Learn English by audiobook or video with Cullen at eattmag.com
Learn English with Cullen is a calm, story-based podcast with more than 50,000 downloads. Each episode uses clear, slow English stories and gentle questions to help you think in English and build fluency naturally—without pressure or complicated grammar rules. Listen and learn English—and perhaps learn something about yourself along the way. The stories explore ordinary moments, journeys, choices and questions about what we value. They are relaxing enough for a quiet walk, an evening break or a moment of calm, while still being created for active English listening rather than as sleep stories. Start here: https://eattmag.com/start/ After an episode, you can also unwind with our Earthlight studio atmospheres: https://earthlight.gumroad.com/ Previously recognised in the Australian Podcast Awards’ Most Popular Vote for Lifestyle, Health & Wellness.
info_outline
Questions for a Long Walk
08/04/2026
Questions for a Long Walk
Explore all episodes and download from the full library: The story stayed in Pablo’s mind as he walked. It made him think about reviewing things. Not judging everything. Not deciding that everything he had done was right or wrong. Just looking. Looking carefully at where he had been, where he was now and where he might be going. He wondered what would happen if he made a list of questions. Questions about his life. Questions about his time. Questions about what he valued and why he valued it. But what would the questions be? And how would he answer them? Perhaps he could take a long walk along the beach. He could carry his large scrapbook under his arm. When he found a quiet place, he could sit on a stone or an old piece of wood and write. Or he could walk beside the river where it flowed into the sea. He could find a place beneath the trees, open the book and begin. But Pablo laughed when he imagined himself carrying a large scrapbook along the beach. Perhaps a phone would be easier. He could speak the answers into his phone while he walked. Some questions might be easier to answer by talking aloud. Other questions might need to be written down slowly. This he knew was true. Perhaps he could do both. Then Pablo looked at the bowl. He had another idea. He could use the sound of the bowl to begin each question. He would gently sound the bowl. [Singing bowl sound] He would listen and then start talking. For some questions, he would keep talking for as long as the bowl continued to ring. For other questions, he would write until the sound disappeared. It could be like a kind of game. Not a game with winners and losers, but a game that helped him move through different gates. Gate 1: Where had he come from? Gate 2: What was he carrying? Gate 3: Why was he doing the things he did? He could write without stopping and without correcting every word. He could let the first answer come out. Then, when the sound ended, he could pause. He could walk a little farther. When he was ready, he could sound the bowl again and move through the next gate. By the time Pablo left the beach, he had not written any questions. But he knew how he wanted to answer them.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/42162425
info_outline
The Long Journey
07/28/2026
The Long Journey
Explore all episodes and download from the full library: Pablo could not remember every detail of the story. But he remembered the important part. A very famous man travelled to a tiny island, far away, near the bottom of the world. The man had become very important. Very important. In fact, he would eventually become the king of one of the greatest kingdoms on Earth. He could have spent his time anywhere. He could have met presidents, politicians, business leaders and other famous people. But instead, he travelled all that way to visit the family of an old friend. The friend had died many years earlier. About ten years earlier, Pablo thought, from what he remembered of the story. But the famous man had not forgotten his old friend. He travelled to the island to meet his friend’s family. He spoke with them. He sat with them. He listened to their stories and shared bread and wine with them. Perhaps they laughed about things the old friend used to do. Perhaps they remembered the way he spoke. They remembered a journey they had taken together, a meal they had shared, or a joke that nobody else understood. Pablo imagined the famous man sitting with the family. For a little while, he was not a king or a great public figure. He was simply an old friend who had come a very long way. Pablo looked down at the bowl in his hands. What was the value of a friendship like that? The friend was no longer alive, but the friendship had not completely disappeared. It was still there in a journey. It was there in the stories. It was there in the decision to travel across the world to sit with his family. Perhaps that was one way to understand value. You could look at how somebody spent their money. But you could also look at how somebody spent their time. Where did they go? Who did they remember? What promises did they keep? What were they still willing to do, even many years later? Pablo stopped walking. He looked back at the long line of his footsteps in the sand. Then he looked ahead. The beach continued out into the distance. He began wondering about the value of his own time. Where had it gone? What had he done with it? And what might he do with the time that he still had ahead of him?
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/42162255
info_outline
What Is the Value?
07/14/2026
What Is the Value?
More Pablo stories: Pablo was still walking along the beach. The bowl was in his hands. Every now and then, he stopped and looked at it. He turned it over. He ran his fingers around the outside of it, and then around the smooth edge at the top. He wondered about its value. Not its value in money. He did not mean: “How much could I sell this bowl for?” Or: “How much would it cost in a shop?” He was thinking about a different kind of value. Who had made it? How had they made it? How long had it taken them? What tools had they used? And what was the bowl actually made from? He held it up towards the sunlight. There were small marks across its surface. They were not scratches exactly. They looked more like signs that it had been made by hand. Perhaps someone had spent hours making it. Perhaps someone had spent days making it. Perhaps the person who made it had learned how to make bowls from another person. And perhaps that person had learned from someone before them. Pablo liked that idea. He rubbed his hands across the bowl again. Then he wondered what the bowl could do. It could hold something, of course. It could sit on a table. It could be carried. But it could also make a sound. Pablo gently touched the side of the bowl. The sound was quiet at first. Then it opened. It seemed to move out across the beach, towards the waves, before slowly disappearing into the wind. Pablo listened until he could no longer hear it. What was the value of a sound like that? The sound only lasted for a few seconds. But perhaps those few seconds could change the way someone felt. Perhaps value was not always about how long something lasted. Perhaps value was about what happened while it was there. As Pablo continued walking, the bowl reminded him of a story he had once read. It was a story about a very famous man, an old friend, and a journey to a tiny island near the bottom of the world. And Pablo began trying to remember it. Questions to think about What words in the story describe the bowl? What did Pablo wonder about when he looked at the bowl? Have you ever held something that felt valuable, even though it was not worth much money? What sound helps you to stop, listen and feel calm?
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/42067175
info_outline
The sand was soft under his feet
06/30/2026
The sand was soft under his feet
Find more Pablo stories and listening episodes here: Pablo was walking slowly along the beach. The tide had gone out and the sand was soft under his feet. He had seen something sticking out of the sand. At first, he thought it was just a shell. He bent down gently and cleared the sand away with his hands. A small bowl appeared. It was old-looking and round, and quiet, in a way. Pablo did not pick it up straight away. He just looked at it for a moment. He wondered who had left it there. He wondered how long it had been waiting. Then he placed both hands around the bowl and slowly lifted it out of the sand. As he lifted it, Pablo stopped again. There was something underneath—a small piece of string lying in the sand. Pablo gently pulled the string. The string was attached to a small bag. He brushed the sand away from the bag and opened it carefully. Inside the bag was a little cushion for the bowl to sit on, and beside it was a small wooden striker. Pablo flattened out the sand with his hand and placed the cushion on it. He then placed the bowl on top. He held the little striker in his hand. For a moment, he said nothing. The beach was quiet. The wind moved softly. Pablo touched the striker to the inside of the bowl. (The gentle sound of the bowl ringing floats up into the air) The gentle sound floated up into the air. Pablo was fascinated. He didn't understand anything about the bowl, but he knew one thing: this was not something he had found. It was something he had to listen to. Thinking exercise Pablo found the bowl, but he did not understand it straight away. Think about this question: Have you ever found something, heard something, or noticed something that made you stop and listen more carefully? It could be an object, a sound, a place, or even a quiet moment. Take a little time to think about what it was, and why it stayed with you.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/41903515
info_outline
Pablo and the Shiny Object
06/23/2026
Pablo and the Shiny Object
Read, listen, and follow the transcript here:
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/41582970
info_outline
Pablo and the Story of Observation
06/16/2026
Pablo and the Story of Observation
Read, listen, and follow the transcript here:
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/41582890
info_outline
Pablo Learns to Listen
06/09/2026
Pablo Learns to Listen
Read, listen, and follow the transcript here: A gentle English listening episode about Pablo slowing down near the ocean and learning to listen carefully. In this episode, Pablo listens to the waves, the wind, and the small changes around him. This story helps English learners practise calm listening, observation, and simple reflective language. Full transcript and reading notes are available on the website.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/41555265
info_outline
Pablo and the Word in the Sand
06/02/2026
Pablo and the Word in the Sand
In this gentle English listening episode, Pablo stands on the beach and tries to remember something from a dream. He writes in the sand near the waves and slowly remembers the feeling behind the word. This episode is designed for calm listening, simple English practice, and story-based learning. Listen and read here:
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/41421995
info_outline
Pablo’s Sidetime Beach Walk
05/26/2026
Pablo’s Sidetime Beach Walk
A slow English listening story about Pablo, the beach, and the quiet space between sleeping and waking. Read the story text and Gentle English Notes here:
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/41411465
info_outline
Pablo Woke in the Late Afternoon
05/19/2026
Pablo Woke in the Late Afternoon
Explore all episodes and download from the full library: Pablo woke in the late afternoon. For a moment he was not sure if he had been sleeping for one hour or many hours, and the light had changed while he was asleep. He remembered the dream only in pieces: A young woman, A book on the table, An open window, A page turning in the wind, And seasons that were not quite the usual seasons. He thought about taking a walk along the beach, not to solve the dream, not even to understand it completely—he did not need it. Only to let the air move around him just for a while. Sometimes a walk helps things settle. Sometimes the body remembered before the mind did, and he knew this. So Pablo stood quietly for a moment, listening in the afternoon. He did not need to know where everything was going. He only needed to stay steady for this moment. And for now, that was enough.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/41347275
info_outline
The Story Comes Back
05/12/2026
The Story Comes Back
Explore all episodes and download from the full library: Suddenly, Pablo thought of the woman who had first told him the story about the fifth season. He remembered it was a cold winter's day, and she was standing in the garden, looking out across the field. She had told him that: The fifth season was the season that came after winter and before spring. It was a time when the world was beginning to wake up. The wind was beginning to change. She described it as a time when you could feel the sun's warmth on your face, even though the ground was still covered in snow. She said it was a time for: Hope. New beginnings. Dreaming about the future. Pablo remembered how he had felt when she told him the story. He had felt like anything was possible. He felt like he could be anything he wanted to be. And he remembered the breeze he could feel in his sleep. Continue listening: Spotify: Apple Podcasts: Explore the free learning library: The Earthlight Project by EATT Studios — a learning library for clear thinking and steady progress. Built as a quiet, ongoing project — simple, structured content to support learning, clear thinking, and steady progress over time.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40952835
info_outline
The Wind Shape
05/05/2026
The Wind Shape
Explore all episodes and download from the full library: Once Pablo had turned on the bench, he could feel his body almost swaying gently with the wind. And in his dream, he remembered more of the story. The story was about: How the wind slowly turning along with the shape of the land began to move it. It began to slowly move the land, millions of little particles at a time from one place to another. He remembered the story of how mountains were made, how rocks were turned, and how smooth edges would appear on cliff faces. How the wind moved the ocean across the rocks to make slow, soft surfaces. Pushing little waves into rocks, making holes for crabs. And how tiny particles of dust would grind slowly, open the holes, and create little caves for small octopuses and other sea life creatures to hide in—places where they too, like him, would sleep on their side. Continue listening: Spotify: Apple Podcasts: Explore the free learning library: The Earthlight Project by EATT Studios — a learning library for clear thinking and steady progress. Built as a quiet, ongoing project — simple, structured content to support learning, clear thinking, and steady progress over time.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40952825
info_outline
Transcript: The Grass That Listens
04/28/2026
Transcript: The Grass That Listens
Explore all episodes and download from the full library: As Pablo slept, a small snake slithered behind his chair and back into the long grass, slowly making its way through the field up the hill towards the lighthouse. It was almost as if it were listening to the wind. Pablo was fast asleep and could not hear the snake in the grass, but he could almost hear the wind in his dream as it moved slowly and softly. He turned over on the bench with his back facing the ocean and felt the wind gently sweep over him, swirl as it hit the top of the bench, and then move out across the grass and up the land, above the small snake that had somehow disappeared. Pablo thought he was about to wake up, but he was unsure if he was waking up—if he could hear the wind behind him coming over the bench—or if the wind was in his dream. He was lying on his side, as if he were having some kind of "side time," where one side of him was asleep and the other side was awake. Continue listening: Spotify: Apple Podcasts: Explore the free learning library: The Earthlight Project by EATT Studios — a learning library for clear thinking and steady progress. Built as a quiet, ongoing project — simple, structured content to support learning, clear thinking, and steady progress over time.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40952780
info_outline
The Story of the 5th Season
04/21/2026
The Story of the 5th Season
When Pablo was dreaming, he dreamt of a house. He'd been to this house before. It was a very beautiful house, and it had felt like a place that he knew was home, once, long ago. When he walked through the house, he was thinking, as he looked out the window, to try and see the open field below. But then suddenly he appeared in the kitchen, and he was sitting at the table, drinking a warm cup of hot chocolate. And while he was looking around in the dream, he suddenly thought something. He remembered a simple story somebody had once told him about two winds: A wind that moved slowly around the bottom part of the earth. Gathering leaves and dust and flower seeds and other things that blow into the air. And then there was the northern wind, the northern wind that raced in the opposite direction. That collected moisture and droplets. Collected snow, collected cold and warm currents and mixed them all together, swirling as it went. Creating a magical wind in the middle between the two winds. This story reminded him of the breeze he could feel in his sleep.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40952665
info_outline
The Wind That Turns
04/14/2026
The Wind That Turns
Pablo lay stretched out along the bench. His body relaxed. His legs extended. He closed his eyes. And once again… He drifted into sleep. In his dream, he could sense something moving. A strange wind. It moved across the land. Over the hills. Through the desert. Across the tops of a rainforest. Then down through a river gorge. Flowing toward the place where the river met the sea. And then… Out across the ocean. As it travelled over the water, it began to change. The air shifted. The wind turned slowly. Softly. As if it were alive. Circles began to form above the moving air. A second current appeared. Swirling gently above the first. Warm air below. Cooler air above. Layered. Moving together. Unseen. Unnoticed. And beneath it all… Something had already begun. Moving quietly through the grass. And slowly… Making its way underneath the bench. Find the full Pablo listening library here:
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40598080
info_outline
The Bench and the Dream
04/07/2026
The Bench and the Dream
Pablo walked slowly along a quiet path. He had taken off his shoes and socks earlier, leaving them behind near the rocks, choosing instead to walk barefoot. The path beneath his feet felt smooth. As if many people had walked it before him, shaping it gently over time. With each step, he could feel it softly pressing into the bottom of his heels, almost like a quiet massage. The surface was warm from the sun. He felt his toes against it. Grounded. Present. He felt free. Connected to the earth. Alive. A gentle breeze moved around him. He could smell small flowers he had never noticed before. There was something else in the air too — a scent carried by the wind — but he couldn’t quite place it. When he reached the bottom of the hill, he stepped out toward the open view. The ocean stretched out in front of him. He could smell the sea. There was a long wooden bench nearby. Large enough for four or five people. He paused for a moment. Then decided to lie down. He stretched out along the bench and closed his eyes. Listening. The distant sound of the ocean below. The soft movement of the grass behind him. And slowly… He began to drift. Find the full Pablo listening library here:
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40597960
info_outline
The Valley below
03/31/2026
The Valley below
When Pablo stood up again, he looked down to the valley below. The sand on his shoulders and arms blew off in the light breeze. The valley stretched quietly out below a wide basin of colour and sharrow. From where he stood he could see the deep reds, soft yellows and hints of blue and green. As if somehow someone had sprinkled wildflowers magically across the valley floor. As if the earth had somehow helped to paint its own little secret. The wind travelled up from the ocean, not harsh and not strong, just enough to move the air as the grass swayed back the other way in a long gentle hush. Somehow somewhere below the valley seemed to be alive in its own quiet kind of way. He noticed a very narrow track winding down slowly towards the colours almost near the cliff. He decided to wander down towards the colours and wondered where it would lead. He made his way down gently, not with any urgency, just curiously. The great sweep of the hill falling behind him and the long grass still moving softly. The valley was asking him to join it in some way. Then he stopped for a long moment and just stood there. He took a breath. He looked out once more into the valley below.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40211195
info_outline
The Long Grass
03/24/2026
The Long Grass
The long grass moves slowly across the hill in wide rolling waves from the bottom up through the middle towards the top corner as if the land was almost breathing itself sweeping up towards the top of the hill and towards the lighthouse. Pablo stood for a moment struck by the sheer beauty of it. The hillside was alive. Thousands and thousands of blades of grass moving and rising together. It was almost as if someone was somehow guiding the movement like a conductor with invisible hands brushing across the surface of the hillside. He walked towards the edge of the old lookout platform and sat down on the ledge. The wind moved through the grass again a soft hush a long slow sweep. He felt sleepy it looked like an ocean wave most like a lullaby but there was no water here only wind and time. Pablo felt himself drift not asleep not fully awake just somehow suspended in what he would later describe as side time. Not asleep not a daydream but somewhere else just suspended in the rhythm of the hill. And for a long time he did nothing just softened his glaze looking out. When he finally opened his eyes again he felt different somehow refreshed as though something quiet had passed through him and left him somehow lighter. Learn more: Support the project:
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40211150
info_outline
The Ancient lighthouse
03/17/2026
The Ancient lighthouse
It was ancient looking, so ancient from where he stood. He couldn't make out the shapes that were carved into the sides. Though he imagined they could have been of creatures that may have clung there over time. Mollusks, large seashells from sea snails that had been worn by years of sea and wind over the time. You could just see at the very top a kind of strange spike up into the air that looked like it had some sort of lump inside it of some description. It wasn't quite straight as if it had been handmade somehow. It was difficult to see from here. He wondered what it was used for. The lighthouse stood beautifully high above the small valley and the hillside leading towards it. Moved and swayed with the long heavy grass beautifully in the wind. Like ocean waves almost moving across the land sweeping up to the hill as if it was an invitation. As if somehow the long grass was inviting him up towards the top of the hill. Towards the lighthouse which somehow looked like it had been carved. With what looked like they were small, long, thin. He wasn't sure if they were windows or if they were holes that you could peer out of or were they something used to feel the temperature of the wind.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40211145
info_outline
The Forgotten lighthouse
03/10/2026
The Forgotten lighthouse
When he looked up the hill, he could see a windy old road that climbed up slowly into the distance, meandering its way up towards what looked like a large cluster of trees, almost a forest in a way. He wondered why there wasn't a lighthouse here. The sea was blowing rough enough, and he knew this as the Shipwreck Coast. He had heard the stories. Surely there would have been a place for one up here somewhere. And then he turned towards the right, and there it was, a lighthouse perched high on top of the hill. It wasn't like anything he had seen before. It was older somehow, abandoned as if it had been left behind by time. It seemed to have strange shapes, or was that just the wind? Was it just the mist of the ocean and the wind that he could not see it so clearly in the difference of all the atmosphere around it? Somehow as if this lighthouse had been abandoned or left behind somehow by time.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40211105
info_outline
The Climb
03/03/2026
The Climb
Pablo climbed carefully up the steps, his feet searching for the worn holes in the rocks. The stone was cold beneath his skin, his feet almost wrapped around each rock as he slowly made his way to the top, every now and then brushing against a sharp shell. He moved slowly, feeling each step, grabbing the next rock as he finally reached the top. And there at the top, the ghost of an old platform. The wood was faded by the sun, it had been made of old railway sleepers that had been bound together very carefully, somehow the whole structure hanging there. On the right hand side a large part of it had broken off and was hanging over the edge. The signpost stood still standing by his side, it leaning a little with the sign at the top. He looked down at the broken area and wondered if this part of the platform somehow, if one strong wave could simply lift it up and carry it away. In the same way the rope had disappeared, quietly lifting it up, carrying it out to sea, like a raft, silently, somehow, without asking.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/40211055
info_outline
The Lighthouse
02/24/2026
The Lighthouse
Pablo could see the clouds very clearly, in the pool in the rocks and then he could see a strange shape, like a straight shape reflecting from the clouds. He looked up to the sky, and he couldn't see these straight shapes. Strange he thought maybe it was a beam from an old hut on top of the rocks Maybe not The mast of an old ship that has been smashed against the rocks, where the sailors had scrambled up the rocks like him on this Shipwreck Coast He looked back into the pond and still saw the straight shape. And he turned around to his left. And he could see a large straight post beside the rocks, and on top of the rocks there was a platform. And the large post was stretching up into the air. And on top of the post was a sign with the point to the end of it. The sign said: Leonardos Lighthouse.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/39976700
info_outline
Catching Breath
02/17/2026
Catching Breath
His heart was beating so deeply. He felt like a dog. He was panting and couldn't catch his breath. Trying to slow down. Tried to slow down. He couldn't. His mind was racing, his heart was beating, his thoughts were spinning. He looked down and saw a small crab sitting in a pool, a tiny pool in the rocks. He closed and opened his eyes. He would focus on the crab. He tried to slow his breath down with a slow box breath. Breathing in, 1-2-3-4. Holding his breath, 1-2-3. Releasing his breath, 1-2-3-4. Use the little crab. He looked at the crab and made it a focus point while he began to slow his breath. Breathe, he told himself. Breathe, 1-2-3. Slowly managed to slow his breath down. When he looked at the pool the little crab was in, you could see the clouds reflected in the pond. Past the little crab was a much larger pool, and this had a much larger, clearer reflection in the water Follow or subscribe for future episodes.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/39976645
info_outline
The Escape
02/10/2026
The Escape
He was close to the rocks, and he could see the surface. The light from the surface changed quickly up and down as the waves were rising quickly up against the rocks. And then he saw it. The rope. Then again the rope appeared at this time, for some reason. He reached out and grabbed it. He could feel coral wrapped around the rope. He pulled tight, and the rope stopped moving. It stayed taut. It was tight. It was attached to something; he didn't know what. He pulled on the rope, and he used it to pull himself up out of the water as he smashed into the rocks, bruised the side of his arm, and scraped his elbow. He wrapped his arm around the rope tight and pulled himself up onto a large rock and looked down at the rope, which had tangled around a large piece of wood, a large piece of wood that was wedged within the rocks. He looked behind him, and he could see a huge wave. He quickly climbed up the next step of rocks before the wave crashed into the rocks, coming up underneath out of the rocks and lifting the piece of wood up and the rope up out of the rocks and sweeping it back out to the ocean among the seaweed. He looked out into the ocean to try and see the shark. It was gone, along with the timber and the piece of rope. Support the show or explore tools and stories:
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/39976605
info_outline
The Shark
02/03/2026
The Shark
Pablo moved away from the shark as quickly and quietly as he could. He knew he needed to stay calm. He understood that he shouldn't make any sudden movements. No frantic paddling. He also knew his other option was to maximize his size, that if the shark was passing by, if he stayed vertical and looked as large as possible. But he was not thinking of that just right now. And he knew he needed to keep watching it, and if the shark turned towards him, he would have to face it. He needed to keep watching, always watching it. And if it moved, rotate his body to stay facing it. But at this time, he was getting away as quickly as he could, sensing the rocks somehow near. A piece of plastic got in his way. A large plastic bag. It was huge. It was blue. And he could now not see how close this shark was. This plastic bag almost cost him his life. A shark could see Pablo, but he could not see the shark. The water was suddenly a mix of cold and then warm currents, with the current below mixing together with the warmth of the top from the surface. A large piece of seaweed brushed the back of his hair. He shivered and felt an electric pulse through his body. That was adrenaline. That could normally be followed by fear, but he knew he could not let the fear rise up. He told himself that he felt like he was about to panic, but he knew he could not panic. Panic led to bad decisions. These things he knew. Use the adrenaline, he thought. Use the adrenaline to propel him up, towards the surface. He knew he could also get to rocks on his left side, but he did not know where they were. The journey continues next episode.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/39976375
info_outline
The Rope
01/27/2026
The Rope
Something like a rope passed him again. It was not tied to anything. It was floating. It moved slowly, back and forward, like seaweed. Pablo watched it for a moment. It did not feel dangerous. He reached out and pushed the rope away from his body. He pushed it to the side so he could start to go up. His breath was running out. His chest felt tight. He needed to go back to the surface. Then he saw more of it. Not all at once. At first, it was only a shape. A grey shape moving in the water. It did not look like a rope anymore. It looked like skin. That was when he understood. It was a shark. He dived down hard to get away. If you’d like to support this podcast, you can do so here: ☕ Buy Me a Coffee — Thank you for listening.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/39770395
info_outline
Learning the Water
01/20/2026
Learning the Water
Pablo had only learned to swim recently. He was in his early twenties. It took him a long time. He worked full time. He also had a part-time job. That day, he swam out from the shore and dived down. He wanted to see the rocks he had heard about under the water. He did not know how deep the ocean was there. Even close to land, it could be very deep. He felt like he was about five meters down. He did not look up at the surface. Something touched the back of his leg. It frightened him, but he kept going. The seaweed was large. It felt thick, like kelp. It brushed past the tattoo on his leg. He could not see the end of it. He still had not found the rocks. This is one story in a series of short listening pieces, made for calm, focused listening.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/39770375
info_outline
Pablo — The Kitchen
01/13/2026
Pablo — The Kitchen
Perhaps he thought when he got home he could hang his wooden spoons up, although at the moment they were sitting in a great big blue jar—which seemed to be the right place, as then he could just grab them beside the air fryer, you know, that kind of thing, when he was cooking on the run. This was making him hungry now, thinking about all these wooden spoons and the boat made of wooden spoons. He was thinking about dinner. Maybe he could have some nice pasta with some garlic and some black pepper, vegetables, and maybe some olives. He might be able to put some tuna in there too, and he may also have had some fresh herbs, which were also given to him by the woman who lived upstairs, Silvia. You don’t need to understand every word. Let the sounds settle, and notice what you follow naturally. Some of these stories drift for a while, and then arrive somewhere familiar — a kitchen, a walk, or a quiet moment between tasks.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/39624530
info_outline
The boat made of wooden spoons
01/06/2026
The boat made of wooden spoons
After his swim, Pablo decided that he was going to sit down and do some writing. And when he sat down, he suddenly remembered that he had a dream the other night about a boat, and the boat was made from wooden spoons. Why would a boat be made of wooden spoons? That was an interesting idea. They must have been all glued together because the boat was bobbing along quite well in the water, and there was a small crew of sailors sitting in the boat having a lively chat. What were they talking about? He wondered. He hadn't remembered that part of the dream. Was the discussion about coming to land or whether they had just left a big sailing boat and were heading out somewhere, or whether they were heading for land. Not heading for the Li Galli Islands, he hoped—where enchanting songs lure passing sailors. No, perhaps they were going to the land of the Wooden Spoons, where they grew trees for the Wooden Spoons. He wondered where the wooden spoon first came from. He only had a few wooden spoons, two or three, and each one of them he loved dearly. One of his wooden spoons had been given to him by a friend when she returned from somewhere far away, a small country he had never heard of. Another one was given to him by the woman who lived upstairs—the old woman who sometimes reads the cards. That spoon had a great big wide head and was made from a very beautiful dark timber. And the other one, he couldn't quite remember where that one came from. That one he thought he picked up at a store that was closing down that was selling pots and all kinds of things, and they had lots of beautiful Chinese woks and other things. He could afford just one wooden spoon on his way home, and that one was very long and thin and made of very light white timber. Learn English with Cullen is an Australian podcast that has been recognised at the Australian Podcast Awards and listened to around the world for many years. The episodes use short, calm listening exercises and original stories — including the ongoing Pablo series — to help learners develop natural English thinking. With over 175 episodes available on Apple Podcasts and other major platforms, this work continues quietly, one small piece at a time.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/39624350
info_outline
Swim First
01/01/2026
Swim First
From here on, new episodes are released on Apple Podcasts.
/episode/index/show/learnenglishwithcullen/id/39560465