Canguro English
- Episodes
- 125
- Released
- weekly
- Latest episode
- Nov 12, 2026
About the podcast
Canguro English presents a podcast about language for people learning languages.
Episodes 125
Wine vocabulary with Sam Neill (Canguro in the Wild 008)
Join Christian and Matt as they learn vocabulary related to wine from an interview with Sam Neill
Nirvana to deer (Word Routes 007)
Join Christian and Matt as they take a surprising word journey from nirvana to deer.
Stop translating in your head! (Ask Canguro 006)
Join Christian and Matt as they answer listener questions. Today's question: How can you stop translating in your head?
Halloween Vocabulary - Guess The Story (Canguro in the Wild 007)
Join Christian and Matt as they look at interesting words & expressions from a news story about the Grim Reaper.
Phlegm to karate (Word Routes 006)
Join Christian and Matt as they take a surprising word journey from phlegm to karate.
Should you learn British or American English? (Ask Canguro 005)
Join Christian and Matt as they answer listener questions. Today's question: Should you learn British or American English?
Learn English with films - A Few Good Men (Canguro in the Wild 006)
Join Christian and Matt as they analyze a famous film scene starring Tom Cruise & Jack Nicholson.
Learn English with films - A Few Good Men (Canguro in the Wild 005)
Join Christian and Matt as they analyze a famous film scene starring Tom Cruise & Jack Nicholson.
Die to hazard (Word Routes 005)
Join Christian and Matt as they take a surprising word journey from die to hazard.
Why is English spelling so irregular? (Ask Canguro 004)
Join Christian and Matt as they answer listener questions. Today's big question: Why is English spelling so irregular, and can it be replaced with a better system?
News story - Words and phrases (Canguro in the Wild 004)
Join Christian and Matt as they look at 10 interesting words & expressions from a short news report.
Sausage to wedding (Word Routes 004)
Join Christian and Matt as they take a surprising word journey from a sausage to a wedding.
How many words do you need to be fluent? (Ask Canguro 003)
Join Christian and Matt as they answer listener questions. Today's big question: How many English words should we know to speak fluently?
Dog poem - Nouns, verbs, MWCs (Canguro in the Wild 003)
Join Christian and Matt as they rank the top five nouns, verbs, and multi-word constructions from a heartfelt poem about a dog.
Wife to the Louvre (Word Routes 003)
Join Christian and Matt as they take a surprising word journey from a wife to the Louvre.
Is grammar important? (Ask Canguro 002)
Join Christian and Matt as they answer listener questions. Today's big question: Is grammar important?
Turn passive vocabulary into active vocabulary (Ask Canguro 001)
Join Christian and Matt as they answer listener questions. Today's big question: How to move passive vocabulary into active vocabulary!
Steve Jobs - Idioms, cultural references, medical words (Canguro in the Wild 002)
Join Christian and Matt as they rank the top five multi-word constructions, cultural references, and medical words from a famous Steve Jobs speech.
Steve Jobs - Adjectives, verbs, phrasal verbs (Canguro in the Wild 001)
Join Christian and Matt as they rank the top five adjectives, verbs, and phrasal verbs from a famous Steve Jobs speech.
Horse to helicopter (Word Routes 002)
Join Christian and Matt on an exciting journey through English vocabulary from horse to helicopter.
Mouse to chef (Word Routes 001)
Join Christian and Matt on an exciting journey through English vocabulary from mouse to chef.
The podcast is back!
The Canguro English podcast is back! In this episode you will learn about why the podcast stopped, why it's returning, and what you can expect in the future. See you in class!
Accent and identity (with Erik Singer)
If you know me and my work then you know that I talk a lot about identity, and especially how your accent is a big part of your identity: your accent tells the story of your life. But if you do want to change …
Show notes
If you know me and my work then you know that I talk a lot about identity, and especially how your accent is a big part of your identity: your accent tells the story of your life.
But if you do want to change your accent, or improve your pronunciation, how do you do it?
Recently I had the pleasure of talking to someone with expert answers to that question: Erik Singer, a dialect coach who helps film and television actors to speak with an accent that is not their native accent, and because of this he knows exactly what it takes mentally and physically to change the way you speak.
In this interview we talk about how to change your accent, the best ways to practice, but more importantly if and why you should try to ‘speak like a native’.
I hope you enjoy it.
The state of modern linguistics | The Story of Language | Bonus episode
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this bonus episode we talk about the state of modern linguistics, including the effects of …
Show notes
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this bonus episode we talk about the state of modern linguistics, including the effects of the replication crisis, scientific fraud, Anglocentrism, and how the underappreciated work of Charles Sanders Peirce might offer a universal theory of how language works.
Embodied cognition | The Story of Language | Episode 12
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we discuss embodied cognition and the uncontroversial fact that the brain is an …
Show notes
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we discuss embodied cognition and the uncontroversial fact that the brain is an organ of the body, which then leads to the very controversial conclusion that our brain is no more important than our skin, and that imagining the world as if you had eyes in your toes can lead to some revolutionary new thinking.
Dark matter of the mind | The Story of Language | Episode 11
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we discuss the content of Dan’s book Dark Matter of the Mind, which lays out …
Show notes
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we discuss the content of Dan’s book Dark Matter of the Mind, which lays out Dan’s theory of culture. The book contains bold statements as ‘brains do not learn’ and ‘science is NOT pure rational thought’, but after this conversation you might change your mind about the raw power of viewing the world from the perspective of Dark Matter.
The cognitive revolution | The Story of Language | Episode 10
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the cognitive revolution, and whether the revolution really exists …
Show notes
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the cognitive revolution, and whether the revolution really exists at all. We discuss the beginnings and the state of the art of the study of cognition and show why it’s important to celebrate all discoveries as progress, even if they are doomed to failure.
Endangered languages | The Story of Language | Episode 9
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about endangered languages. I ask why languages are important, what is …
Show notes
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about endangered languages. I ask why languages are important, what is lost when a language disappears, the cultural and economic factors behind language loss, and the truth about the best way to stop languages from disappearing.
Language acquisition | The Story of Language | Episode 8
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the big questions in language acquisition. Is there a Language …
Show notes
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the big questions in language acquisition. Is there a Language Acquisition Device? Is language learned or innate? How does child learning differ from adult learning? Should syntax be the basis for language analysis? And are humans really the only things on the planet with language, or do other animals have it too?
Metaphor in language | The Story of Language | Episode 7
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the fundamental role of metaphor in language, from its involvement …
Show notes
Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this episode we talk about the fundamental role of metaphor in language, from its involvement in the creation and evolution of language to its role in the modern understanding of language through the work of Lakoff and Johnson, and the study of semiotics.
These are the latest 40 of 125 episodes. You’ll find older episodes in the podcast’s feed.
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