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 (251 votes)

Submitted by santyfreud on Tue, 20/09/2022 - 16:08

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I had been using the Babbel app for about four years. I found it very useful and practical since you can access the app everywhere and anytime from a mobile device, so there aren´t any excuses to start a lesson.

Sadly, as many people have said, any app can reach boundaries, and we must find different options for keeping our learning path and not getting stuck.

Submitted by NurD on Sun, 18/09/2022 - 17:10

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My favorite learning app is BBC Learning English because there are many English contents in the app, and it helps me improve my 4 skills. When it comes to Listening skills, you can find different topics related to your interests. Also, their videos aren’t long, so you don’t feel bored when you study.

Submitted by LanzaroteDreamer on Sat, 17/09/2022 - 10:03

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I don't like to use any app for learning English, instead of it I prefer listening podcast. I use Ivoox for listening grammar lessons and for improving my listening skill.

Submitted by yoka'''12 on Sat, 10/09/2022 - 23:40

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I don't have a certain one , but I'm using app called "cake" . It's really a wonderful app; because I've learned a lot of different idioms and expressions .Besides, every single day I listen to different types of music and movies in order to improve my listening skill.

Submitted by Mayatamer on Fri, 26/08/2022 - 19:31

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I am unable to listen to the audio of this lesson. Please help me.

Hello Mayatamer,

I'm sorry to hear you've been having problems with the audio. I've checked the page and it appears to be working correctly so it must be a local issue. It could be related to your browser or security settings, or something related to your service provider or local regulations. Obviously these are beyond our control.

One thing you could try is downloading the audio file to your device. To do this, right-click on the play icon (the triangle) on the control bar between the Preparation task and the Transcript. Choose Save as... and the location. If you can download it then you should be able to play it from your device.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Mayatamer,

I'm sorry to hear you've been having problems with the audio. I've checked the page and it appears to be working correctly so it must be a local issue. It could be related to your browser or security settings, or something related to your service provider or local regulations. Obviously these are beyond our control.

One thing you could try is downloading the audio file to your device. To do this, right-click on the play icon (the triangle) on the control bar between the Preparation task and the Transcript. Choose Save as... and the location. If you can download it then you should be able to play it from your device.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Mayatamer,

I'm sorry to hear you've been having problems with the audio. I've checked the page and it appears to be working correctly so it must be a local issue. It could be related to your browser or security settings, or something related to your service provider or local regulations. Obviously these are beyond our control.

One thing you could try is downloading the audio file to your device. To do this, right-click on the play icon (the triangle) on the control bar between the Preparation task and the Transcript. Choose Save as... and the location. If you can download it then you should be able to play it from your device.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Andresp9 on Wed, 24/08/2022 - 09:53

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Hi there!

Currently, my favorite learning English app is Duolingo, I have been using it for the last 4 years, and I think that it is very useful because you can practice daily with different exercises, but if you want to improve your skills in speaking maybe you must try with other options like British council app.