Who is Luke?

Hi, I'm Luke and I'm an English Language teacher from London.

I've been teaching  English for over 11 years. I started in Japan and lived in Kanagawa prefecture for two years. Since then I've been teaching in London and I regularly teach courses in business English, academic English, legal English, general English and English for exam courses like FCE, IELTS and BEC.

I graduated from Liverpool John Moore's University in 1999 with a BA Hons degree in Media and Cultural Studies. I worked at various media production companies before going into English language teaching. I took my CELTA in 2001 and then my DELTA in 2006 at UCL. I now teach full time in a language school in London.

I am a prolific writer of ELT materials, and I often design courses in EAP for which I usually write the material. I have written original courses for English for the Pharmaceutical Industry, English for the Oil and Gas Industries and English for Journalists. I am a semi-published author with some of my work being used in materials publications in several countries.

I started Luke's English Podcast in 2009 and since then it has become enormously popular. I plan to continue writing material and publishing episodes of the podcast before hopefully publishing material of my own and expanding my website.

I am also a musician and a comedian. I play drums and bass in several bands, and I regularly perform stand-up comedy in London. 

I sincerely hope you enjoy listening to Luke's English Podcast and that you find it improves your English. Check my other pages to find useful advice for learning English, and for how to use the podcast as a good way to improve your English in many areas.


Thanks for visiting the site!

Luke		



EPISODE 272. The Bad Haircut Situation

In this episode we’re going to look at how to deal with sensitive situations in English, and that includes ways of delivering bad news or saying negative things. We’re going to consider ways of using language carefully in order to avoid upsetting people or making them angry. You’ll hear a discussion on this topic between Amber, Paul and me and then a few role plays in which we have to deal with some sensitive situations. Watch out for the specific language that we use.

“The Bad Haircut” – Imagine this situation:

You are at work on a Monday morning, and your colleague arrives. Your colleague’s name is Jane. She is a lovely person. She is kind, sensitive, and generous. She has also been a little bit under-confident recently, after she split up with her boyfriend, who she had been going out with for 4 years. The break up left her feeling a bit lonely and upset, but now she is feeling much better about herself and is ready to take control of her life again.

At the weekend Jane had her hair cut and she has chosen a new style. It’s really quite different to her previous style, and to be honest, it doesn’t look good. It doesn’t suit her at all, and it is not really a fashionable style either. Let’s say she’s added a fringe, she’s cut it shorter and she’s changed the colour. You’re thinking: “this is a bad move – she’s taken a step in the wrong direction with this new haircut”. She seems to be a bit unsure of herself, but she’s excited about her new hair, which obviously cost her a lot of money. You are the first person she has seen in the office. She says to you, “So, what do you think of my new hair cut?”