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Want to teach more reactively and in line with what SLA research says? Join LYE founders Leo, Mike, and Andrew for monthly long-form interviews with language acquisition experts so you can throw that textbook away. Whether you’re building your own business, working for a school, or just love learning about trends in language teaching, this is your bridge between the research lab and practical classroom.
Episodes

Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
Dylan Gates on Dogme and the RDS Method
Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
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Dylan was born just outside London and has been working in the ELT sector for nearly 25 years. About 12 years ago, he discovered Dogme, or as he prefers to call it “Teaching Unplugged”, and this led to his interest in deep-end learning approaches like TBLT and language coaching. When he trains teachers, he makes sure they learn how to move away from the coursebook and deal with emergent language.
In this episode, he shines a light on:
- how freelancing led him to Dogme
- why he includes reactive teaching in his tool kit for the modern teacher
- the RDS method for dealing with emergent language
- key considerations for designing materials with a reactive mindset
- the future of ELT, AI, and how teachers can innovate
More on Dylan:
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. Sandbox your own course ideas in our free support community for teacherpreneurs.
2. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel
3. See our free guides for teachers
4. Book a complimentary consultation with us to chat about your business

Sunday May 07, 2023
Nicola Prentis on Investing in your Future Self
Sunday May 07, 2023
Sunday May 07, 2023
Click here to grow with other teacherpreneurs in our free support community.
And click here to check out The Chilled Investor to make your money work for you.
Nicola has been in ELT for over 20 years as a teacher, materials writer, and entrepreneur. She's written many coursebooks and over 200 pages of the British Council learning English website. More recently, she helps language teachers take control of their finances.
Her interest in investing came about almost by accident when she began looking at her own woeful finances and she now supplements her income through investing and runs a course for beginner investors at The Chilled Investor.
In this episode, Nicola dives into:
- how her childhood impacts her relationship with money
- why many teachers sweep finances under the rug
- what investing is and what it isn't
- demystifying limiting beliefs about investing
- why it's never too late
- how "desperation is the mother of research, self study, and self improvement"
- why precarity in our industry is more reason to invest in yourself, not less
More on Nicola:
2. Check out her Chilled Investor program
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. Sandbox your own course ideas in our free support community for teacherpreneurs.
2. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel
3. See our free guides for teachers
4. Book a complimentary consultation with us to chat about your business

Monday Apr 17, 2023
Ken Lackman on the Lexical Approach
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Click here to grow with other teacherpreneurs in our free support community.
Ken has been in ELT since 1995. A teacher, trainer, and author, he has written or co-written over 20 books, including the recently published Connections 3 coursebooks with Pearson.
In this episode, he dives into the lexical approach, why it never caught on and how teachers can use it in their teaching.
Specifically, we dive into:
- how ELT has evolved
- why Michael Lewis was "pissed"
- Dogme ELT & its place
- how teachers can decide which vocabulary to focus on in Dogme /TBLT
- his CAT framework for Dogme
- the post/no methodology era
- students making "great mistakes"
- the Lexical Approach
- the future of ELT and AI
More on Ken:
1. Connect with him on Facebook
2. Download his resources on his website
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. Sandbox your own course ideas in our free support community for teacherpreneurs.
2. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel
3. See our free guides for teachers
4. Book a complimentary consultation with us to chat about your business

Monday Feb 20, 2023
Teacherpreneur Challenges & Tackling Irrational Fears
Monday Feb 20, 2023
Monday Feb 20, 2023
Click here to grow with other teacherpreneurs in our free support community.
Leo, Mike and Andrew return to the studio to discuss the most common challenges teacherpreneurs face. They get into the three hats that a teacherpreneur needs and how to build up each one.
Specifically, they talk about:
- balancing the teacher, creator, and entrepreneur in you
- teaching being the only profession where we feel guilty about earning more money
- why a lack of goal clarity means you won't move forward
- perfectionism as an irrational fear
- niching and eliminating competition
- creating equity in your business
- a system to charge more
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. Sandbox your own course ideas in our free support community for teacherpreneurs.
2. Get your own clients on social media right now
3. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel
4. See our free guides for teachers
5. Book a complimentary consultation with us to look at your goal

Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Lessons Learned in 2022
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Click here to grow with other teacherpreneurs in our free support community.
Leo, Mike, and Andrew hop in the studio to record their annual year-end audit. Here, they reflect on the lessons they learned in 2022. They run through specific lessons that drive success, failure, and resilience.
Specific lessons they touch on are:
1. It always takes longer than we think it's going to take
2. Behind mountains are more mountains
3. Knowing what success looks like
4. Starting small
5. Getting over the case of the "What ifs"
For the Indigenous Teachings book "Legends and Teachings of Xeel's The Creator" Mike mentioned in this episode, click here.
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. Sandbox your own course ideas in our free support community for teacherpreneurs.
2. Get your own clients on social media right now
3. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel
4. See our free guides for teachers
5. Book a complimentary consultation with us to look at your goals

Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
Danny Norrington-Davies & Richard Chinn on Emergent Language
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
Grow with other teacherpreneurs in our free support community.
Danny Norrington Davies and Richard Chinn have done extensive research on emergent language and have co-authored "Working with emergent language." Danny has over 25 years in the industry and is currently a CELTA and DELTA tutor. His first book "Teaching Grammar: From Rules to Reasons" was a best-seller. Richard has trained teachers all over the world and currently does pre-service and in-service training courses at IH London. He is also an associate professor at King's College London.
In this episode, Danny & Richard discuss:
- the rise of emergent language
- why many were resistant to the idea
- the imbalance between research on error correction versus emergent language use
- incidents that prevent language from emerging
- the connections between emergent language and task-based learning
- how teachers can develop their "emergent language muscle"
- why the student's agenda supersedes the teacher's
- how teachers can utilize emergent language even with beginners
- why they decided to write a book on emergent language
More on Richard & Danny:
Connect with Richard on LinkedIn
Connect with Danny on LinkedIn
Grab your copy of their book "Working with emergent language".
See our blog post about this episode.
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. Sandbox your own course ideas in our free support community for teacherpreneurs.
2. Get your own clients on social media right now
3. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel
4. See our free guides for teachers
5. Book a complimentary consultation with us to look at your goals

Monday Oct 17, 2022
Katarina Mentzelopoulos on Exceptionalism in Language Learning
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Join our free teacherpreneur community.
Katarina Mentzelopoulos is an ESRC-funded Ph.D. student at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her research interests include language learning motivation, exceptional language learning, multilingualism and learner identity.
She recently co-authored two books with the late Zoltán Dörnyei:
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Stories from Exceptional Language Learners Who Have Achieved Nativelike Proficiency (50% discount code STORIES50 until 30/11)
-
Lessons from Exceptional Language Learners Who Have Achieved Nativelike Proficiency (50% discount code LESSONS50 until 31/10)
The books tell the stories of people who achieved native-like proficiency against all odds.
In this episode, Katarina discusses:
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what exceptionalism in language learning means
-
the critical period hypothesis
-
polyglots vs mastering a language
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how they selected participants for the books & their stories
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why native-like isn’t necessarily the standard and what is instead
-
markedness versus proficiency
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why forming a bond with the language is integral
-
working with Zoltán Dörnyei and his legacy
Read more about this episode on the LYE blog.
More on Katarina Mentzelopoulos:
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. Get your own clients on social media right now
2. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel
3. See our free guides for teachers
4. Book a complimentary consultation with us to look at your goals

Monday Sep 12, 2022
Chris Jacobs on Flow Theory
Monday Sep 12, 2022
Monday Sep 12, 2022
Join our free teacherpreneur community.
Chris Jacobs joins Mike and Andrew to talk about flow theory. Chris is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska, teaching French, Italian, Spanish, and Linguistics. He is currently working on projects exploring learning optimization through flow - flow is a state of deep focus on an enjoyable activity that is at once challenging and accessible. Research on flow and language acquisition is increasing, and Chris is at the forefront of that.
In this episode, Chris dives into:
- what flow is and its balance between fun and relevance
- how the theory of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has been adapted to language learning
- characteristics of flow experiences
- how tasks and TBLT are innate elements of flow
- activities that are more conducive to creating flow
- why flow and tasks are possible with all proficiency levels
More on Chris Jacobs:
His University of Nebraska Page
His most recent publication on flow
Read more about this episode on the LYE blog.
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. See our free guides for teachers
2. TBLT Made Easy - tasks to your inbox!
4. Get a free tip in your inbox every week to grow your teaching business
5. Book a complimentary consultation with us to look at your goals
6. Follow us on IG: @learnyourenglish
7. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel

Thursday Jul 14, 2022
The Advantages of Disadvantages
Thursday Jul 14, 2022
Thursday Jul 14, 2022
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Leo, Mike, and Andrew talk about burnout in education, Learn YOUR English beginnings, their journey, and how teachers can overcome obstacles. Drawing parallels from stories presented in Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath - the beginning of French impressionism, why going to Harvard isn't necessarily an advantage, Ikea's controversial founding and more - they tackle how successful teaching businesses emerge from seeing advantages in disadvantages.
Specifically, they discuss:
- creating non-obvious solutions to obvious problems
- how to follow the path of most resistance
- why French impressionists decided to be big fish in a small pond
- Ikea as an example of the five-factor psychological model of successful enterprises
- delaying gratification as one of the most important tools for a teacherpreneur
- how to exercise the idea muscle
- why becoming the person you want to be means challenging the person you currently are
Read more about this episode on the LYE blog.
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. See our free guides for teachers
2. TBLT Made Easy - tasks to your inbox!
4. Receive a free teaching and business tip every week in your inbox
5. Book a complimentary consultation with us to look at your goals
6. Follow us on IG: @learnyourenglish

Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
CEFR and the Dutch School System
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
This is a very special episode of Teacher Talking Time, in partnership with the University of Groningen in The Netherlands. This episode was created as part of the final assessment of MA course "The CEFR in Context: Learning, Teaching, Assessment and Research" by Prof. Dr. Marije Michel and Dr. Audrey Rousse-Malpat. We at Learn YOUR English are thrilled to be a part of it coming to life.
Episode Description:
The CEFR is a useful tool for assessment and can be used to better align assessment across Europe. But is this what is actually happening? In this podcast episode, assessment and the CEFR in the Dutch school system will be discussed from the perspectives of experts in the field of research, secondary school teachers of English, and students studying to become teachers of English.
Interviewers:
Lize Hofman. Gerbrich Dijkstra, and Mark van der Wijk are currently doing the Educational Master track for English at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Guests on this episode:
Prof. Dr. Rick de Graaff works at the University Utrecht and teaches Foreign Language Didactics and Bilingual Education. His field of expertise is effective foreign language education, second language didactics, early foreign language education, and the professional development of language teachers. He has previously researched how the CEFR can effectively be implemented in second language education.
Drs. Alessandra Corda is the head of modern language undergraduate teacher training departments at the Hogeschool Amsterdam (University of Applied Sciences) and has worked in the language education field for the past 25 years. She has also researched how to effectively implement the CEFR in second language education and is very knowledgeable about the assessment of language learning in education.
Niels Amperse teaches English at a secondary school in the Netherlands. He is still in the early stages of his teaching career and followed CEFR classes during his training to become a teacher. He is interested in the development of secondary school students and has a refreshing view of second language learning in the Dutch educational system.
Read more about this episode on the LYE blog.
Podcast Creation:
This episode was created with support from Thinkific & Podbean. If you're looking to launch a course or start a podcast, we highly recommend them - and use them ourselves.
As always, thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.
If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
Ways we at LYE can help you right now:
1. Free Business Foundations Training
3. Get a free teaching and business tip every week
4. Book a complimentary consultation with us to look at your goals
5. Follow us on IG: @learnyourenglish