Today I sit down with Alastair Budge, the creator of Leonardo English and the podcast English learning for curious minds.
Alastair created a fantastic resource for people coming back to learning English – skipping the heavy grammar lessons, he digs deep into British issues and conversation topics that people may find themselves talking about at work or in social settings. He also developed tools to help people refine their written English.
Key Takeaways
- Learning French, Italian and Chinese: at university Alastair studied first French and Italian then Chinese, with a view of preparing for an international career
- Startup life before it was mainstream: unlike most of his university peers, he decided not to go into a more traditional, corporate role and joined a startup working on marketing
- Living in different European countries: he first moved to Malta where he launched his podcast English learning for curious minds. After that he moved to Sweden, taking is work and business with him and developing it into a thriving community of language learners.
- ‘I never thought I would work with languages’: that’s the thing about languages – they are an asset, and you never know where they will take you!
About Alastair Budge & Leonardo English
Alastair Budge is the founder of Leonardo English and the host of English Learning for Curious Minds, a podcast for intermediate-advanced English learners.
Connect with Alastair:
- Leonardo English: www.leonardoenglish.com
- English Learning for Curious Minds: www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts
- FixMyEnglish: www.fixmyenglish.ai
- Radio ELE (the Spanish show mentioned): https://radioele.com/
- Leonardo English membership: use the code WWL10 for a lifetime 10% discount. Sign up here: leonardoenglish.com/subscribe
About Sonia Kampshoff
Sonia is a translator turned multilingual digital marketer specialising in paid media, and now also a podcaster. Growing up bilingual, languages have been a constant in her life. In 2025 she launched a podcast where together with her guests she explores the huge variety of jobs and career opportunities open to people with language skills. She is available to speak on podcasts and stages about marketing, languages, work and podcasting.
Connect with Sonia
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingwithlanguages
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniakampshoff/
- Website: https://moreperfect.digital/
- Email: sonia@moreperfect.digital
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