May 2026
This lesson comes from our Learn English with Art series.
A few times a year, our Academy Speaking Challenge is built around a famous artist from history, from the Italian master Caravaggio to the celebrated German artist Albrecht Dürer.
After spending many years living in Italy, Academy teacher Matt, originally from California, developed a deep passion for art history. In these courses, he first introduces members to the artist through a 60 min audio podcast before guiding the group through videos that explore individual paintings in detail.
These engaging videos do far more than teach vocabulary and expressions. By carefully observing the paintings together, members use art as a starting point for sharing opinions, telling stories, and discussing ideas.
Courses like these reflect our philosophy that English is best learned not simply through grammar rules or vocabulary lists, but through active speaking and the exploration of culture.
The painting description below comes from a work by the English painter Joseph Wright of Derby, and inspired conversations about jealousy, ghosts, and lost love. The short poem at the end is quite advanced, which gave us the opportunity to explore it word by word together in a live lesson with a teacher.
Each Learn English with Art course includes:
- 60 min introduction to the artist podcast with PDF transcript
- 10 painting description videos
- 10 painting PDF transcripts with highlighted vocabulary & definitions
- Exclusive informal discussion podcast with Christian + Teacher Matt
- 50 discussion questions to be used in lessons
Oil Painting (1785) – William and Margaret by Joseph Wright of Derby
Discussion Questions:
- What do you think of this painting? Why?
- Why do you think people enjoy being scared?
- Do you prefer to read a story before seeing the film, illustrations, or artwork based on it? If so, why?
- Tell a ghost story that involves lost love.
- What do you think will happen next in this scene?
Academy Updates
Cultural Meetup in London
Nothing beats meeting Academy members face to face! Over the first weekend of May, a group of English learners gathered in the heart of London to explore the city while putting their English into practice.
Of course, we visited famous landmarks and museums, but the real highlight was getting to know each other better. Meeting online each week is one thing; sharing a conversation over a beer in a traditional English pub is something entirely different. Alongside Christian and Teacher Matt, members joined from more than ten countries — from as far away as Brazil and Mexico to several European nations. With such an international group, English naturally became our common language as we walked from Buckingham Palace to Big Ben, and from the magnificent London Eye to the modern skyscraper known as the Shard.
Our excuse for meeting in London had an artistic connection. In April, our Speaking Challenge focused on the paintings of Michaelina Wautier (c. 1614–1689) and Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797), which enriched our visit to the Royal Academy of Arts and its temporary exhibition on Michaelina Wautier. Some members also chose to visit the National Gallery’s exhibition on Joseph Wright of Derby. As an added bonus, Banksy installed a new artwork in central London just two nights before our meetup, giving us yet another artistic surprise to discover together.
And as always, beyond the famous sights and typical food, the best memories came from simply being together. Nothing compares to those one-on-one conversations with other members and with Christian… moments that remind us that the true purpose of learning a language is communication.
The next Academy meetup with be in Poland in late July!
Reading Between the Lines
Some of the best ideas for lessons and courses come directly from student questions. That’s exactly how this course on reading began. An Academy student asked Christian for advice on how to read faster… and whether speed reading is actually possible.
That conversation sparked the idea for this compact 45-minute course. It was one of the first courses ever added to our ever-growing Academy library, which now holds over 25 courses totaling more than 500+ videos.
Here is what Christian discusses in the “Reading Between the Lines” course
- Writing: our greatest invention (5 min)
- Speech vs Writing (4 min)
- The Science of Eyes (7 min)
- Speed Reading (4 min)
- Changing the Reader (7 min)
- Changing the Text (4 min)
- How to Really Read Faster (9 min)
- Why read? (6 min)
Have a question you’d like to see some lessons on? Just send it in… you never know what will inspire a new course!