Listening 【Introducing Companies I】

LipSync is an English learning app company.
People can use the company's app to study English on their smartphones.
The app offers many interesting courses.
Some of the courses are free and some are paid.
Users can study by themselves or pay extra to meet with online teachers.

The company was established in 2013 in Shanghai, China.
It has around 200 full-time employees.
It also employs hundreds of part-time teachers around the world.
However, many of the teachers only stay for a short time.
As a result, LipSync is always looking for new teachers.

LipSync has about 40 million users and the number is growing.
Most of their users are young, white-collar workers.
For many users, LipSync is the best way to study English.
That's because its courses are well-designed.
They are also less expensive than going to classes.
As a result, the company's profits and sales are increasing.

Listening 【Introducing Companies II】

J. Hill is a well-known fashion company.
It sells clothing and accessories, such as jewelry and handbags.
It was established in 1985, more than 30 years ago.
J. Hill started with one small store in New York City.
Today, it is a large company with stores all over the world.

The company is based in New York.
Its head office employs around 600 people.
It manages the business.
It is also responsible for product design and marketing.

Altogether, the company has two hundred and seventy two stores around the world.
Two hundred and sixty are in the US, seven are in Asia and five are in Europe.
Each store employs around thirty people.

Most of J. Hill's customers are young people in their twenties and thirties.
Its biggest market is young women.
Last year, fifty four percent of sales were women's clothing.
Customers like J. Hill because its clothes are fashionable and well-made.
As a result, its sales and profits are continuing to grow.

Vocabulary 【basic Accounting terms】

costs
Costs are the money that a company spends.
A company should try to keep their costs low.

sales
Sales are the money that a company makes from its products.
When a company sells its products, it increases its sales.

profit
When sales are higher than costs, there is profit.
The company made a large profit.

loss
When sales are lower than costs, there is a loss.
When a company has a loss, it may lower its costs.

Vocabulary 【Describing Data】

to increase
When something goes up, it increases.
Sales have increased by 15 percent.

to decrease
When something goes down, it decreases.
Costs have decreased by 10 percent.

to remain stable
If something remains stable, it neither increases nor decreases.
The company's sales remained stable last year.

to fluctuate
When something fluctuates, it increases and decreases.
This chart shows how much sales are fluctuating.

Dialogue 【A Sales Meeting】

Hi everyone.
Are you ready to start?
Yep!
Okay great!
I would like to tell you about sales at our three restaurants from last month.
How did we do?
Well, I have good news and bad news.

Here is the good news.
The sales from our main restaurant have increased by 10 percent.
What about our second restaurant?
Sales from our second location have remained stable.
They are about as high as last month.
Excellent!
But here is the bad news.
At our newest restaurant, sales have decreased by 7 percent.

Why have sales decreased?
I think it is because of the prices.
The new restaurant is located in a busy area with many other restaurants.
But its prices are higher than other restaurants.
Ah, that makes sense.
I think we should lower our prices.

Yeah. Lunch is the restaurant's busiest time.
So I want to offer a special deal at lunch.
What kind of deal?
If customers order between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., they will save 20% on their meal.
And they can get a free drink.
That's a great idea.
We should try it.
Great.
We can start next month.