Gym Membership Dialogue and Homework Tutoring App Interview: English Listening Practice

Gym Membership Dialogue

Receptionist: Hello, welcome to Shake It Off Fitness. How can I help you?

Customer: Yes, thanks. I've been meaning to come in and find some information about the gym for some time. I was wondering if you could help me?

Receptionist: Sure, of course. What would you like to know?

Customer: I saw on the sign outside that you have the best budget membership in the city. Is that right?

Receptionist: You've got that right, yes. If you find a better rate, then we'll match it. Also, we don't have any sign-up fees or cancellation fees.

Customer: Sorry, what was that last bit?

Receptionist: Cancellation fees. Some gyms charge you money if you leave before a minimum number of months or something like that. We don't do that.

Customer: That's useful to know. Ummm, what times do you have?

Receptionist: We open at 5 a.m. and close at midnight.

Customer: Not 24 hours then, I see.

Receptionist: No. Almost, though! We tried doing the 24-hour thing, but there really weren't a lot of people who wanted to exercise at 2 in the morning.

Customer: Makes sense. Another question: do you have trainers? Like, will you do a personalised evaluation of me?

Receptionist: Sure we do. As we say in our brochure, we can show you what to do, how to do it, and why you're doing it. Have you worked with a personal trainer before?

Customer: Err, no. No, I haven't. No.

Receptionist: So, it's very easy. For your first visits we assign you one of our expert personal trainers. He or she will design an exercise plan that's just right for you and show you exactly what to do. We even include nutrition advice in the plan.

Customer: Let me get this straight. All of this is included in the price?

Receptionist: Yes, it is. If you want to continue with your trainer after the first few classes, we can talk about that. It does cost extra, though. OK?

Customer: Yeah. Sounds... great.

Receptionist: Do you have any other questions?

Customer: Hmmm, yeah. Um, OK. Why should I choose here instead of any of the other gyms in the city?

Receptionist: What, you mean apart from our competitive rates and personalised attention?

Customer: Yeah, I guess.

Receptionist: Listen, here's a free day pass. Why don't you drop by and see for yourself? That way you can talk to other members, see the facilities and our staff.

Interview: Homework Tutoring App

Presenter: Welcome to today's show. We're very happy to have Anna Oliverra 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 new 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 them.

Presenter: You mean they might not be able to remember complex maths or might have never studied certain subjects such as biology or chemistry 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 city 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 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