A business interview

A business interview

Listen to the business interview to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation

Transcript

Presenter: Welcome to today's show. We're very happy to have Anna Oliveira as our guest today. Anna is the creator and founder of HomeworX – spelled with an 'x' we should note – an app which helps teenagers with their homework. Thanks for coming in, Anna.

Anna: Thanks for having me.

Presenter: So, tell us about your app. How does it work?

Anna: Well, teenagers and their parents have numerous challenges when it comes to homework these days. In many families both parents work and don't have much available time to help their kids with their homework. And even if they do have time to help, they may not be able to offer support with the content. What I mean is, they may not know, or at least remember, enough in any given subject to support.

Presenter: You mean they might not be able to remember complex maths or might have never studied certain subjects, such as biology or economics, themselves?

Anna: Exactly. So they might want to support their children with their homework, but have neither the time nor the knowledge to do so.

Presenter: I see. So the app helps solve this problem?

Anna: Yes, and more. The next issue is that tutors can be expensive, and there may be long waiting lists for specialist tutors in the town or region you live in. Our HomeworX app brings students and tutors together online. Students can search a database of pre-approved tutors and sign up for live online support. They don't need to be in the same town or city.

Presenter: That sounds really great.

Anna: It is. And this approach also enables us to offer the tutoring services at lower prices because there's no travelling time involved for the tutor to get to the student's home. And tutors who live in remote areas are happy to get access to more students, and be able to work from home, even at lower rates.

Presenter: This all sounds great. So, how did you come up with the idea?

Anna: Well, as you might guess, I was one of those parents I described earlier. I really wanted to help my son with his homework, but I was either too busy with work or I didn't actually know anything about the subjects he was having difficulty with. Also, we live in an area where there aren't many tutors and the ones that are there are either very expensive or have long waiting lists.

Presenter: Yes. I can understand your predicament. Well, it sounds like a very useful app that is clearly meeting a need. And its popularity obviously speaks for itself.

Anna: Thank you.

Presenter: So, do you have plans for the future?

Anna: We've just secured some funding and hope to expand the range of services we offer using the app.

Presenter: We wish you the best of luck. Thanks again for coming in. That was Anna Oliveira, founder of the tutoring app HomeworX (with an 'x', don't forget!), which is available for both Apple and Android devices. Join us again next week for another business interview. Have a great week, everyone. 

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

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Average: 4.5 (178 votes)

Submitted by HelianG on Wed, 13/11/2019 - 22:22

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my favorite app or web to learn English is youtube,is was not specially made for English learners but you can learn a lot of new things in youtube,there are many ways to use youtube to learn English,either watching videos of english youtubers or teachers who teach for free.

Submitted by Irina07 on Sun, 13/10/2019 - 10:31

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Thank you for this listening lesson! I have just learned a new word which is the predicament ( a difficult or challenging situation). As a beginner Learning English language was a predicament. Did I correctly use this word in this context?

Hello Irina07

I'm glad you found this page useful!

Although I understand what you mean, that sentence sounds a little strange because a predicament is also usually a situation that is difficult to get out of, which doesn't seem appropriate here.

I'd suggest you look up 'predicament' in an online dictionary to read the example sentences there.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish

Submitted by nikisyazwani on Mon, 30/09/2019 - 05:51

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I have completed the lesson for A Business Interview. The level I chose was Upper Intermediate B2.
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Submitted by Magedelabd on Sun, 15/09/2019 - 18:56

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My favorite app for learning is the Facebook. Because it is very wide and popular and has too many things to read and watch .
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Submitted by kamicounciler on Sun, 15/09/2019 - 13:39

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i have not used a lot of learning apps,but i use british council podcasts app.its podcasts are useful and free although it has some ad contents which is not something that bothers. however after reading "Aisha na Shadee" ,s comment, i am interested to give that "IELTS speaking vocubularies" app a try.

Submitted by Catalina Pazmiño on Fri, 13/09/2019 - 05:34

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Hi there! I am glad to be able to share my point of view about the best way to learn English. To be honest, I don't really know so much about technology, but doing my best I could found this interesting resource on the British Council website and It got me attracted, because it shared a lot of topics to help learners to improve by practicing all the skills. Since January, I have been working hard in order to be self confident with my English skills and I will continue doing my best until to take the IELTS test, and obviously, to get an international certificate. Thank you for this great opportunity ...
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Submitted by Peter M. on Fri, 13/09/2019 - 07:23

In reply to by Catalina Pazmiño

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Hi Catalina,

Thank you for the lovely comment! It's good to know we're helping people. Good luck with your plans!

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Tin Zar Hlaing on Fri, 30/08/2019 - 18:05

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I usually don't use English learning apps. But I try to learn the British council's podcast app. I learn English lessons on the British council's website today. It is a very nice lesson and actually enjoy. I will try the best. Thank you so much.