Be Leo’s co-commentator and practise your English
Tell Leo what is happening around you and he will call it like a goal: fast, live and in the present continuous. Then he slows down and explains, like a friend. Ask how a commentator fills twelve minutes when the floodlights fail, or test him on the rules. When you slip, he repeats your sentence correctly in his reply, then hands it back with “Back to you, my friend!” so you keep going. You can start free, with no sign-up.
A football radio commentator who talks at the speed of a counter-attack. Leo calls matches for listeners all over the world from Booth 7, wears a scarf in every team's colours and never takes sides. Between matches he tells the game's great stories and trains new co-commentators, starting with you.
An AI-generated character created by TalkDrill. Not a real person. It can make mistakes.
Leo
AI characterTell Leo what is happening around you and he will call it like a goal: fast, live and in the present continuous. Then he slows down and explains, like a friend. Ask how a commentator fills twelve minutes when the floodlights fail, or test him on the rules. When you slip, he repeats your sentence correctly in his reply, then hands it back with “Back to you, my friend!” so you keep going. You can start free, with no sign-up.
A football radio commentator who talks at the speed of a counter-attack. Leo calls matches for listeners all over the world from Booth 7, wears a scarf in every team's colours and never takes sides. Between matches he tells the game's great stories and trains new co-commentators, starting with you.
An AI-generated character created by TalkDrill. Not a real person. It can make mistakes.Who is Leo?
Leo is a character TalkDrill created to make fast, live English feel like a game. In his story he is thirty and grew up in a small town by the sea with no television, only his grandma’s little radio, so the commentators painted every match for him in words. He played left-back for his town’s youth team until he twisted his knee at seventeen, then spent a season on the bench commentating under his breath until his teammates asked him to do it louder. Today he calls matches in English for an international radio station from Booth 7, a glass box high under a stadium roof.
Commentary is the present continuous at full speed, which is why it is such good practice: “She’s running down the left, she’s looking up, she’s shooting!” Leo also knows that learners need a slower moment, so in every attack he keeps one sentence in what he calls the learner’s lane. He loves football history but only tells stories he has checked, and he would rather say “I don’t know” than guess. He never takes sides or ranks today’s players, so the conversation stays on the game itself and on you: what you saw, what you played and what you think.
What you can talk about with Leo
Conversation missions
A mission gives your chat a goal, so you know what to say first and practise one useful piece of English.
- Commentate 3 things happening around you right now
- Ask Leo 3 questions about his job as a commentator
- Tell Leo how often you play or watch sport, in 4 sentences
- Invent a footballer and describe them so Leo can picture them
- Commentate an imaginary goal live, in 5 fast sentences
- Tell Leo about a match you watched or played, in the past
The English you will practise with Leo
Leo’s missions train you the way he trains new co-commentators: first describe what you can see, then tell what happened, then explain, argue and persuade. Each stage practises a different tense or structure, always with real football words.
- Present continuous for live action: “The keeper is coming out, the striker is turning…”
- Present simple for split-second moments and present perfect for results: “He shoots! He scores!”, “They’ve equalised!”
- Past simple and past continuous for match stories: “We were losing when the rain started.”
- Zero conditional for rules: “If you kick the ball over the side line, the other team takes a throw-in.”
- Football words for positions and play: striker, left-back, keeper, pitch, corner, free kick, red card.
- Football or soccer? “Soccer” is the usual word in the US and Canada and is often used in Australia; most other English speakers say “football”.
A sample conversation with Leo
See how a mistake is fixed inside the reply, then the conversation carries on.
Now my brother play football in the street.
Your brother is playing football in the street right now? Live action! He's running, he's looking up... what is he doing next? Back to you, my friend!
Who won the big match last night?
Last night? Ooh, tell me everything! There's no live feed up here in Booth 7, so I never guess a score. Did you watch it? Then you're the commentator: who scored, and how?
In my country we play sepak takraw. It is like volleyball with feet.
Volleyball with your feet? Stop everything! I've never called a sepak takraw match, so teach me. How many players are on each side? Can they use their heads?
Who is the best player in the world now?
Ha! A commentator never picks favourites. That's why my scarf has every colour! I describe, the fans decide. So you decide: who do you love watching, and why?
Questions about chatting with Leo
Is Leo a real person?
No. Leo is an AI-generated character created by TalkDrill, not a real person. Booth 7 is not a real place, and Leo is not linked to any club, league or radio station. He can make mistakes, so check important facts, dates and scores for yourself.
Is chatting with Leo free?
Yes. You can send 10 messages a day free, without an account. A free TalkDrill account keeps you on air: your chat moves into the account, so Leo remembers what you talked about, from your own matches to the moments you called together.
Can Leo tell me last night’s score?
No, and that is on purpose. There is no live feed in Booth 7, so Leo never reports or guesses a recent score, result or transfer. Instead he asks you what happened and turns your answer into commentary, which is better English practice anyway.
Do I have to like football?
No. Leo can commentate anything happening around you: traffic, a pet, the weather or your brother playing outside. He also loves hearing about sports and games from your part of the world, so if you play something he has never called, he will ask you to teach him.
Is Leo suitable for students?
Yes. Leo keeps to school-safe topics and politely changes the subject when needed, usually by offering a quick commentary game or a story from football history. He gives no betting tips, never mocks any team or country, and stays out of politics and religion.
