Christian Arno: the story of his success

It was at the tender age of seven that Christian Arno, British entrepreneur and
founder of the online translation service Lingo24.com, put his first plan for making
money into practice. His plan was to buy penny candies and resell them to his
classmates for two cents a piece. However, the business came to an abrupt end
when one of the mothers found out about it and considered it "inappropriate." Arno
had to shut down immediately.
His next opportunity came during the year he spent abroad as part of his French and Italian
course at Oxford University. He had a lot of free time on his hands, so he set up a website
offering translation services with his friend, Jos Shepherd. Although they didn't make much
money, the business gave them both an insight into working online.
Back in the UK, Arno finished his degree and decided to give his online translation idea
another shot. He asked Shepherd to design a new website and went on to launch
Lingo24.com from his own bedroom.
The business was not an instant success, due to Arno's inexperience in Internet marketing.
However, he worked hard and learned fast, earning himself a reputation for speed and
accuracy. After 18 months he had enough business to set up an office in New Zealand so
that he could offer clients 24-hour service. Soon after that Arno had another strike of luck.
One of his larger clients started spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on translations,
so he was able to invest in more sophisticated technology.
Lingo24.com now translates into and out of more than 100 languages, and turnover this year
is expected to reach $7 million. It has 200 full-time employees and more than 4,000
freelance translators.
Arno's advice for others is: "Seek out people you respect, who have done it before and have
experience and give you advice - but go with your instincts."

Answer the following questions. Use your own words.

1. How did Christian Arno become successful? Was it easy?

2. Why is it important to gather with people you respect if you want to be successful?

3. Why is it important to stick to your guns?

LISTENING

Listen to Caroline Halloran, who is dating Jason Win, talking about the differences
between Burmese manners and American manners. Mark the sentences T (true) or
F (false). Justify the false ones.

1. Jason thought Caroline was rude when she asked him to hang out with
her.
2. In Burma it's OK to spend time alone with someone at the beginning of
a romantic relationship.
3. Burmese culture is not as open as American culture is.
4. Jason wrote long responses to Caroline's Facebook romantic posts.
5. Caroline wants Jason to stop bragging about their relationship to his friends and
family.
6. Jason sometimes gets confused about good and bad manners in the US.
7. Caroline and Jason don't argue about manners anymore.

Grammar

1. Complete the text with the correct form of the verbs in parentheses.

When Tom turned twelve, his family 1. ' moved (move) out of their apartment in the city to a
huge house in the suburbs, near a park. Tom thought that he was the luckiest boy alive. The
least attractive feature of Tom's new home was the inhabitant of the house next door. He
was an extremely serious and strict middle-aged dentist who 2. ________________ (live) on
the street for decades. Dr. Scorey, or, as Tom used to call him, "Dr. Scary," 3.
________________ (look) uncomfortably like Dracula and he 4. ________________ (frown)
threateningly at his new neighbors whenever he saw them. Tom was absolutely terrified of
him. The only thing Dr. Scorey seemed to care about was his BMW sports car, which he 5.
________________ (wash) every Saturday no matter what.
One afternoon during summer vacation, Tom 6. ________________ (play) soccer in the park
when he suddenly 7. ________________ (remember) that his mother 8.
________________ (tell) him to
come home earlier than usual for dinner. He 9. ________________ (jump) on his bike to ride
home as fast as he could. However, just as he 10. ________________ (pass) Dr. Scorey's
BMW, he somehow lost control of his bike, crashed into the side of the car, and fell off. After
picking himself up, he noticed to his horror that his bike 11. ________________ (make)
deep scratches all down one side of the car! Tom was afraid to tell anyone, and spent all
night imagining what horrible punishment 12. ________________ (await) him at the hands
of his neighbor. In the end, he told his father, who went straight to Dr. Scorey's and arranged
to pay for the damage. Tom never 13. ________________ (hear) anything more about it,
but from that day on, he 14. ________________ (always get off) his bike at a very safe
distance from Dr. Scorey's car, just in case

2. Complete the text using modal verbs.

Due to the heavy rain, we ________________ have our picnic in the park today. However,
we ________________ have it at my house instead. You ________________ bring some
snacks and drinks to share. We ________________ also bring some blankets in case it
gets chilly. Don’t worry about the chairs, you ________________ bring them as I have
enough. We have to make sure to clean up afterwards and dispose of the trash properly.
We’re ________________ to use the grill, but we’re ________________ to have open fires.
I ________________ set up some games for us to play, and we ________________ also
listen to music. It will be a fun gathering, and I’m sure we will have a great time despite the
change of plans.

3. Complete the text using relative pronouns.

Complete the text using relative pronouns.

Melanie Johnson, (1) ________________ house is opposite mine, is my favourite neighbour.

She’s a warm and friendly person (2) ________________ always likes to help other people.
In the afternoon, (3) ________________ I come home, she often waves and smiles to me
from her front garden, (4) ________________ she spends a lot of time in spring and
summer. It has some lovely fl owers, (5) ________________ she planted herself, and last
week she gave some to my mother, (6) ________________ birthday was on Friday. She’s
always been generous like that. I remember years ago, (7) ________________ I was about
ten, she painted a picture for me (8) ________________ was so lovely that I put it on my
bedroom wall. It’s still there.​
4. Choose the correct words to complete the sentences.

1. Students are holding / hold / about to hold a strike tomorrow at school.

2. Annual rainfall will be / is being / will be being higher this year because of

recent storms.

3. In two days' time I will be sitting / sit / am sitting on a plane on my way to

Japan.

4. I think I am planting / will plant / plant some trees in the garden.

5. I get / am going to get / getting some hands-on experience of looking after

elephants this summer.

6. Are / Will / Be you likely to go on a gap year after university and travel round

the world?

7. As soon as I am getting / will be getting / get home from work, I'm going

to have a hot shower.

5. COMPLETE THE TEXT USING FUTURE FORMS. USE ONE WORD.

I am _______ to set up my own English online school. The classes are _______ to start on

September 11th. In order to make my business grow, I need to save _______ money

because I _______ going to buy new equipment to improve the quality of my classes. Also, I

think it _______ be easier to attract students if I have a good image on social media. That’s

why I _______ hiring a team of community managers to make my instagram account more

trendy. As _______ as I have that, I _______ start streaming my classes online. I think I will

be _______ stressed out _______ I will have no time to have a life.

However, it will be worth it because in 10 years _______, I think I will _______ teaching

online to students from different parts of the world.