England, currently living in France.
Mmm, baguettes and croissants and stuff.
Yeah. I've been teaching English for 23 years this summer.
Does that make sense?
That sounds like just this summer I've been teaching for 23 years, which is not possible, again, unless you have a time machine.
Enough about time machines.
Anyway, this summer, meaning like 23 summers ago, I was just doing my first English teaching in a classroom getting very stressed out trying to learn how to be an English teacher and having my first teaching experiences.
That was 23 years ago before some of you were even born before some of you were even a little you know sparkle in your mother's eye you know.
I was there kind of trying to teach English feeling very uncomfortable it's a different story now I'm much more relaxed about it and as a result enjoy it a lot more than I did it in the beginning anyway there's another story for another time so I've been teaching for 23 years this summer and I've been
podcasting for over 15 years there's that present perfect continuous again the podcast has built up a big following around the world over those 15 years.
My listeners are known as Lepsters.
I have awesome listeners and this becomes obvious to me when I sometimes meet them at stand -up shows or other events or I get recognized in an airport or something like that and people are nice.
Or also when I just see the comments that come in and the majority of the comments are absolutely lovely.
And it's great to have such nice people listening to my podcast.
And it's the sort of thing like guests who come on this show will remark.
They'll say, Luke, your audience are all so nice, aren't they?
And I'll say, yes, they are, except for some people who are dicks in the comment section.
But you know, what can you do?
So with these that I mean, that's just that's just YouTube, isn't it?
Or that's just that just goes with the territory.
But it's a pity. so you know try not to try to be nice in the comments section I'm just speaking to the you know the one percent of of people there anyway so with these podcast episodes I just want to give you something authentic personal entertaining informative and enjoyable to listen to in English
on a regular basis for longer periods long term because I think that can really help with your English.
I always try to give you a variety of different things in my episodes, stories, conversations, specific subjects, language lessons, and teaching, tips for learning English, motivation, comedy sketches, music, and sometimes I'll just ramble about lots of different things in English, sharing my thoughts
with you, using a variety of vocabulary and grammar while doing it, and sharing moments from my life.
I also want to help you connect to English in a more personal way.
So, this, episode number 892, is one of those rambling episodes which I do quite frequently, and I'm aiming to cover a few different things here.
Okay? In fact, here's an overview of the episode.
So, I'm going to give you an update on what's been going on and what to expect over the next few weeks on Luke's English Podcast and Luke's English podcast premium.
I'll give you a little report about the comedy show and live podcast recording, which actually happened last Friday.
You've probably heard me promoting it on the podcast recently.
Well, it happened. And I'll tell you about that in this episode.
It was really great, by the way.
I'm going to be teaching a language point about hedging expressions for polite and indirect questions with some added action and comedy thrown in.
So yes, some teaching about hedging language, basically how to make your questions and statements more polite and more indirect.
So looking at the ways that we can manipulate our sentences to have a certain effect, the effect being to give a good impression, to be respectful and polite when we are asking questions and things.
That's in response to a question from a listener recently.
I'll be giving some comments about the UK general election results after the Rick Thompson report that I published on the subject.
So I talked to my dad about the UK general election, which happened a couple of weeks ago now.
So I'll just kind of like talk a little bit about that.
A bit of politics, but not too much.
I'll talk a bit about Euro 2024.
2024. Okay, that's the football tournament UEFA, the UEFA European Football Championship 2024.
That's now ancient history, of course, because that's more than one week old.
So now that everyone's just gone out of your mind completely.
I must remember also to mention the Olympics, because the city of Paris is gearing up for the Olympics in less than a week.
And generally, let's relax and enjoy a stress -free ramble here in my pod room.
So it's Monday the 22nd of July as I record this.
Okay. England lost the European football championships, as I said.
England lost the Euro 2024 final against Spain about a week ago.
Congrats, Spain. Congratulations to Spain.
A bit more on that later in this episode.
Also check out my recent appearance on the FootGlish podcast That's a podcast in which you can learn English with football And I was on there and talked about England and the Euros for about half an hour Talking about England's performance What went wrong, what went right The players, Gareth Southgate
and all the rest of it So you can check that out on the FootGlish podcast And you can find a link to that in the description OK.
Labour, the Labour Party, that's a political party in the UK.
Labour won the UK general election by a landslide.
That means that they won by a very large majority a couple of weeks ago, just as my dad predicted.
Again, a bit more on that later.
Donald Trump nearly got shot and ended up looking like some kind of action movie hero.
You must have seen that.
Unbelievable. And Joe Biden has stepped down as the presidential candidate for the Democrats, having looked worryingly shaky and confused in the most recent presidential debate.
There had been a lot of calls for him to step down.
Finally, he did it.
A little bit more on that later, too, but not too much politics.
it's been boiling hot in Paris it's been roasting here in Paris boiling hot luckily we had some thunderstorms and it's cooled down a little bit but it's still boiling as far as I'm concerned on Friday last Friday I did the stand -up show with Charles Pellegrin that I've been promoting on the podcast
recently and it was a great success I also managed to record a live podcast in the room with some Lepsters in the audience.
A little bit more on that later too.
Yes, I finished my teaching at the British Council for the summer last week.
Does that make sense?
So I won't be back in the classroom until September now.
So all my teaching was all wrapped up and finished more or less at the end of last week.
So I'm now I'm officially on holiday, even though I'm still doing podcast work, but I'm on holiday from the classroom.
So I'm kind of like half the way, halfway there, halfway on holiday from the, from the bottom half down, I'm on holiday.
And you think, what does that actually mean?
Luke, from the, from the waist down, you're on holiday.
What's going on down there?
Well, I'm wearing shorts.
I mean, that's cause it's, cause it's hot anyway.
I'm, I'm sort of like almost on holiday now.
And so I'm in a slightly more relaxed mood having completed my obligations in terms of my teaching work.
So that's nice. And also I should say at this point, hello to any of my British Council students that I've taught over the last academic year.
I've had lovely students this year.
Some of them became Lepsters during the year.
And I do, you know, people sometimes ask me, do you kind of, do you use your podcast in the classroom?
I don't actually use my podcast that much in the classroom.
Every now and then we might listen to like a little anecdote from one of my friends or something that who've been on the podcast, but I don't really.
But what I will do sometimes is I'll say, oh, by the way, you know, you could listen to this episode of my podcast that I did.
Like, for example, if we've been talking about a specific subject in the lesson, I might say, here's some optional homework.
You could listen to this podcast episode about the same subject, you know?
So every now and then I kind of like mention the show to people, but I try not to be too heavy handed about it.
And then also there are some moments when I have students in the classroom who already know about the podcast before I've even mentioned it.
And sometimes they, they know who I am.
Sometimes they know in advance that they're going to be in my classroom.
For example, I had a student called Zeynep who listened to the podcast, heard that I taught at the British Council in Paris.
She signed up to courses and she was in my class for, you know, a couple of months.
So that was, that was nice because you know Zeynep was well great a person to have in the class as well but it was just kind of like funny to know that she was a podcast listener and then other people um they come to my class they take they spend some time uh in my lessons and then it's only until sometime
after they've started the classes that they realize that they actually also listen to my podcast so that's a bit of a weird moment and then there are other students who kind of like like, um, um, start listening to the show.
And maybe after the first couple of lessons with me, they, they, after that, they say, oh, I've been listening to your podcast.
And then, and that's great, you know, because we get into the same kind of, we get on the same wavelength.
Um, I think it's a good compliment, you know, I mean, a good compliment.
I mean, it's a good thing to do, uh, alongside, uh, the lessons, of course, listening to the podcast.
Anyway, uh, a question that you might have in your mind, which is this, Luke, Why do you still teach in classes in a language school with one million plus subs subscribers on YouTube and a well -established audience for your podcast?
Surely you don't need to do that anymore.
Why don't you just buy a yacht and live in Monaco?
And then I've written Luke answers his own question here.
So the reason one of the reasons why I continue to teach is like, well, first of all, I actually enjoy it.
Most of the time, I enjoy teaching.
And in fact, it can be great.
You know, I just especially now, I said before, at the beginning of my teaching career, I was less sure of myself.
These days, I am much more self -assured as a teacher.
And as a result, I think I enjoy it a lot more.
So there's that I enjoy it.
Also, the social contact that I get, not just in the classroom, but in the teacher's room with my colleagues is really important for me because if I didn't have that, then I would live a fairly solitary life.
Yeah, sad, isn't it?
This is where you can have sad music if you wanted.
You can imagine some sad music.
So, yeah, one of the reasons why I still teach is because if I didn't have that social contact, I'd start to get lonely, you know?
And now you can just imagine me working on my own in my pod room just every day, never really seeing anyone.
And then just going out maybe at lunchtime and just walking down the street on my own while French people in Paris pass me on the left and on the right, giggling together, laughing.
enjoying their lunch break with their friends and colleagues.
Meanwhile, I'm walking the other direction.
It's all in black and white.
Just feeling sad, maybe getting a very plain sandwich, eating a croissant with a tear coming down my cheek.
But no, that doesn't happen because, you know, I get the social contact of regularly going to the British Council just twice a week, two mornings a week.
so that's another reason and also I teach at the British Council because um I feel like it makes sure that I don't forget how to be an English teacher I think it's a kind of it feels really important for me to keep my teaching skills alive so that's another reason why um yeah I think it's probably good
for me as well it makes me a bit more mobile I move around a lot more in the classroom, often standing up, squatting down in front of my students' desks, listening to them talk.
I think it's probably good for my brain, quite good for my body, makes me go out, move around, walk a lot.
So there you go. I usually teach just twice a week, but in the summer, I usually have to do some intensive holiday courses, which is about 30 hours a week that's right 30 hours the students do 30 hours of english classes in one week six hours a day and obviously i have to teach for six hours a day so i
did two of those this summer and finished the second one last friday the intensive courses are good for giving the students a boost in their english in just one week but they are tiring for everyone and they're intense so they can be quite exhausting there's it can be a little bit stressful as well
when you consider the amount of preparation time you have and for example you know when it's hot in the city and in the morning i have to take either my daughter to school or my son to his creche and then it's like racing through the city trying to get to the british council and i'm all hot and sweaty
and and then I've got a limited amount of time to prepare for a lesson so it's all it can be a very intense week and quite tiring so it's I have to say it's a tremendous relief to know that I finished the courses and they all went fine and now I've just got a bit more breathing space it's great tomorrow
I'm going to London by the way I'm going to London tomorrow and anyway it's another story for another time hopefully I'm going to record something while I'm there with my camera, you know, a walk and talk.
I have various episodes in the pipeline, free and premium ones.
I'm trying to keep things varied.
Now, a little bit about my calendar over the next few weeks.
So I'm trying to get everything done before August arrives and we go away on holiday for most of the month and I won't be doing any podcasting.
Right. So I need to make enough episodes so I can publish one per week during the holiday, but also for a couple of weeks when we get back, because that can be a busy time and I won't be able to prepare episodes in August.
So I might not have things ready for September.
My spider sense tells me that I've confused you a little bit there.
So I've got to work quite hard between now and the beginning of August when we go on holiday, because I've got to prepare episodes that will automatically publish while I'm away.
And also I'll need episodes to be automatically published, um, for the first couple of weeks in September while I'm settling back down and so on.
So I need about a month and a half of content to be prepared now before the August holidays.
Okay. Um, so this is all the stuff you're going to get over the next month and a half that I'm talking about now.
So I need six or seven free episodes and at least two premium episodes, at least two episodes, right?
I have about five free episodes in various states of preparation now, which I'm working on.
And I'm planning to record a couple of premium episodes too over the next week or so.
And that will be P62.
More on that in a minute.
So the episodes I have lined up are pretty good ones, in my own humble opinion, and I think you'll like them.
I'm really looking forward to publishing them for you.
I won't tell you what they all are in a lot of detail because I like a certain element of surprise.
But I can say that there is a true crime episode coming, a sort of true crime that LEP is going to turn into a true crime podcast for one episode.
And it's a conversation with a fellow podcaster fellow english language teaching podcaster about a famous british true crime story a sort of unsolved mystery from recent british history let's say modern british history okay so a true crime episode coming soon that's going to be the next episode in fact
There's the live podcast recording, which I did in front of an audience last Friday.
More on that later.
There's a fairly disgusting conversation with a returning guest in which we cover a topic that I'm pretty sure is never discussed in English lessons, certainly not in the course books.
I'm sure that there are teachers who will do those things sort of unofficially, but certainly the course books probably don't cover the topic that is going to be in this upcoming episode.
And also in that episode, some creepy true stories which will send a shiver down your spine.
Ghosts. Coming soon.
There's a story episode involving some more interactive fiction.
think the victorian detective series but without the detective elements or the lemon adventure but without the lemons right so an interactive story um interactive fiction that's where I do one of those sort of online text adventure games a funny and revealing conversation with an old friend and fellow
english teacher that I haven't seen for years that I hadn't seen for years I should say because I spoke to him a few weeks ago and recorded that podcast and there's the trip to the medieval museum with Amber and Paul which you might have forgotten about I went to a medieval museum on the same day I
recorded the recent walk and talk episode with health and diet phrasal verbs on that same day I went to the medieval a medieval museum with amber and paul and paul's brother kyle who is a professional footballer by the way i don't know if you knew that so anyway that's coming up to although i have to
say that one is an absolute nightmare to edit because i've got there's i've got five files to deal with all at the same time there's the video footage right shot with my my action cam and then there's four audio files Me, Amber, Paul and Kyle.
And so I'm editing all, I'm synchronizing them all together and editing them all at the same time.
And basically, in order to avoid a horrible sort of phasing effect, I have to cut out.
So when one person is speaking, I have to cut out the audio from all the other people.
So it's just isolating each person, each person's audio file when they speak.
Anyway, it's a nightmare.
So it's taking me a long time to put that together.
Plus, there was an issue with the recording.
It's a bit annoying.
I was quite upset when I discovered this, that two of the audio files cut off after an hour.
So that's like 30 minutes.
The whole last section of the episode has been lost, partially lost.
I've still got the video, but the audio is not very good.
So anyway, I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm working on it.
Also, I need to publish the vocabulary workshop I did in the spring.
Do you remember that?
Do you remember when I was talking about this vocab workshop on Zoom?
I need to publish that, you know, it was recorded.
But I need to re -record the audio version because the workshop relied on visual slides too much and won't work as an audio episode.
So I'll publish the original workshop recording on YouTube, I think, and we'll record a new audio version that will work without the slides, you know, the one that you could just listen to.
I think it's a really important episode in terms of giving you advice about learning vocabulary, and it fits in well with my approach to doing premium episodes.
So I will be publishing that at some point fairly soon.
other content is still to be confirmed but i'll see what i can do right as i said i need quite a lot of content to to tie me over until the middle of september premium subscribers hello here is a heads up meaning a sort of um something to make you aware of something right here's a a heads up about the most
recent premium episodes.
So P61 parts one to seven are available now.
So I recorded and published those over the last few weeks.
They went up in mid -July, P61 parts one to seven.
So it's like the first two weeks of July, you've got this latest premium series.
It's an overview of phrasal verbs, right?
So, in fact, it's in seven parts.
It's based on the walk and talk health and diet episode that I did.
If you remember that one, I walked around next to the river and answered some questions about health and diet.
And there were about 28 phrasal verbs in there that I used.
So I've made an episode series about this with loads of stuff in it.
So it includes, first of all, an overview of phrasal verbs, telling you sort of important information about phrasal verbs, separable and non -separable phrasal verbs, idiomatic and literal phrasal verbs, and lots of information which hopefully will help you to understand phrasal verbs and how they work
and how you can learn them and I also taught 18 phrasal verbs in that first part then there's the review of nearly 30 phrasal verbs which I used in episode 887 there's pronunciation practice with sentences containing the phrasal verbs from part two of the series so pronunciation practice sentences with the phrasal
verbs there's an article about health and diet so a bit of reading listening and more vocabulary then some more pronunciation practice, using the article, reading it out loud, and using your voice to interpret the text, to make it clear, to pause in the right places, and to use the right kind of intonation.
So there's that. And then even more vocabulary from episode 887.
So other vocab, not phrasal verbs, just like idioms and fixed expressions, right?
Plus pronunciation practice for all that language in sentences.
And dramatic moments in part six and seven, when the French Air Force flew loads of planes and helicopters low over the podcastle during the recordings of part six and seven.
Yeah, I was just recording those episodes and suddenly a massive war plane just flew over the top of the building like really low and then that whole day they're just these helicopters and fighter jets and things kept flying over the top of my head while i was recording and i managed to actually record
some some footage of it including some sound effects in fact i want to um what have i got in fact i've made a little montage which i'm going to play for you now here's a montage of those moments.
I don't know how heavy he is these days but maybe 10 kilograms would that make sense.
Oh wow my goodness that's there's like a war plane flying across the sky it looked like a propeller driven fighter plane just flew in front of my window.
That was exciting and it was in strange color it was like blue and white stripes.
That was an odd moment.
That one seemed to be pretty close.
Very exciting. Sorry, you couldn't see that.
I've got some things at the post office.
There are a few things waiting for me at the post office.
Do you think you could pick them up?
Just don't go out of your way, though, okay?
Oh, my God. Jesus. Cool, blimey.
Did you hear that? Can you still hear that?
Oh, my God, helicopters.
Three, what look like three attack helicopters flying overhead.
What an impressive sight.
And another three. And another one.
My God, seven military helicopters flying over the Pod Castle.
And another little one.
Oh, and a couple of light aircraft, like a couple of Cessna light aircraft.
The reason that this was happening is because on the 14th of July every year in Paris, they do a big military procession.
So like, you know, you get all the army and everyone sort of marches down the Champs Elysees and through Place de la Concorde, right?
So this big military procession for the 14th of July, which is a big public holiday in France.
And also the French Air Force do these flyovers where they fly various military aircraft over the city.
And it culminates with a flyover by these acrobatic display planes, which trail coloured smoke behind them.
And they sort of create a big French flag in the sky, the blue, white and red colours, the tricolore French flag.
These display planes fly over and leave this big trail of smoke in the air.
And so before the 14th of July, there's always a day, maybe a week before where they do a practice run and the planes go over a few times and they even fly over with the with the the smoke trails and everything uh so that's what happened and they completely interrupted my episode in fact they're doing
it again i mean on purpose this time anyway where was i i was saying yeah my wife would say i've got some some packages at the post office do you reckon you could pick them up today just but don't go out of your way.
See? Okay. What about you?
Do you have to go out of your way to get more exercise into your day?
Maybe. Oh, I can hear another thing coming.
Oh, helicopters. Four little choppers flying overhead.
Another little one.
These are very boring.
Like, They look like sort of helicopters that you just see every day.
Boring little helicopters.
Come on, we want big helicopters with guns on them.
But don't actually use those guns.
But if you're very lazy and you've had a busy day and you really need to get off your bum and go to the gym...
So number one, I'll say the whole thing first and then I'll break it into chunks.
You repeat the chunks twice, and then I'll do the whole thing, try and repeat that, okay?
So the whole thing is this.
I get lost so easily.
It's not that I lose my sense of direction.
It's just that I assume that one thing is next to another thing, and then I take a wrong turn.
Okay? This is ridiculous.
It's ridiculous, the number of planes and stuff.
There's just fighter jets flying over my building all the time.
I'm videoing right now.
I'm just videoing the sky in front of the pod room here.
Are we going to get any more fighter jets?
I'm probably going to end up standing here for like 15 minutes, aren't I?
Just in this position.
Is anything going to come?
All right, back to the podcast then.
Right. Oh, here comes another one.
Oh my goodness. Oh, my God.
I'm so sorry you can't see this.
I've got to take some video evidence of this.
Don't know what you call them.
In English, that's the Red Arrows.
That was a set of about, I guess, five, what do they call those planes for display purposes?
And they had trails of smoke coming off the back of them.
There was a French flag in smoke.
So blue, white and red smoke trailing behind them.
Right, I got that one.
I managed to catch that.
That was a configuration of about five jets flying over.
Five, six or seven maybe, but they were further away.
They were a lot further away than the others have been.
the others have been like almost right over the top of my my flat here but I'm chuffed I managed to get that one okay I'll keep my phone on the shelf in case I need to do that again I'm sorry for the interruptions I really am but I feel like I want to share that with you because it's exciting okay anyway
that was quite exciting right moving on P62 is coming soon and that's going to be the a peonis island mega vocabulary express episode uh which has been requested by at least oh five people wow um right so with that level of popular demand how could i refuse i'm definitely going to do the a peonis island mega vocabulary
uh recap app on LEP premium and that will be published soon.
So P62 coming soon.
But anyway, P61 parts one to seven available now with a plethora of vocabulary learning opportunities for you.
Check your podcast app.
If you don't know how it all works and you're a premium subscriber, just sign into your account at teacherluke .co .uk account and then just follow the steps to do what you need to do.
Okay. Right. Next thing is this, Luke, how was the standup show?
What about the live podcast recording?
So you remember that I was talking about this right over the last few weeks and it says on this PDF, Luke rambles a bit about the standup show on Friday, the 19th of July in Paris.
Right. Okay. So yes, you heard me talking about it, right?
That I did this standup show with my friend Charles Pellegrin, who was in the last episode of the podcast.
He was there doing stand -up as well so i did 30 minutes and charles did 30 minutes well actually charles some the initial plan was that uh charles would do 30 minutes first and then i would do 30 minutes but there was a little bit of miscommunication between charles and me uh in the moments before uh
the show started and so um we were a little bit stressed maybe a little bit of nerves and Charles said to me okay can you give me a light at 15 minutes because that's what you do in stand -up you know you have to do a certain amount of time so normally there's someone at the back of the room who shows
you a light it could be a little torch or maybe a light on your phone and the light can mean different things it often means you've got one minute left so you get a little flash of light from the back of the room means you've got one minute left or you get another one it means it's time to to leave
the stage now so Charles said to me um can you give me a light at 15 minutes right because he wanted to know when he was basically half halfway through he said can you give me a light at 15 minutes I was like yeah sure okay yeah light at 15 minutes okay you know feeling a bit nervous before the show
began yeah okay light light at 15 minutes and he said and then um give me another one at like two minutes before the end when I've got two minutes left It was like two minutes.
He said, no, no, no, actually, um, make it one minute, one minute, one minute, one minute before I said, okay, I'll give you a light one minute before.
Right. So then the show started and the rest of it.
And we got a really good audience.
I was a bit concerned and so was Charles because the weather was really hot on Friday.
There was a heat wave and it was very hot.
And I thought, oh, people are, people are not going to come.
They're going to stay at home because it's too hot and uncomfortable.
the room in terms of reservations was completely fully booked but I know from experience that even when you've got a fully booked room people drop out and they don't come you know um so I thought people are people are not going to bother so I was concerned that we wouldn't get a full room but we did
uh there was a queue outside and everything and the room was full I think uh we must have got about 60 people, maybe 50 to 60 people, something like that, which is great.
You know, I mean, it's not Paul Taylor filling out the Zenith with 4200 people, but it's pretty good.
And, you know, that's often what you need, you know, just that right number of people.
And it was a really good audience.
They laughed, people had good, good fun.
And they cheered and laughed and stuff and just great really really enjoyable so after this exchange with Charles where initially we said 15 minutes light okay and then two minutes one minute okay one minute I'll give you a light at one minute Charles went up he was doing his stuff he was in a good
rhythm right he was kind of building momentum getting a nice rhythm going with the audience and I checked my watch I was like okay 15 minutes is coming up I better give him a light of 15 minutes and the thought flashed through my head, which was, oh, he's not going to think this is it, right?
He's not going to think this is one minute, is he?
Because he said to me, give me a light at 15 minutes.
And I said, OK. Surely he knows what 15 minutes feels like on stage.
So I was like, OK, I gave him the 15 minute warning, like he said, you know, so he knows he's halfway through.
So I went to the back of the room, turned the torch on my phone, shone the light at him, made sure he could see that and then went went back to the back of the room and uh and then a minute later Charles said to the audience well that's all my time ladies and gents thanks very much I've been Charles
Pellegrin and they all applauded and then he left the stage and Charles what are you doing I mean I wasn't bothered by it at all you know it was it was fine but I was just more concerned for him that he didn't get to do the full 30 minutes so afterwards I went up and did my 30 minutes And then I introduced Charles
back on the stage and he finished the show with the rest of his material.
And it worked out actually really well, because in a way, Charles ended up headlining the show, which was really great.
You know, it was nice for the audience to have him back again.
And he finished his set and it all went well.
So it's an interesting way of doing it, actually, that you kind of split it up like that.
We might we might do the show again.
We're planning to do another one like that in October.
And OK, so I'll probably talk about that closer to the time when we've sorted out the details.
But it was great. I had a fantastic time.
It was nice to do a longer set and it was really nice to have a lot of Lepsters in the audience.
I've said before that I don't have that many Lepsters in France, really, compared to other countries.
But, you know, I had people who came and people were lovely and enthusiastic and it was just really good fun.
and, um, nice to entertain and to do standup, you know, ah, it was great.
Um, now I recorded that, but I'm, I'm not going to publish it because I, and I've explained the reasons for this before, which is that, um, you know, once I publish standup material, then it's kind of out and we'll see.
I haven't got plans to publish the standup stuff because I keep that for the stage, let's say, okay?
But then afterwards, after the show, we had to send everyone back upstairs.
And then I said, right, I'm going to do a podcast recording in the room now.
A lot of people had to go and stuff.
But again, I thought to myself, people aren't going to stay for the podcast.
You know, people are going to just be like, all right, I'm going to go now.
It's quite late. I want to go and get my train or I'm going to get some food.
But we got about nearly 20 people stuck around for the podcast.
So we all went back down into the room and I recorded a live podcast in the room in front of about 20 people.
And that was fantastic.
That was kind of really great to do.
I've done live podcast recordings a couple of times before and it is a great thing to do.
And I always want to do that.
It's just a question of finding the right conditions, finding the right room, finding the right way to make it work.
I think this is a good way to do it.
that we do stand up and then I can do a podcast in the room, because that way the people in the audience for the podcast are in the right mental space.
The right vibe is created.
It's a kind of comedy atmosphere.
In the past, I've done live podcast recordings where there was no comedy first and the atmosphere is a lot more sober, let's say.
I mean, I don't just mean that people have had a drink or not, but just that the mood is a bit more sensible.
It's even maybe a little bit more academic or something.
For example, if I've done podcast recordings in the big room at the British Council, I want more of a comedy atmosphere where the audience feel more comfortable responding and laughing.
And I want there to be laughter.
I want it to be closer to comedy than to an English lesson, or at least a bit of both, you know.
And so doing the podcast recording after having done stand up is a good way of doing that because it sets the tone for the podcast recording.
So it was great. I had a really good time, really nice group of people in the audience.
And we had lots of fun.
And that episode will be published very soon.
Not the next one, maybe the one after that.
I'm just working on it right now.
So that will be coming soon to some headphones or a speaker near you.
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Now, moving on, let's have a grammar question about polite language.
Now, this is going to be grammar, but we're going to have a bit of fun with it as well.
So let's get back to basics with a good old grammar question from a listener.
So here is a grammar question from Hafid.
The email that Hafid sent to me went like this.
Hi, Luke. How are you today?
I'm fine. Thanks, Hafid.
Thanks for asking. Can you, by any chance, help me with this sentence?
Very nice. Nicely put.
Very nicely put. Especially with by any chance in there.
Can you, by any chance, help me with this sentence?
The sentence is this.
Did you happen to hear what the little girl said to Miss Stevenson earlier?
did you happen to hear what the little girl said to Miss Stevenson earlier so clearly Hafid has been listening to something or reading something in English and he's come across this sentence and something has confused him about it and he'd like me to help him understand it and since he asked so nicely
with especially with that by any chance can you by any chance help me with this sentence, I'm happy to respond.
And in fact, I'm doing it on the podcast.
I hope that's okay with you, Hafid.
I'm doing it on the podcast because it gives me a chance to kind of do a bit of language teaching in this rambling episode.
Okay, so did you happen to hear what the little girl said to Miss Stevenson earlier?
So now I understand what it means, said Hafid.
And what this means is this.
It means, did you hear what the little girl said to Miss Stevenson?
Right, that's what it means.
And Hafid continues, but I never saw, in fact, Hafid, I would say I have never seen.
I think it should be I have never seen.
I've never seen, but I've never seen a sentence built this way.
Hafid continues, you already may have talked about this specific topic, so I'm sorry to bring it back.
Might have done, but not particularly recently, Hafid.
Hafid continues, it comes from a film based on a Stephen King story, The Langolias, or Langoliers.
So apparently it's from a film based on a story by Stephen King.
Thanks, says Hafid.
Take care, Hafid. Okay, so here is my answer.
All right, so Hafid's sentence appears to be about grammar, sorry, his question.
Hafid's question appears to be about grammar as he talks about how the sentence was built.
He talks about the structure of that sentence.
Did you happen to hear what the little girl said?
So this might also be considered a vocabulary question, as we'll see.
Certainly it is about pragmatics.
OK, certainly it is about pragmatics in English.
This means how the words and structures we use have different effects on the people we're communicating with.
I suppose everything is pragmatics to an extent, but you can see a lot of the time certain things about English are pragmatic concerns.
For example, especially when we are dealing with the language of politeness or how we build charm, politeness, respect into the things we say and how the choice of words, the structure of those sentences can have certain impacts in that regard.
So did you happen to hear what the little girl said to Miss Stevenson earlier?
So Hafid says, I understand what it means.
Did you hear what the little girl said?
Right. So here we go.
First, the line means this, right?
Did you hear what the little girl said to Miss Stevenson?
Or more simply, what did the little girl say to Miss Stevenson?
That's basically what it means.
I expect the confusing part of this is the did you happen to hear part.
So the question used the structure, or the uses the structure, happen plus infinitive, happen to hear.
And this is a common way to form indirect questions.
First of all, let's consider happen plus infinitive, did you happen to hear in this case, which is used to express something that happens by chance.
For example, I happened to meet James the other day at the bus stop.
So I just met James without intending to.
I was at the bus stop.
He was at the bus stop too.
Hi, James. Oh, it's nice to see you here.
I happened to meet James the other day.
Or, oh, dear, dear Steve, I happen to be coming to your town later this month.
Maybe we can meet for a coffee.
Right. So I just, you know, like something's caused me to be coming to your town.
Maybe a client works there and so I'm going to go and visit the client.
So, I happen to be coming to your town later this month.
So, just sort of stuff that happens by chance.
It's for everyday things rather than expressing big moments of luck or chance.
So, for example, we wouldn't say this.
I happened to win the lottery the other day.
So, we wouldn't say that because it sounds far too casual.
So we use this happen to do something in more casual everyday moments.
For example, I happen to see our old boss the other day.
I happen to see our old boss.
Difficult pronunciation to understand there because of the our old boss, right?
The words all combine together.
To see our old boss.
To see our old boss.
I happen to see our old boss the other day.
He told me to say hi.
Right, so just stuff that happens by chance.
I happen to do it. Now, we most often use this happen to as a hedging expression to make polite indirect questions.
You're thinking, what's hedging?
I'll tell you in a moment.
So we use happen to as a hedging expression to make polite indirect questions.
It makes the questions softer, which makes it more polite.
It makes the question softer, which makes it more polite.
It's a way of gently asking a question.
OK, for example, do you happen to know where the meeting is taking place?
Sorry, do you happen to know where the meeting is taking place?
Which is another version of saying, where is the meeting taking place?
OK, you can hear the difference between those two questions, right?
The first one, where's the meeting taking place?
And do you happen to know where the meeting is taking place.
So do you happen to know?
Now, you could equally say, do you know?
Do you know where the meeting is taking place?
Which is also better.
Well, I say better.
I mean, more polite, let's say.
Where's the meeting taking place?
You sound like a police officer, you know.
Where's the meeting taking place?
Tell me now. Oh, I don't know, officer.
Just where is it? Oh, it's in room B, you know but more politely um excuse me do you know where the meeting is taking place yeah it's in room b why did you tell him well he was so polite i don't i didn't know or another one um sorry do you happen to know where the meeting is taking place in fact that starts
with sorry as well uh sorry do you happen to know where the meeting is taking place uh yeah it's in room b don't tell him where the meeting he was just he was so polite i don't know why there's this drama but you know i'm just trying to keep it entertaining so hedging is when we add things at the beginning
an end or end of our statements to make them more polite so at changing the structure of what we say or changing the things we say to make them more polite typically adding something at the beginning or adding something at the end right so this is done by making our statements less direct or less imposing.
If something is imposing, it means it sort of imposes an obligation on someone, right?
So, to make our statements less imposing, meaning less forceful, meaning allowing the responder the choice to say no more easily, okay?
Ultimately, that's what it comes down to when we're talking about this kind of polite, pragmatic language.
instead of saying, where's the meeting room?
That's a very imposing question because it's harder for the person responding to say, to not answer the question.
You know, it's imposing because you're really forcing the person to give you specific information and therefore that's quite rude.
You're asking quite a lot.
You're putting someone on the spot.
Whereas if you say, do you know where the meeting is taking place the answer to that is technically yes i do or no i don't and so you're kind of giving the responder more options in terms of what that how they can respond okay putting less pressure on them and do you happen to know when the game starts
meaning you know is there any chance or i don't suppose there's any possibility in which you know this So again, adds that layer of indirectness.
So do you happen to know when the game starts?
Or did you happen to catch what time the game starts?
And did you happen to hear what she said about the game?
All examples of making questions with happen to.
Okay. Do you know or do you happen to know?
Did you catch? And did you happen to catch?
So going from direct to polite, let's just look at this again.
Let's just illustrate this.
So what time does the game start?
That's direct and less direct.
Do you know what time the game starts?
And you should notice in these indirect questions, we've got do you know, there's an inversion, right?
Do you know what time the game starts?
What time does the game start?
Do you know what time the game starts?
So in this indirect version, the game starts.
That's normal sentence structure verb, sorry, subject verb.
The game starts, right?
In normal questions, it's the other way around.
What time does? You use that auxiliary verb.
Okay. Do you happen to know what time the game starts?
Yeah. Do you happen to know what time the game starts?
And this as well, check this one out.
You don't happen to know what time the game starts, do you?
So this is a negative statement with a positive tag question, which is another common way to do it, even less direct, even more indirect.
You don't happen to know what time the game starts, do you?
So when do we often use happen to, if we go back to that, happen to.
So here are verbs which are commonly used with did you or do you happen to.
So we've got no. As we said, do you happen to know what time it is?
See, did you happen to see my keys anywhere?
Where are my keys? Have, do you happen to have a pen?
Do you happen to have a, why can't i say that do you happen to have a pen i can borrow right uh sorry mate do you happen to have a pen i can borrow uh sandra i don't know why i'm speaking like that uh sandra yes yeah sandra do you happen to have a pen i can borrow very sort of a posh person for some
reason um uh yeah hey steve do you happen to have you don't happen to have a pen i can borrow do you and remember do you happen to remember where we parked the car and here did you happen to hear the news about the meeting i just don't i don't know which room it is find did you happen to find my glasses
so i'm looking for my glasses you didn't find them did you did you happen to find my glasses b do you happen to be free this weekend come across meaning sort of find by chance did you happen to come across that book i mentioned i mentioned a book to you two weeks ago i want to know if you found it or if you
saw it anywhere did you happen to come across that book i mentioned you should really read it it's brilliant and notice did you happen to notice if the lights were on right did you walk past simon's office uh yeah i did did you happen to notice if the lights were on um yeah come to think of it yeah
they were on oh i should know honestly what's he doing staying in the office late at night with the lights on did you see anything else well i did see two silhouettes in the window two silhouettes in the window hey yeah they were what were they what were they doing i don't know they sit there were i'm
not sure they seem to be doing i think they were kissing.
Simon! Anyway, other common hedging language.
So we've had happen to, we had a little bit of negative statement with a positive tag.
You don't know where the toilets are, do you?
Right? Here are some other things.
So we've got yes or no questions.
Yes or no questions are more polite than direct WH questions.
For example, where did James go?
And do you know where James went and using negative statements plus a positive tag, which I mentioned just a moment ago, for example, do you know where James went becomes you don't know where James went, do you?
And do you happen to know where James went and you don't happen to know where James went, do you?
Very common that. And James didn't come through here earlier, did he?
You didn't get an email about James didn't come through here earlier, did he?
Would become. Oh, that's it.
James didn't come through here earlier, did he?
Which is did James come through here earlier?
Yeah. So making these changes can be useful for making your questions less forceful.
Now, to illustrate this, this might be a strange example, but to illustrate this, consider a psychic talking to a room of people during a psychic show.
Now, this is just something I've noticed.
Having been slightly curious about psychics and mind readers, right, mediums, and noticing the way that they do things and reading about it.
One of the tricks I think that psychics have, right, so a psychic, by the way, is someone who claims to be able to read people's minds or to communicate with the dead.
And they often do these things in front of an audience where they appear to be sort of picking people out of the audience and then like finding a dead relative and communicating with them through the spirit world and then sharing the information with them and then getting paid at the end to do it which you
know everyone's got to make a living somehow but you know um so what i've noticed is that psychics often use this structure, negative sentence plus positive tag, which is one of the bits of hedging language I've just talked about.
A tag question, by the way, is something that's added on the end, right?
For example, you don't know someone called Simon, do you?
So the do you is the tag question.
And normally the tag question is sort of opposite in form to the verb in the previous clause.
For example, you don't know.
So don't know is negative.
So the tag question would be positive.
They're not always opposite, but often.
So you don't know someone called Simon, do you?
And another version of that would be, you know Simon, don't you?
You know Simon, yeah, you know him, don't you?
And you don't know someone called Simon, do you?
Which basically means, do you know someone called Simon?
You don't know someone called Simon, do you?
Simon, yeah, I do actually.
Yeah, I work with a guy called Simon.
You don't know someone called Simon, do you?
Simon, no, I don't know.
I don't know anyone called Simon.
Okay. So, psychics often use this structure in their mind reading or their medium sessions.
Now, I think the reason for this is that it allows yes or no to both be equally valid responses, allowing the psychic to avoid getting their prediction or psychic reading wrong.
Now, again this is a fairly strange example i suppose to be using and maybe it just reveals my preoccupation with the with the work of psychics and the fact that i'm skeptical about it right so i'm coming from the position of a skeptic i don't believe that it's real um um you know I don't believe it
myself and I believe that psychics, either they're faking it and it's a trick, it's a scam, they know they're faking it or they don't, they believe it too but in fact they're still using certain little tricks but they just believe their own, they believe their own sort of, what's the word I can use,
bullshit? No, I shouldn't use that word.
They believe their own tricks.
Anyway, so psychics use this kind of structure.
So compare this. Here are two versions.
So first, the psychic says, so I'm getting the name John.
I'm getting the name John, he says to the audience.
I'm getting the name John.
Does anyone have a connection with the name John?
And the audience member says, yes, me, says someone.
And the psychic says, so he wasn't he wasn't a family member, was he?
He wasn't a family member, was he?
And the audience member says, yes, he was my father.
And the psychic goes, right, he's with me now.
And the psychic then says, did he drive a fast car?
And the audience member says, no, he didn't drive.
He didn't drive at all.
And the psychic goes, ah, OK.
And at this point, it looks like the psychic was wrong here.
Right? You know what I mean?
It looks like the psychic got something wrong.
He said fast car, but the person said no.
This is a very long -winded example, but still.
So compare that to this.
So first, the psychic says, I'm getting the name John.
Does anyone have a connection with the name John in the room?
And the audience member says, um yes me and the psychic says he wasn't a family member was he so again you see there's that structure allowing the options to stay open yes and no could be a could be an answer to that I mean both yes and no are they're both equally expected answers right if it's he was a family
member, wasn't he? We expect the person to say yes.
And if they say no, it looks like you've got it wrong.
Was he a family member?
We expect the person to say yes.
It's a leading question.
But he wasn't a family member, was he?
This is a much more tentative question where no could also be the right answer.
Do you know what I mean?
It's difficult to explain this.
So he wasn't a family member, was he?
The audience goes, yes, he was my father.
Or hold on, let's change that.
No, he was my brother.
And the psychic goes, right.
You see what I mean?
He wasn't a family.
Hold on a minute. He was my neighbor.
Let's have that. He wasn't a family member, was he?
No, he was my neighbor.
So no, still sounds like it's the answer the psychic expected because of the structure of he wasn't a family member was he no he was my neighbor right he's with me now he didn't drive a fast car did he the audience member goes no he didn't drive and the psychic says right that's what i thought you see
what i mean not that's what i thought just that's what that's what the spirit is telling me that's what the spirits are telling me which whenever i get these whenever i see psychics in action i always kind of like wonder what is it the psychic is hearing because the psychics are always like this does
anyone in the room uh have an association with john john john and then no one is saying yes john it might just be a j is it john is it gene it might be gene as well gene gene or or a just certainly i'm getting a juror it's a juror at the beginning does anyone have an association with someone beginning
with a juror could be a john could be a gene and one person goes um um i know a jo i knew a george and right george i knew it was a juror now what's going on there what is the psychic hearing the psychic is talking to the audience meanwhile the spirits in the psychics here are going uh john john john
john john no no no jean jean jean jean jean uh you know and the the psychic's going john john or is it gene or is it gene it's definitely just nonsense isn't it i think so um so anyway no he didn't drive this looks like he didn't drive a fast car did he no he didn't drive right so this looks like the psychic
was right even though the answer was no.
So psychics often use this structure because it kind of it's a trick that they use to be to always be right even if the answer is yes or no.
Okay that's perhaps a weird example but it just demonstrates the way that changing the structure of the language can change the effect it has even though the central message is basically the same.
Psychics use this structure to keep things open allowing yes or no to both be acceptable answers.
In our everyday lives, we can use this structure to be more polite by allowing the other person the freedom to give whatever answer they like, making it a bit easier for them to contradict you.
You don't have the time, do you?
No, I don't. Okay, sorry.
You don't have the time, do you?
Yes, I do. It's three o 'clock.
Thanks very much. Somehow, you don't have the time, do you?
Makes it easier for the person to say no if, if they don't, you know, maybe in English we're just too polite.
We don't like saying no.
And so we make these complicated convoluted question forms to just make sure we're not imposing on the other person too much.
Now, these are quite subtle little differences, but they have the effect of making you more polite, less imposing, a bit kinder, maybe more charming.
Right. Another one.
Do you by any chance?
Which is what Hafid used in his question.
For example, do you know what time the game starts by any chance?
Do you happen to know what time the game starts by any chance?
You don't know what time the game starts by any chance, do you?
And you don't happen to know what time the game starts by any chance, do you?
wonderful isn't it yes Luke of course other things now these are not necessarily questions but these are little things we can add to make our statements less strong which again can be useful if we don't want to be too imposing in our statements so we can use modal verbs like might could would may for example
she might come to the party she should he should be here at any time now.
He should be here any time now.
So this is just, you know, some more examples of other forms of language that we can use to just make our statements a little bit more, what's the word for it?
Flexible, indirect maybe.
Hypothetical language like using would or past forms.
For example, if you were able to come, that would be great.
Let's say there's a meeting at work, but the meeting is not it's not compulsory so staff members don't have to come so we need to just be we don't want to make it feel like an imposition I'm having a meeting tomorrow it's about it's about quality control measures we need as many people as possible it's
not an obligation but we need as many people as possible so if you were able to come that would be great another example can you come to a meeting tomorrow and the person says maybe what time would it be the person says would because they're operating in the hypothetical area right I you know what time
would it be I would have to leave early meaning if I came I would have to leave early if they if I say I will have to leave early makes it sound like I'm coming to the meeting.
Well, I would have to leave early.
It makes it sound a little bit less like I've decided to come because it's hypothetical with would.
Another example in a negotiation maybe.
So if we offered you a discount, perhaps would that help?
Instead of if we offer you a discount, will that help?
Which sounds more fixed, more certain, more like it's a real offer.
Whereas we're just exploring ideas here.
If we offered you a discount, would that help.
It's less firm it's because it's more hypothetical.
Qualifiers for adjectives right to make our statements slightly less strong for example somewhat rather quite slightly for example the results are somewhat surprising instead of saying the results are surprising the results are rather surprising quite surprising slightly surprising somewhat surprising.
We were slightly disappointed with the service to be honest instead of so what did you think of the hotel we were disappointed with the service sounds very direct and we were slightly disappointed with the service to be honest makes you sound a bit less rude while still saying essentially the same thing
uh adverbs are frequency like often usually sometimes like he usually arrives on time or British people can sometimes sound a little bit vague in the way they communicate, especially when they're being polite, which is another way of saying British people sound vague.
British people are vague.
When I say vague, I mean not clear, which is a complaint that people have about the Brits sometimes in their communication.
It's like, what do you really think.
Be clear. Be specific.
British people are vague.
British people are so vague, which makes you sound really angry and possibly a little bit racist.
It's more reasonable to say British people can sometimes sound a little bit vague in the way they communicate, especially when they're being polite.
Longer, more complex, but more diplomatic.
Phrases like, I think, I believe, it seems, it appears, in my opinion.
For example, I think we should consider other options.
It seems that our room has not been cleaned.
Excuse me, room service.
Yes, how can I help you?
It seems that our room has not been cleaned.
Would it be possible for someone to come up and clean it?
Softening expressions like kind of, sort of, maybe, perhaps.
It's kind of difficult to explain.
Yes, is the example.
And then, right, so I want more examples of hedging language, okay, in action.
And this should also be a little bit of fun too.
So here are some examples of hedging.
Let's see some real examples of this kind of thing.
So let's imagine, let's just imagine that there's a bank robbery happening.
So the big bank in the centre of town is under attack and robbers, like in some sort of action movie, like some Hollywood action movie, guys with masks and big guns and bags have entered the bank and they're trying to steal all the money and they've taken loads of people hostage.
So there's staff from the bank and there are also customers in the bank and they're all like being held hostage.
It's really hot. Everyone's stressed out.
The bank robbers are kind of very tense.
They've got their guns.
All the hostages are like sitting down on the floor and the bank robbers just want their money and they want to be able to escape from the bank.
The bank is now surrounded by police.
So hostages have been taken.
The police have sent in their negotiator.
Could be played by like a Hollywood actor who would be the negotiator.
Who would it be? I don't know.
Maybe it would be one of those Hollywood movies where the actor playing the negotiator is an actor who's playing like a different kind of character that they normally would play, like maybe this is like Owen Wilson.
No, it's just some generic American actor who it's a John actor plays the negotiator in this film.
OK, so the police have sent in their negotiator to talk to the robbers and persuade them to release the hostages.
There are two versions of this dialogue, which I'm going to show to you now.
The first version is direct and the second version uses hedging language and is more successful in my version of events.
Now, to be honest, I'm not an expert hostage negotiator.
Surprise, surprise.
So I'm not sure which version would work best, either the direct and aggressive version or the indirect and more reasonable version.
But I think the second one, the less direct one, is probably more likely to work and surely that would involve some hedging language or at least more complex and pragmatic language.
Let's see. OK, so with these dialogues, I'm trying to show you examples of hedging language in practice and how this can have an impact on communication.
So dialogue one, no hedging and the negotiation fails.
Here we go. So we start with a police negotiator.
listen, you're not going to get away with this.
Release the hostages right now.
And the bank robber says, how are they communicating?
Maybe they're communicating by like CB radios.
The cop has thrown a CB radio across the hallway to the bank robber who took it and they're communicating by CB radio.
And there's like, you know, robbers with guns, police with guns.
Listen, you're not going to get away with this.
Release the hostages right now.
and the bank robber says i'm not releasing anyone until i get what i want police negotiator you don't have a choice we have the building surrounded and you can't escape surrender immediately the bank robber says i don't care i'll do whatever it takes to get out of here police negotiator if you harm
anyone you'll face serious consequences now drop your weapon and come out with your hands up.
Bank robber says, no way, I'm not giving up.
Police negotiator, this is your last warning.
End this now or we'll come in.
And the bank robber says, I'd rather die than go to prison.
Now you get me my helicopter or one of these hostages is going to get it right now.
He cocks his shotgun and screams.
So, okay, that didn't go very well obviously because the language was too direct um let's hear version two so here's dialogue two with hedging language this time and the negotiation succeeds so here we go police negotiator hi there i'm officer miller it seems like things have gotten pretty intense in there
how are you holding up a bank robber says not great I need these demands met or this will end badly I want my helicopter and no funny stuff the police negotiator says I understand you're in a tough spot damn it's hot today huh it's hot today 100 100 degrees out there I know how you feel my wife gets
awful irritable in this weather it's damn it's a damn nightmare let me tell you you got a wife kids sometimes I think about robbing a bank and taking a bunch of hostages myself, especially when I don't get my coffee in the morning.
I know how you're feeling.
How are you feeling, bank robber?
Listen, we're all feeling the heat.
Maybe we can talk about what you need and see if we can find a way to help you out.
Meanwhile, there are snipers setting up on the opposite rooftop.
Reinforcements are arriving.
The bank robber says, look, I want a safe exit and no police following me.
And I want a coffee.
The police police negotiator says, OK, that sounds reasonable from your perspective.
What kind of coffee?
The bank robber says, I want a double chocomacha.
Let me say that again.
It's all right. We're still listening.
Don't worry. Take a breather.
OK, cop, I want a double chocomacha frappuccino with whipped cream on top.
Police negotiator says, sure thing, Venti, Grande or Trenta?
The bank robber says, what?
What the hell? Sorry, small, medium or large?
Large. Right, you got it.
Shouting down to another officer, Steve.
Hey, Steve, listen, I want a double choco mocha frappuccino up here now.
Trenta. Trenta. i said trenta what nobody actually uses those names for different sizes of coffee okay sorry large okay and yeah and whipped cream on the top whipped cream name uh hey sorry what's your name i'm not gonna give i'm not gonna fall for that trick cop i'm not gonna give you my name now where's
my damn coffee? Ah, sorry, shouting down to Steve.
Just put bank robber, okay?
Talking to the robber again.
Look, let's just be cool here now, okay?
Your double chocomopa coffee frappuccino is on its way.
And I didn't forget the whipped cream.
Now, let's just take it easy, okay?
Now, we might be able to work something out, but I need to ensure that everyone's safe first.
Okay. Now, how about releasing a few hostages as a sign of good faith?
A little quid pro quo here.
What do you say? We give you coffee.
You give us hostages.
The bank robber says, I don't know, cop.
What guarantees do I have?
The police negotiator says, look, call me Brian.
I understand your concern.
Perhaps if you release one or two hostages, it would show us you're serious and then we can discuss the next steps more comfortably.
How does that sound?
The bank robber says, OK, cop, maybe I can let a couple go, but you better keep your word.
The negotiator says, that's a good start.
Now, we appreciate your cooperation.
Now, let's keep talking here and we'll do our best to meet your needs while ensuring everyone stays safe.
Your coffee's nearly here.
I like those frappuccinos too.
Yes. Yum, yum, yum.
I can't have the whipped cream, though.
I've got to watch my cholesterol.
You know what I mean?
And the bank robber says, yeah, I know what you mean.
All right, cop, listen, I'll release two hostages now.
How about that? The police negotiator says, thank you.
This is a positive step.
Let's keep this dialogue going.
We'll work towards a peaceful resolution together.
The bank robber goes, all right, Brian, Now, you're not so bad.
I don't know. What should we talk about?
You're watching the game this evening.
Suddenly Robocop from the well -known movie and game franchise Robocop bursts through the wall, grabs the bank robber and throws him out of the window.
Success. The more diplomatic approach gave Robocop enough time to enter the next door building, climb the stairs and locate Take the robber with his infrared sensors.
Justice is restored to Detroit City.
OK, that was a silly ending.
But the idea was that the more diplomatic approach from the police negotiator ended in a more amicable and successful negotiation.
And then Robocop came in, smashed through the wall and threw him out of the window.
Here's another example of hedging language in action.
Now let's look at a more conversational situation now with someone asking lots of questions first in a direct way and then in an indirect way.
OK, so here a hostage in this situation, a hostage is making small talk with one of the bank robbers while the police negotiation is going on in another in another room.
OK, so this is still in the bank robbery situation in another room.
Hostages are there.
There's a bank robber with a gun who's trying to like he's he's making sure the hostages don't try and escape.
He's holding them holding them hostage.
Yeah. Meanwhile, the police negotiation is going on with the leader of the bank robbers over there.
OK, so let's hear one version with direct questions and a slightly rude tone, which is understandable considering the situation.
So dialogue one is the direct approach and an unfriendly robber.
So the hostage to the robber says, hey, hey, how long is this going to take?
And the bank robber says, I'm not sure.
Could be hours. Look, just stay quiet and wait.
Hostage. I was hoping to watch the game tonight.
Hey, what time does it start?
The bank robber. What?
The game tonight. What time does it start?
Bank robber. Eight o 'clock.
Look, it doesn't matter.
You won't be seeing it.
Um, where are the toilets in this building?
Look, down the hall to the left.
You can go later. Uh, is there any coffee around here?
Kitchen's in the back, but no, you're not going to get any.
Hostage. Hey, uh, do you know the name of the bank clerk in the pencil skirt over there?
No, and I don't care.
Now stop talking. Shut up.
Okay. Now let's hear the same conversation.
but with more hedging language on display.
So, this is the more successful and polite version.
So, hostage. Sorry, do you happen to know how long this is going to take?
The bank robber. I'm not entirely sure.
It might take a while, but hopefully not too long.
Let's just see how things go.
Suddenly, everyone's so polite.
Hostage. The thing is, I was hoping to catch the game tonight?
You don't know what time it starts by any chance, do you?
What, the game? Um, I think it starts around eight.
We might be able to see it if we're lucky, but let's see.
Hostage. Sorry, uh, do you know where the toilets are in this building by any chance?
Bank robber. Uh, yes, I believe they're just down the hall to the left.
If you really need to go, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
Oh, okay, thanks. Um, do you happen to know if there's any coffee around here?
Bank robber. There might be some in the kitchen at the back.
I think I saw a Nespresso machine.
Look, if we get a chance, maybe we can work something out.
Hostage. Oh, I can't stand Nespresso.
I was hoping for some proper coffee, you know?
Bank robber. Yeah, I know.
A little bit of time passes.
Hostage. Hey, you don't happen to know the name of the cute bank clerk over there in the pencil skirt by any chance, do you?
bank robber uh i'm not sure why uh fancy your chances look maybe we can find out later let's just stay calm for now okay hostage well i i thought i might just uh strike up a conversation with her you never know you only live once right ha ha ha yolo they both laugh bank robber He pretends to shoot the hostage.
They laugh again. Meanwhile, Robocop from the movie and game franchise Robocop has been climbing the stairs in the next building and suddenly smashes through the wall and grabs the bank robber, throwing him out of the window.
Again, success, thanks to indirect, polite language and hedging expressions.
now i've been enjoying this so much that i think it's time to enjoy a movie screenplay of this situation why not let's let's reimagine this as a dramatic hollywood uh screenplay okay so here's our screenplay extract robocop in action internal bank daytime the atmosphere inside the bank is tense hostages
sit huddled together glancing nervously at the bank robbers the lead robber holding a gun, paces back and forth.
He's walking up and down.
Hostage one, whispering to hostage two.
Hey, do you have any idea how long this is going to take?
Hostage two. No. I was hoping to catch the game tonight.
You don't know what time it starts, do you?
The bank robber overhears and shoots them a glare.
So he gives them a nasty look.
The bank robber says, quiet down, both of you.
Suddenly, the walls tremble.
The hostages gasp and the robbers look round in confusion.
What's going on? Bank robber.
What the hell is that?
External bank daytime.
A massive figure stands outside the bank.
It's silhouette casting an imposing shadow.
It's Robocop. He sizes up the building, meaning he has a look at the building.
He scans the building.
His scanners locking onto the bank robber inside.
Robocop through his internal comms.
Engaging target. With a powerful thrust, Robocop smashes through the wall.
Debris flying everywhere.
The hostages scream and duck for cover.
Internal bank, daytime.
The lead robber whips around, eyes wide in shock, just as Robocop emerges through the dust and rubble.
Bank robber. What the?
Before the robber can react, Robocop lunges forward with mechanical precision, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him off the ground effortlessly.
Robocop, dead or alive, you're coming with me.
Which is one of his catchphrases, just in case you didn't know.
The robber's gun clatters to the floor.
As he struggles in Robocop's iron grip, the hostages watch in awe and relief.
Bank robber struggling.
No, you can't do this.
Robocop calmly tightens his grip.
His expression unchanging.
Robocop crushing the robber's resistance says one of his other catchphrases.
Your move, creep. The police storm in.
Weapons drawn as Robocop suddenly throws the robber out of the window the hostages cheer yay their nightmare finally over police negotiator to robocop thanks officer you saved a lot of lives today except for the robber who you obviously just threw out of the window robocop just doing my job robocop
turns to leave the hostages and police watching him with admiration robocop stay out of trouble Robocop turns and walks back through the hole in the wall, ready for his next mission.
Here's the next scene as well, the next scene in the film, because why not?
Screenplay extract, hostage and the girl in the pencil skirt.
A pencil skirt, by the way, is like a skirt that's probably about knee length, kind of a slim skirt that's about knee length.
you can imagine maybe a girl who works in a bank might wear that with like a white blouse or something like that, internal bank daytime, the hostages have been freed and the bank is now back under control.
Amidst the commotion, meaning amidst the kind of the situation, the chaotic situation, amidst the commotion, in the middle of this situation, hostage one notices the girl in the pencil skirt Claire standing by herself looking relieved but tired hostage one approaching Claire trying to be charming hey
uh I'm glad we're safe my name's hostage one by the way didn't catch your name set Claire sighs she's polite but but she's distant.
I'm Claire. Is your name really Hostage One?
She rolls her eyes.
Hostage One smiling warmly.
I couldn't help noticing you earlier.
You seem so calm through all of this madness.
It's impressive. What's the secret?
Meditation? Yoga? CBD kale chips?
Claire, not interested but polite she stifles a yawn i just try to stay healthy hostage one trying to be smooth well whatever you're doing is working hey maybe we could uh grab a coffee sometime unless you've uh got something better to do claire sighs looking away yeah that's that's kind of you but I'm
actually not interested.
I appreciate the offer, though.
Hostage one, faking surprise.
Oh, come on. What, is there someone else you're interested in?
Who is it? Someone from work here in this bank?
Claire, smiling slightly, not from work, no.
Hostage one, playful.
Oh, what is it, your manager?
Come on, give me a hint.
Who's the lucky guy?
Before Claire can respond, Robocop walks by.
His imposing figure catching everyone's attention.
Claire's eyes light up and she watches him with admiration.
Hostage one laughing incredulously.
Wait, it's him? Robocop?
But he's not even a real man.
Claire disagreeing firmly, gazing at Robocop's metal legs and square human chin with admiration he's more than a real man he's a hero he saved us today it's not about being flesh and blood it's about what he stands for hostage one chuckling shaking his head well i guess i can't compete with that claire
smiling gently like it's not about competing.
It's just he he represents something greater.
Robocop overhearing turning to Claire.
Ma 'am are you okay?
Claire blushing slightly nodding.
Yes I'm I'm fine thank you.
Robocop nodding then addressing both.
Stay out of trouble.
Robocop walks away leaving Claire with a look of admiration in her eyes.
Hostage one shrugs, accepting defeat with a good -natured smile.
Hostage one says, well, all right, take care, Claire.
Stay out of trouble, right?
Claire sarcastically, yeah, sure.
Okay, have a good day.
Bye -bye now. See ya.
Wouldn't want to be you.
Don't forget to close the door on your way out, loser.
Turning to a colleague, hey, You don't happen to have his number, do you?
Colleague one. What?
Hostage one? That creep?
Claire. No. Robocop.
He's kind of cute. Oh, really?
I never knew you had a thing for cyborgs.
His number? Well, come on, dummy.
It's obviously 911.
They both laugh. Well, why don't you call him up?
Say it's an emergency.
They both laugh a little bit too much.
The end. Okay, well, that was the Hollywood screenplay version of The Power of Hedging Language featuring Robocop.
Yes. Okay, look, we're nearly finished, but I did say earlier on I would say a few more things about some recent stuff like the Rick Thompson report, so a few episodes ago.
So back to serious things again, ladies and gents, all right, how are you doing?
Let me just take a little water break.
Little mouthful of water to keep myself hydrated here.
Okay. So let's, let me just say some final things here.
So a few episodes ago, it was the Rick Thompson report conversation with my dad just before the, um, the UK's general election.
Um, and a few people sort of commented, suggesting that they'd quite like to hear my dad talk about the results.
Well, there won't be a post election episode.
Right there. There isn't going to be another Rick Thompson report where we talk about the election results, mainly because there's really not that much to say.
My dad was right in his predictions.
So there's, you know, there's not much more to add, really.
Also, he's retired now, you know, remember, and he's still quite busy anyway.
So it's not like I can get him on the podcast all the time.
You know, I don't want to ask too much of him.
But in any case, here's a brief overview of the election results, if you're interested.
So Labour, led by Keir Starmer, achieved a landslide victory in the 2024 UK general election, securing 412 seats, an increase of 214.
That is huge, right?
It's almost as big as when Tony Blair won a landslide victory in 1997.
Just to be clear, there are 650 seats in the House of Commons, representing 650 constituencies around the whole country.
The Conservatives, who were previously in government, that's the party of David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and so on.
and latterly Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives suffered a major defeat, dropping to 121 seats.
That was a loss of 252.
So not only did Labour gain 214, the Conservatives lost 252 seats.
Wow, they absolutely got pounded.
The Liberal Democrats, which is probably the third most popular party in the country.
They are a centrist party.
The Liberal Democrats gained 64 seats, reaching a total of 72.
Other notable results include the SNP, the Scottish National Party, with nine seats.
Not that many, to be honest.
They kind of lost support because of some scandals, basically in scotland with the scottish national party which allowed labour to gain more seats in scotland uh reform uk that's the right -wing party associated with nigel sorry um nigel farage and five they got five uh seats which actually um it makes
it seem that reform don't have as much support as they actually do.
Because of the voting system in the UK, actually reform got a lot more votes than it seems, but they got five seats.
And the Green Party, that's a left -wing party focusing on environmental issues, got four seats.
So this election significantly reshaped the political landscape with Labour gaining a commanding majority.
Basically, my dad was right, but it was pretty clear what he was, it was pretty clear what was going to happen, to be fair.
So, you know, to be fair, everyone predicted this.
But, you know, just shows my dad sort of keeps up with all the commentary and stuff about politics.
So this was a significant shift in British politics.
Labour, led by Keir Starmer, won a substantial majority.
Keir Starmer's labour is distinctly more centrist than it was under the previous leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who was more strongly left wing.
So this is part of what Starmer has done to kind of get back into power.
It's a bit of a Tony Blair move.
He made the Labour Party more electable by moving to the centre.
Left wingers, traditional left wingers in the UK don't like Starmer too much, but he's certainly better than the awful Tories who were, you know, in the end just full of corruption and all sorts of other terrible, terrible scandals, which really just demonstrated their almost complete lack of civic
duty. So at least with the Labour Party now in control, there's a sense that there is, you know, certain amounts of civic duty at work that they are trying to serve the country rather than just themselves.
It's a step back towards more reasonable, measured, civic -minded policies, although it's not a radical change, to be fair.
I mean, a radical change would be a shift all the way through to more socialist ideas on the sort of far left of the Labour Party.
This is more centrist, centre -left politics.
As much as this was a Labour win, it was a Tory loss, a Conservative loss The results reflect a deep -rooted dissatisfaction with the Conservative Party and Rishi Sunak's leadership While Labour's victory is partly due to anti -Tory sentiment It also signals a broader liberal centre -ground moderation So
a challenging time for Labour ahead Labour and Keir Starmer face several challenges despite their election victory The large majority covers diverse constituencies with competing interests, making it hard to satisfy all demands.
Right. So there's a variety of like people voted for Labour, but to an extent they voted against the conservatives.
And so there's a wide variety of of interests from the people who voted Labour.
So it's going to be hard to make everyone happy.
I could go on with this.
I could go on, but I won't.
I'm going to leave it there.
I could also mention the French, the chaos in French politics at the moment.
But there isn't time.
Also, I wanted to mention Trump getting shot in the ear and Biden stepping down.
Yeah, I mean, you must have seen the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
I mean, it's just crazy here's a summary of what happened on July the 13th 2024 former President Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during a campaign rally near Butler Pennsylvania and this is going to be one of those moments that goes down in history as a significant shift it's like one of the symbolic
moments I think the attacker 20 year old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire with an AR -15 style rifle from a rooftop approximately 400 feet from the stage.
Trump was shot in the right ear.
So you can see that just as the shot was taken, Trump took it, turned his head.
It's just a complete coincidence.
He turned his head at that moment.
If he hadn't turned his head, he definitely would have been shot in the head.
But he turned his head just at the last second and the bullet clipped his ear and Trump survived with a minor injury.
However, the attack resulted in the death of one rally attendee, which is very sad, and critically injured two others before Crooks was killed by Secret Service snipers.
So that's from Wikipedia and from AM New York.
Those are the sources.
Following the incident, Trump was taken to a hospital and released in stable condition a few hours later.
He quickly resumed his campaign activities, making a public appearance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee two days later, where he spoke about unity and resilience.
The motive behind the attack remains unclear.
The FBI is investigating Crooks's background, including his social media and personal history, but has found no clear political motives or affiliations.
So we still don't know why exactly it happened.
president joe biden and other leaders condemned the violence calling for calm and urging the public to avoid speculation about the shooter's motives while the investigation is ongoing so this was a horrible moment of course no i'm not a fan of trump but obviously there's there's no excuse for murder
right um so it must have been awful like like all the shootings that happen in the usa i mean to have been there i can't imagine the sense of fear and panic that would grip the crowd in a moment like that.
Trump, perhaps foolishly, and I say that because it's obviously very dangerous to stand up in the middle of an assassination attempt, but Trump managed to get back to his feet and he gestured to the crowd.
Right. You know, he put his fist up and he had blood on his face with his fist up in the air.
And a photo was taken by a photographer.
The photo, which you've probably seen, is one of those instantly iconic pictures.
Trump stands surrounded by security guards, a streak of blood across his face with his fist raised defiantly, an American flag in the background against a blue sky backdrop.
So, I mean, it's just unbelievable, isn't it really?
Just insane. How did he...
First of all, obviously, it's a terrible moment.
And he was lucky to only be injured a little bit.
But also, how did he manage to to get a cool looking injury?
I mean, it was one of those cool looking injuries that happens to Hollywood movie stars in movies like, you know, when Bruce Willis gets shot or when he gets covered in blood, he always manages to look cool when the heroes in a in a Jurassic Park film kind of get injured.
The blood on their face is like in places where it makes them look cool.
It's like these scratches or marks on their face that kind of make them look really cool.
He got one of those cool looking injuries that normally only happens in films.
And this is bound to be great publicity for him.
I think in so many people's minds now, he's probably an all American hero because he got grazed by a bullet.
I mean, American voters will no doubt see him as an awesome hero who got grazed by a bullet.
And Americans love that, don't they?
Every film, every American film, the hero gets grazed by a bullet.
Every Bruce Willis film ever, he gets shot in the arm and it makes virtually no difference, right?
There's always a cool injury.
the hero gets shot in the arm it makes no difference to them it just makes them cooler except when maybe the bad guy punches them in the in the in the bullet wound it just makes him more of an all -american hero the righteous underdog hero and I think some of the more evangelical fans of Trump now think
he's invincible it's like a you know like God's Jesus stepped in and stopped the bullet, that kind of thing.
In Joe Biden news, Joe Biden was terrible in the televised presidential debate, which also is good for Trump.
Biden showed clear signs of mental deterioration, unfortunately, and he should probably step down.
In fact, he has stepped down.
um he stepped down meaning he's he's resigned he uh in terms of uh his candidature for the presidential election and is it Kamala Harris who's who stepped up and is now the presidential candidate it's a it's a very complicated tricky time in American politics um yeah um but so he he made us Biden made a series
of clear gaffes like mistakes in his speeches and in the presidential debate.
He stumbled over his words.
He looked confused.
He got various key facts and figures wrong before correcting himself.
In another event, he introduced President Zelensky as President Putin, which is such a terrible gaffe.
He referred to his vice president as Vice President Trump.
he said that they'd killed medicare which is like the national health care system he actually meant that they'd killed covid he said that the democrats had created a thousand million jobs when there are only 300 million u .s citizens and other things so uh the whole thing's a shit show and it's playing
into the hands of donald trump I think that's enough politics I talked about it there just because the u .s election is hugely important in global affairs because a Trump presidency would definitely have significant knock -on effects in events in other parts of the world because of the approach he would take
to foreign policy with things like support for Ukraine and so on.
So it's, you know, obviously it's kind of a critical thing for the whole world.
But yes, that's enough politics for now.
Let's move on. We're in the last closing minutes of the episode.
Euro 2024 and England.
Some people maybe expected me to talk about England and Euro 2024 because England got to the final.
They were beaten by Spain, who were definitely the better team.
I talked about this.
I talked about it at length on the FootGlish podcast.
I was on the FootGlish podcast twice, one before the beginning of the tournament and one at the end, talking about England at the beginning and talking about England at the end.
And I talked about all of the things I thought, all my thoughts and feelings and, you know, bits of analysis about England's performance and all that stuff.
So you can check out the Footglish podcast, which is run by Zdenek from Zdenek's English podcast.
He's doing a podcast all about learning English with football.
So if you're a football fan, check it out.
You'll find a link in the description.
That's all there is time for.
I think it's time to stop.
This has become another fairly epic rambling episode.
Listeners, hello, you're still listening.
Well done. I hope you haven't turned into a skeleton sitting there with, you know, just a skeleton sitting there with headphones on.
Well done for surviving all the way through to this part of the episode.
I hope that there are there's still living flesh attached to your bones and blood running through your body and all the rest of it.
Hopefully this has been an exhilarating, exciting episode of Luke's English Podcast.
How's it been for you?
Don't forget to come out of the shadows and leave us a couple of comments in the comments section.
I asked you some questions right at the top of the episode.
Let me fly through them again very quickly.
Okay, so where are you from?
How long have you been listening to this podcast?
How did you discover the podcast?
what how would you describe your level of english what do you why do you want to learn english or improve your english how does this podcast help i'm now improvising the questions um what moments do you remember from this particular episode if there was one moment that you uh particularly remember which one
was it let us know what that was in the uh comments section of this episode thank you so much for listening all the way up until this point uh premium subscribers don't forget to check out P61 parts one to seven.
Okay. And I will speak to you again on the podcast soon.
Okay. That's it for me.
I'm going to have to wrap up now and go off and pick up my son from daycare and go back to normal life.
And tomorrow I'm getting up first thing in the morning and getting on the Eurostar to London.
And I'm going to spend a few days in England.
I'm going to go see my parents and help them out in their garden and have a bit of time in England.
It's just me. It's just me on my own.
I'm going on my own.
I'll try and record a walk and talk episode on the streets of London tomorrow if possible.
OK, good. Thanks for listening.
Thanks for watching.
Speak to you next time.
Don't forget to like and subscribe, of course.
OK, but until next time, I will now just say goodbye.
Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.
Bye. When you want to have fun and have scratchers to scratch, there's a playful way you can do just that.
Scratch with a key or acrylic nail, scratch with a quill from a porcupine tail.
Use a belt buckle from your friend Lamar, or scratch with your pick while you play guitar.
You can scratch in a bunch of different playful ways.
Scratchers from the California Lottery, a little play can make your day.
Please play responsibly.
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