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

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Discussion

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Submitted by Abdallah Mo on Mon, 07/08/2023 - 12:46

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Despite using several apps to learn from, I can't pick a specific one as my favorite app. The apps were initiated for different needs, and it depends. However, YouTube is my main source for learning new things.

Submitted by chahrazad88 on Wed, 02/08/2023 - 21:15

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my favourite app for learning isn't exactly an app but i like to use videos like those in yutube or even the learning groups in facebook

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Submitted by Anwarow on Tue, 25/07/2023 - 10:03

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My favourite app for learning is a new released an ai generated app called chatgpt that you can learn every topic, even i use learning english and its better then any tutors which people pays a lot of money while they can save that money.

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Submitted by Mont_Albert19 on Fri, 07/07/2023 - 21:53

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Well, I don't have and use an app to learn English, I've tried an online course by Dexway, and was so good and easy to use it.
I used Duolingo 8 months ago but I got bored after a month.

Submitted by nurse_rogersantos78 on Fri, 07/07/2023 - 17:16

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My favourite app for learning is BBC Learning English, because the spoken language is straightforward, easy to understand, has a variety of vocabulary and they mention numerous of every-day-life situations. I firmly recommend it for those learning English as a second language.

Submitted by melissamel on Sun, 25/06/2023 - 19:00

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my favorite app is duolingo because it´s fun and the green owl is very cute :)

Submitted by Justine on Fri, 09/06/2023 - 19:09

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I often listen to Youtube or facebook videos, but for me, the best learning platform to learn english is the british council app and it's web version.
It is complete with lots of good learning exercices, be it for listening, reading or writting skills.

Submitted by moonxluy on Wed, 31/05/2023 - 22:02

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I dont know if i have a favourite app of learning, but i used to use duolingo, and now im using this site, i like it so much, and for sure that i will use this more!

im still learning english, so i dont know if i spoke or wrote something wrong (probably yes), just ignore them :)