Is immersive art the future? Let's Find Out As We Learn English
Did you know London is home to over 1,000 art exhibitions every year & some are so immersive, they make you feel like you’ve stepped inside a painting? Welcome to Adept English, the English language podcast where we explore real-world topics, like art, culture, and London’s most unusual exhibitions - while helping you learn English in a fun, immersive way.
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
▪️ Edgar Degas
Now, I’ll admit, I used to prefer traditional galleries. But after visiting that Hockney exhibition last year? Well, let’s just say walking into a giant, moving painting changed my mind!
So whether you’re practising English or planning a trip to London, this episode will give you the language tools and cultural insights to talk about art like a pro. Ready to boost your vocabulary while touring London’s most creative spaces? Let’s begin!
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More About This Lesson
Have you ever walked into an art exhibition and felt like you’ve stepped inside the painting itself? Imagine Van Gogh’s swirling stars moving around you or David Hockney’s animated landscapes glowing on the walls—welcome to the world of ‘immersive’ art! But wait—what even is an immersive experience? And why are London’s galleries suddenly obsessed with turning art into a full-body adventure? In this episode, we’re diving into the coolest, quirkiest exhibitions in London right now—from psychedelic bubble rooms to upside-down tube stations. Oh, and spoiler: this isn’t just about art. It’s a goldmine for your English too!
Listening to this English lesson will help:
- You learn vocabulary like "immersive experience" used in real contexts.
- You hear clear pronunciation of key terms (e.g., "exhibition," "animated").
- You understand cultural references (e.g., artists, London exhibitions).
- You practice listening to descriptive language about art and trends.
- You pick up transitional phrases like "more about that in a minute."
- You encounter varied sentence structures in natural narration.
- You learn idioms like "inner child" and "take for granted."
- You hear spelling clarifications (e.g., "collage," "illusion").
- You engage with current topics (e.g., immersive art trends).
- You gain exposure to formal and informal tones in one dialogue.
“Innovation in art is about creating experiences, not just objects.”
▪️ Olafur Eliasson
So why should you, as an English learner, care about London’s art scene? Three reasons! First, vocabulary: terms like ‘immersive’, ‘projection’, and ‘collage’ pop up everywhere—perfect for chatting about culture. Second, listening practice: real-world topics (like trends in art) train your ear for natural speech. And third? Conversation skills!
After this, you’ll sound savvy describing exhibitions, debating ‘traditional vs. digital art’, or even planning a trip. Plus, who doesn’t want to casually drop ‘mycelium’ or ‘kaleidoscope’ into a chat? Let’s get fluent—one quirky exhibition at a time!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What is an immersive exhibition, and how does it relate to learning British English?
An immersive exhibition is an interactive experience where art or content is projected onto walls, ceilings, and floors, making you feel "inside" the artwork. For English learners, visiting such exhibitions in London exposes you to authentic British vocabulary (e.g., "projection," "mural," "blurb") while engaging your senses—similar to how immersion helps language fluency. Listening to descriptions like Hilary’s in the Adept English podcast also trains your ear to natural British speech. - Which London exhibitions mentioned in the podcast focus on traditional art?
Traditional exhibitions include the Cartier jewellery display at the V&A Museum and Edvard Munch’s portraits at the National Portrait Gallery. These feature classic 2D art (paintings, sculptures) and are ideal for learning vocabulary like "portrait," "tapestry," or "surrealist." The podcast highlights these to contrast with immersive trends, giving you context-rich terms to discuss art in British English. - How can visiting exhibitions improve my British English fluency?
Attending exhibitions immerses you in British culture and language. For example, terms like "immersive," "kaleidoscope," or "psychedelic" from the Paradox Museum or Frameless appear in context, aiding retention. The podcast’s descriptions (e.g., "comically grotesque" for Tim Burton) model nuanced phrasing. Even if you can’t visit, listening to such content replicates immersion, a key fluency technique. - What are some unique vocabulary words from the transcript to learn for discussing art?
Key terms include:- Immersive (I-M-M-E-R-S-I-V-E): An all-encompassing experience.
- Blurb (B-L-U-R-B): A short promotional description.
- Mycelium (M-Y-C-E-L-I-U-M): Fungus networks underground.
- Collage (C-O-L-L-A-G-E): Art made from layered materials.
- Catwalk: A runway for fashion shows.
These words, used in the podcast’s conversational style, help you discuss art like a native speaker.
- Why does the podcast emphasize "immersive" language learning, and how can I apply it?
The podcast mirrors immersion by describing exhibitions in vivid detail (e.g., "hanging flowers tickle your face"), training you to think in English. To replicate this:- Listen actively to the podcast’s descriptions of places like Bubble Planet or Soil.
- Repeat phrases aloud (e.g., "whimsical world of bubbles").
- Visualize vocabulary (e.g., "projected onto ceilings") to anchor words in memory.
Immersion, whether through exhibitions or audio lessons, accelerates fluency by linking language to real-world experiences.
Most Unusual Words:
- Immersive: Fully surrounding you, making you feel completely involved in an experience.
- Animated: Made to move or seem alive, like a cartoon.
- Project: To show an image or video by shining light onto a surface.
- Portrait: A painting or photo of a person, usually showing their face.
- Potter: Someone who makes pots, bowls, or other items from clay.
- Collage: Art made by sticking different materials like paper or photos together.
- Mural: A large painting or artwork on a wall.
- Runway: A long stage where models walk to show off clothes.
- Illusion: Something that tricks your eyes or mind into seeing what isn’t real.
- Mycelium: The hidden, thread-like part of a fungus that grows underground.
Most Frequently Used Words:
| Word | Count |
|---|---|
| Exhibition | 18 |
| Which | 17 |
| Exhibitions | 12 |
| There | 11 |
| These | 8 |
| London | 7 |
| Other | 7 |
| Experience | 6 |
| English | 6 |
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
Transcript: Learn English With Immersive Art In London
Exploring London's Summer Exhibitions and Immersive Experiences
Hi there and welcome to this podcast from Adept English. Today, let's have a look at some of the exhibitions which are going on in London this summer. An exhibition, E-X-H-I-B-I-T-I-O-N, is traditionally where artists display their work. But as you will see, there are all kinds of exhibitions.
And often the purpose of these exhibitions is to give the visitor an experience. It's no longer enough, it seems, to simply 'go and look at some art'. It needs to be 'an experience'. And the English phrase which describes what many exhibitions are trying to achieve - the 'immersive experience'.
More about what that means in a minute. This podcast is for interest, but as ever will give you some new and interesting vocabulary to learn as you do your English language practice. And if you're actually visiting London, why not go and see one of the exhibitions I'm talking about? We'd love to hear all about it if you do.
Hello, I’m Hilary, and you’re listening to Adept English. We will help you to speak English fluently. All you have to do is listen. So start listening now and find out how it works.
David Hockney's Animated Exhibition at The Lightroom
But this podcast is more than this. It's also a reflection of what people are visiting and going to see in London in 2025. There are traditional exhibitions, of course, but also some that are really very different - as you'll hear. So last September, I visited a David Hockney exhibition in London with my daughter and her boyfriend.
Nothing unusual in that, you might say. David Hockney is a well-known British artist who I've mentioned before. He's now in his 90s and in slightly failing health, but is still painting and still exhibiting. You may know his work, but the exhibition we went to see last September was different.
It didn't contain any physical David Hockney paintings. Instead, Hockney's paintings had been animated. A-N-I-M-A-T-E-D. That means 'brought to life, made to move'.
And his paintings were not only animated, but being projected onto walls, ceilings and floor. If you 'project' something, it means you 'shine a light onto a flat surface'. And often that light shows a picture. So that's the verb 'to project', P-R-O-J-E-C-T.
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Get insider tips on must-see London exhibits—ideal for visitors or culture lovers.
Understanding Immersive Experiences in Art and Language Learning
And this Hockney exhibition was in a place in London called The Lightroom, which has a huge space, huge white walls. So with the animated projection of Hockney's art shone onto the ceiling, the walls and the floor of this huge space, it aims to give the visitor that 'immersive experience'. I think the same exhibition is on again later this year, if you're interested in seeing that. And this 'immersive experience' seems to be something of a trend.
'Immersive', I-M-M-E-R-S-I-V-E. This is also the word we use about the ideal language learning environment. If you 'immerse' yourself in something, it's as though you've jumped into a river or a swimming pool and the water's over your head. You're fully 'immersed'.
You're entirely in that environment. So if you went to a foreign country, you'd have an 'immersive experience' of the language being spoken around you. Of course, that's what we aim to do with the Adept English podcast, give you something of an 'immersive' English experience. But here, these exhibitions are aiming, at targeting the visitor's senses to give them an experience.
Traditional Exhibitions: Cartier, Munch, and More
I'm sure this trend for immersive experiences is happening in other countries too. Do let us know. There are, of course, the more traditional exhibitions going on in London this summer. For example, at London's V&A or Victoria and Albert Museum, which specialises in displaying beautiful objects, there is a Cartier jewellery exhibition.
And at the National Portrait Gallery, there is an exhibition of Edvard Munch's paintings. A portrait, P-O-R-T-R-A-I-T, is a painting of a person, often a well-known person. Edvard Munch is a well-known Norwegian painter, best known perhaps for his painting The Scream, which you may know. That's 'skrik', if you want the original Norwegian. And amongst the more usual types of art, two exhibitions which are a bit different?
Grayson Perry's "Delusions of Grandeur" at the Wallace Collection
The first is our own Grayson Perry, the transvestite potter, who is very well-known and loved in the UK. A potter, P-O-T-T-E-R, just means someone who makes pots. Grayson Perry has a wonderful, irreverent humour. I'd say 'enjoyable satire' even. He makes you laugh, in other words.
And there is an exhibition of Grayson Perry's latest works called 'Delusions of Grandeur'. That's at the Wallace Collection in London. So the show is all Grayson Perry's works and comprises pottery, tapestry, furniture and collage. Collage, C-O-L-L-A-G-E, in art, is where you make an image using lots of pieces of paper with different colours and textures.
Arpita Singh's "Remembering" at the Serpentine Galleries
The other 'something different' exhibition is Arpita Singh at the Serpentine Galleries. And this exhibition is called 'Remembering'. Arpita Singh is an acclaimed Indian artist who has been making art for the last 60 years.
Apparently she started with surrealist oil paintings and moved later to abstract watercolour paintings and black and white drawings, reflecting - and this is a quote from the information - "reflecting political turmoil or local conflicts in India". Arpita Singh also focuses on, and I quote, "illustrating the female experience in both public and private spheres". So there's plenty of two-dimensional art, but still very different art exhibitions in London this summer. Where I say traditional or 'two-dimensional', 2D art, I mean 'art that's on a canvas and hangs on a wall'.
The World of Tim Burton at the Design Museum
But what about more of these exhibitions which aim to give an 'immersive experience' to visitors? Well, on until May at the Design Museum, London, is The World of Tim Burton. This series of rooms with installations, that means 'made up objects, mirrors, and lights', all aim to give the visitor a certain experience. If you'd like to see this one, you need to move quickly because it finishes at the end of May. Tim Burton is famous for his movies, his films and, says the blurb - that's B-L-U-R-B, that means the write-up for the exhibition - "is recognised as the master of the comically grotesque and endearingly misfit". Some great words there! His early films included Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, if you know those? So if you'd like a rather weird experience, the world of Tim Burton may be a good exhibition to visit.
Why British People Love Pets | English Practice
Soil: The World at Our Feet at Somerset House
Another exhibition, Soil, The World at Our Feet. That's on at Somerset House in London. And yes, you heard right, 'soil', S-O-I-L.
That's the dirt, the black stuff, which most of the ground is made up of. 'Soil' is what we garden in. And in recent years there's been a lot of attention on soil. And its great importance to our world and our ability to grow things, something we take for granted, of course. And in particular, there is great enthusiasm for the world of mushrooms, or rather the mycelium, which populate underground. 'Mycelium', M-Y-C-E-L-I-U-M - they're the part of the fungus which grows underground, which you don't see. You only see the fruit, the actual mushrooms, at certain times of year. So this is a whole exhibition about soil and under the ground.
I would imagine that one is both surprising and interesting to visit. So that's at Somerset House in London.
Floral Immersion at the Saatchi Gallery
And then we come to the Saatchi Gallery. And their exhibition Flowers: Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture. Again, it's a sort of immersive experience. The blurb, the write-up says, "Two floors and nine gallery spaces transformed into floral wonderlands". It involves a 50 square metre mural, that's M-U-R-A-L, meaning a 'wall painting', and rooms where there are hanging flowers which tickle your face as you walk underneath. I haven't been to this one yet, and part of me prefers to go see flowers growing in the ground, in a garden. But maybe I'll make that one. I am interested in 'flowers in art'.
Vogue's Inventing the Runway at Lightroom
Lightroom, which was the venue for the David Hockney exhibition I mentioned earlier, currently have an exhibition called Vogue, Inventing the Runway, which is of course another exhibition involving huge projections. Lightroom is essentially a building which is like a huge white box inside. So pretty much all of its exhibitions are projected. Projected art or projected images of some kind. A 'runway', apart from being what airplanes used to take off, it's also the name of the walkway which models use at shows. The other name in English for the runway is the 'catwalk'. Again, in its own description, "Inventing the Runway utilizes the world's most iconic fashion magazine's archives to create an incredible immersive experience".
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It uses images from old magazines, archived Vogue magazines in other words! It features big designers, more than 60 of them, like Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs. So if you like fashion and enjoy your clothing labels and you're into these designers and their history, that's another immersive experience that you may be interested in.
Frameless: Projected Masterpieces at Marble Arch
If you like more traditional artwork, but again, like Lightroom, projected onto walls or animated, you can visit Marble Arch in London for an exhibition called Frameless. That's F-R-A-M-E-L-E-S-S, 'without a frame' in other words. Here, the venue at Marble Arch is 30,000 square feet with a series of rooms which again have artworks projected onto the walls, ceilings and floors. This is the immersive bit again. And here, the projected artwork belongs to Van Gogh, Monet and Rembrandt. I can't help but think these types of exhibitions must be a real moneymaker for these gallery spaces once they're set up, especially at £25 per ticket. I wonder what Van Gogh, Monet or Rembrandt would have thought of these exhibitions?
This show includes interactive digital interpretations of masterpieces.
Mind-Bending Illusions at The Paradox Museum
Another good one to visit - and I'm completely up for this one - The Paradox Museum in Knightsbridge in London. Here it looks a bit like an 'Alice in Wonderland' experience. There are "25 rooms of mind-bending trick spaces, mazes, kaleidoscopes and all sorts of illusions". An 'illusion', I-L-L-U-S-I-O-N, is a 'vision of something that's not real'.
That's an 'illusion'. And the example photograph used to illustrate for this exhibition, it shows a tube station platform, except it's all upside down. People are sitting or standing on the ceiling. I would like to go to that one! It reminds me of a permanent exhibition space in Edinburgh called Camera Obscura. I don't know anyone else who's been to this, but it was absolutely fantastic! At Camera Obscura, there are five floors of illusions and experiences. It's a bit like a psychedelic trip, but without the drugs! The Paradox Museum is £29 per ticket, so quite pricey again, but well worth a visit.
Bubble Planet: A Whimsical World in Wembley
And if you're ever in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, especially if it's a rainy day, Camera Obscura is a wonderful way to spend it. Last one, and this is surely for the 'inner child' in all of us? Bubble Planet in Wembley, London. Apparently, this exhibition has been in Milan, Brussels and Los Angeles previously. And now Wembley. The blurb for this one says, "Escape to a whimsical world of bubbles that engages the senses across 11 themed rooms. Witness a futuristic robot-led bubble show.
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Dip into an ocean full of living balloons and get carried away by myriad magical illusions before making it out the other side". Well, that sounds fun for an afternoon, doesn't it?! And yet another immersive experience! Let us know what you think, and especially if you visit any of these. And I'll be sure to give you a report if I go to any of these exhibitions.
Closing Thoughts and Invitation to Share Experiences
And let us know whether exhibitions in your country also insist on being 'immersive experiences'. I'd be interested to know! Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon.
Goodbye.
Thank you so much for listening. Please help me tell others about this podcast by reviewing or rating it. And, please share it on social media. You can find more listening lessons and a free English course at adeptenglish.com
Links
- The best exhibitions in London
- Lightroom
- Cartier
- National Portrait Gallery
- Grayson Perry
- Serpentine Galleries
- The World of Tim Burton
- Design Museum
- SOIL: The World at Our Feet
- Saatchi Gallery
- Lightroom Fashion
- Frameless
- Paradox
- Obscura Scotland
- Bubble Planet London
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