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

Download
Worksheet80.49 KB

Language level

Average: 4.5 (182 votes)

Submitted by tjgc on Sun, 28/05/2023 - 07:39

Permalink

I have used Duolingo and BBC learning English but I think the best app for me to learn English is any English channel news (euronews, skynews, BBC...) because I can learn English with a context.

Submitted by Kiarakg1 on Tue, 23/05/2023 - 15:09

Permalink

Hi everyone,

My favourite app for learning English is Duolingo. I think it is beneficial to practice and to monitor the progress. Most of the features are free, and you can interact with people practising as well. Another strategy is to listen to some English classes through Youtube or podcasts.

Submitted by Juan Antonio Delgado on Tue, 23/05/2023 - 10:46

Permalink

Well, I have to say I don't usually use apps for learning English. Nevertheless, Wordreference is the app that I often utilize to translate words and expresions in both direcctions, English to Spanish and vice versa.

Submitted by marwa elnagar on Wed, 03/05/2023 - 14:05

Permalink

Since i am learning English, my favourite app is Cake app.
Because i learn new words and phrases through interesting videos, and thus confirm the information more.

Submitted by motionsofie on Thu, 27/04/2023 - 19:17

Permalink

I use a lot of different apps for studying languages, especially when i moved abroad. My favourite are Busuu, Reword. First helps me to practice Spanish, to study different topics, to speak and listen. The second one is good for memory training.

Submitted by I.es91 on Thu, 27/04/2023 - 13:37

Permalink

I didn't usually use too many apps in my phone so actually I have no idea about the best apps for learning. Recently I tried some apps for learning English, but I think British counsel website and Duolingo is the best apps that I had try at this field. Maybe next time I will find more apps to try.

Submitted by victguevara on Fri, 21/04/2023 - 02:12

Permalink

There are a huge amount of apps for every need and right I am quite interested in focus just one app for learning English but I think it's not been created yet. Then, I have been using the BBC app for studying grammar and another BBC app for listening.

Submitted by Dwi Irianto on Tue, 18/04/2023 - 03:33

Permalink

Beside this platform from British Council, I also enjoy watching numerous program offered by BBC Learning English. In there you can find lots of section ranging from vocabulary and daily English in use on News Review. Highly reccomend it.

Submitted by Sliang on Thu, 06/04/2023 - 09:37

Permalink

My favorite app for learning would probably be YouTube. I use it to learn daily life English by watching educational channels like "Speak English With Vanessa" and "Chen Lily". I also enjoy learning through cooking tutorials, which I watch when I search for recipes while cooking. It's easy and interesting to become more familiar with English through these relaxed topics. I remember someone telling me once, "Don't just learn English, learn something you're interested in, in English." I think this is great advice because it helps me stay motivated and engaged in the learning process.

Submitted by Liyubeth G on Tue, 04/04/2023 - 03:18

Permalink

Hi everyone,
I have been using Elsa Speak to improve my speaking skill, I think is very helpful and you can practice for the EILTS speaking test too.