Professor Paul Nation, our guest for this and the following episode, needs no introduction. His name has been recurrently popping up in previous shows, mostly in discussions about the role of extensive reading within language teaching in general. In this first part of the interview he discusses just that: his ‘four strands’ approach to language teaching, and also their implications for the way we understand teachers’ roles and extensive reading. In the context of this discussion, Professor Nation also comments on Professor Akio Furukawa’s celebrated ER programme, and on the role of speed reading courses to improve reading fluency.