Practise your listening in English with a fascinating conversation with a writer of haiku poetry in English. John Stevenson is one of the world's leading English language haiku poets, and in this episode I had the pleasure of talking to him for an hour. John taught me more about haiku and senryu poetry, revealed how he first became interested in haiku, and then was willing to discuss various haiku poems he has written over the years, giving details of what real events inspired them, what they mean and more about his process of writing haiku in English. I hope this episode is fascinating and inspiring. Keep listening because it becomes more and more revealing as it continues. John was a pleasure to talk to and I think this is the perfect conclusion to the trilogy of episodes I have done on this subject on the podcast recently.

Get the PDF transcript 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/English-Language-Haiku-Master-John-Stevenson-Interview-983-Episode-Transcript.pdf

Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/04/06/english-language-haiku-master-john-stevenson-interview-983/

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"My Red" by John Stevenson available from Brooks Books 👉 https://www.brooksbookshaiku.com/Stevenson-MyRed.html

The Heron's Nest haiku website 👉 https://www.theheronsnest.com/March2026/index.html

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Haiku poems communicate a lot of ideas, thoughts and feelings into just a few simple words. They can be moving, humourous or meditative, and reading haiku in English allows you to learn vocabulary in a very interesting way. In part 1 I talked about the form and history of haiku, and read out various short poems in English from both Japanese writers and modern English ones. In part 2 here I finish reading my haiku selection, including many written by English-language haiku master John Stevenson. Listen to each one, consider the different meanings and interpretations and also learn specific words and phrases to expand your English vocabulary.

Get the episode PDF 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Haiku-in-English-2-982-1.pdf

Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/03/30/haiku-in-english-2/

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In this episode I discuss optimism and pessimism, what forms our outlook on life, which is healthier, how we talk about optimism and pessimism in English and which perspective helps you learn English more effectively. Expect some discussion, science, vocabulary, advice for learning English and a few jokes thrown in for good measure. PDF available.

Get the episode PDF (free) 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full_-Vocabulary-Discussion-891.pdf

Episode page 👉 https://teacherluke.co.uk/2026/03/23/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full-vocabulary-discussion-891/

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