Dating Service Questions to Ask a ClientPage 1 of 6

(Rick Shur, Academic ESL, LaGuardia Community College)

After asking your “client” these questions, write a Client Profile, which you will post on the discussion board called “A Great Catch!” Naturally, you won’t include everything you have learned about your client. Select the information which you think gives a good description of your client’s personality, and organize it in an intelligent way, with an introduction, paragraphs that flow nicely, and a conclusion. Be honest, mentioning weaknesses as well as strengths, so that a potential “match” will see a generally positive, but also truthful, picture of your client. [Our company doesn’t want any lawsuits for “false advertising.”]

You can answer that you don’t know, but if you think you DO know, on balance--and being completely honest with me--would you describe yourself as more

  1. adventuresome or cautious
  2. affectionate and caring or aloof and distant
  3. aggressive and dominant or passive and submissive
  4. agreeable or argumentative
  5. ambitious and energetic or relaxed and carefree
  6. artistic and creative or scientific and practical
  7. calm or high strung
  8. communicative or quiet
  9. competitive or laid back
  10. socially conservative or socially progressive
  11. courageous or timid
  12. efficient and frugal or free with money and wasteful
  13. generous or stingy
  14. gregarious and outgoing or shy and introverted
  15. independent and self-confident or dependent and reliant on others
  16. impatient and demanding or patient and calm
  17. jealous or unpossessive
  18. lazy or hard-working
  19. optimistic or pessimistic
  20. organized or disorganized
  21. outspoken and forthright or tactful and diplomatic
  22. persistent or quick to bail out when things get tough
  23. quarrelsome or easy to get along with
  24. trusting or suspicious
  25. playful or serious

Say “True” or “False” and PLEASE answer quickly, without taking any time to think:

  1. I always read ALL of the directions before using new equipment.
  2. I sometimes drive faster than I probably should.
  3. If a store-clerk gave me too much change, I might keep it without saying anything.
  4. I like some people just because they are popular with others.
  5. I sometimes waste time when I should be working.
  6. I do not give as much to charity as I could afford to give financially.
  7. At times I have gotten angry over nothing.
  8. I don't care what other people think about me.
  9. I am sometimes tempted to make fun of people behind their backs.
  10. There are times when I am envious of other people's success.
  11. My house is clean only when I have company coming over.
  12. I sometimes enjoy seeing other people fail.
  13. I am always even-tempered.
  14. My personal religious beliefs are important to me
  15. I have a high desire for sexual activity
  16. It is easy for me to engage in conversations with people I have just met
  17. I feel a bit guilty if I am not being productive
  18. I care a lot about the physical shape I am in
  19. I regularly read the paper and magazines
  20. I prefer to live life rather than analyzing life
  21. I take pleasure in working out and exercising.
  22. I have an ability to make others laugh
  23. My emotions are generally stable
  24. I am proud of my educational background
  25. I can handle emotional crises fairly well.
  26. I am more comfortable being a follower than a leader
  27. People who are controlling and bossy irritate me
  28. I think it is important to express my feelings whether they are positive or negative
  29. I prefer not to be around people who are very sensitive and emotional.
  30. I generally prefer being around other people to being alone.

DO NOT THINK about your answer. Very quickly, give me a number, from 1 to 5, where 1 and 2 mean you DON’T enjoy it, 3 means you can take it or leave it, and 4 or 5 mean you that you DO enjoy it. Saying only 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, how much do you enjoy…

  1. telling a good joke
  2. shopping
  3. working to make money
  4. mingling with people at parties and other social occasions
  5. reading the newspaper
  6. forming deep, emotional attachments
  7. painting, drawing or expressing yourself artistically in some other way
  8. discussing your spiritual or religious ideas with others
  9. getting to know a person before having sex
  10. spending time with family members or other relatives
  11. getting yourself or your home organized
  12. thinking "outside the box" and being an individualist
  13. talking about your relationship with your partner
  14. spending time in front of the TV (and if so, watching what)
  15. going dancing on the weekend
  16. seeing movies
  17. talking about politics
  18. going for walks by yourself
  19. using and learning about computers and computer software
  20. learning languages
  21. surfing the Internet or “talking” in chat rooms
  22. writing e-mail to people
  23. going to the beach or the park
  24. playing the lottery or gambling or betting on horses
  25. spending time with little children
  26. taking care of animals
  27. watching the sunrise or the sunset
  28. eating chocolate or sweets
  29. drinking beer, wine or other kinds of alcohol
  30. using recreational drugs
  31. smoking cigarettes

GENERAL QUESTIONS: I’m going to ask you some questions, and you may take time to think about your answers and discuss them with me in detail.

  1. Why are you coming to this school?
  2. Is there anything that you would like to learn to do?
  3. What are some things that you are already good at doing?
  4. As far as college is concerned, what are some things that you have trouble doing?
  5. What do you plan to do next semester?
  6. What do intend to do after you graduate?
  7. Do you expect to find a good job?
  8. How much money do you hope to make?
  9. Do you ever dream about being rich? Famous? Successful?
  10. Tell me if you can’t stand doing, don’t mind doing, or enjoy doing the following things: Vacuuming? Cooking? Doing the dishes? Doing the laundry? Taking a dog for a walk? Cleaning up the cat litter box? Ironing? Paying bills? Doing your taxes? Seeing a doctor? Going to a dentist? Taking tests in school? Waiting on long lines?
  11. Are there any household chores that you enjoy doing?
  12. What are some things about living, working and studying in this city that you can’t get accustomed to doing?
  13. Do you have any bad habits?
  14. Is there anything in your life that you should quit doing?
  15. What are some things in your life that you spend too much time doing?
  16. What are some things that you don’t spend enough time doing?
  17. Do you ever procrastinate? Tell me honestly, what are some things that you put off doing until the last minute?
  18. Is there some expensive item that you’re thinking about buying soon?
  19. Do you ever go window-shopping, or do you only go to stores to buy something? When you go shopping, are you accustomed to carrying a lot of cash?
  20. What are you thinking about doing this weekend?
  21. Do you look forward to doing anything exciting in the coming year?
  22. Do you expect to get married or settle down with a partner someday?
  23. Do you hope to be a parent someday?
  24. Have you ever thought about moving out of this city or leaving this country?
  25. What are some things that you enjoy doing in your free time? What hobbies do you have? What skills, talents, and abilities do you have?
  26. What do you remember doing when you were young that you’ve stopped doing? Is there anything that you miss doing that you used to do when you were younger?
  27. How often do you go dancing? Do you know how to dance? Can you dance well?
  28. Do you like to go sightseeing around New York? Do you like to take long walks? Do you like to go for long drives?
  29. What outdoor activities have you done, and do you still do, in your life? Have you ever gone hiking? Camping? Skiing? Snow boarding? Water-skiing? Mountain climbing? Sailing? Roller blading? Roller skating? Ice skating? Fishing? Hunting? Do you enjoy doing any kind of exercise? Do you go jogging? Swimming? Biking?
  30. What games or team sports do you play? Baseball? Basketball? Soccer? Poker? Volleyball? Hockey? American football? Lacrosse? Other card games? Chess? Checkers? Dominoes? Video or computer games?

Sample Essays

Maria: A Great Catch

Maria is a very cautious person, who is playful, organized, and optimistic. She is ambitious and energetic, and sometimes quiet.

She is the typical Latin woman, who loves to take care of the family. She loves to spend time with her family, and especially with her son. However, she is good at taking care of her house and always has time to do her job. She enjoys cooking Dominican dishes, but she can’t stand doing the dishes afterwards, so she makes her son do them. She also can’t stand vacuuming because it’s so noisy, but she doesn’t mind doing the laundry, and she like to watch TV while she does the ironing.

She is hard working, but she’s stingy, because she doesn’t like to spend much money. On the other hand, she likes to give money to charity. Anyway, she’s very communicative person, always open-minded. She reads the newspaper every morning, and she always enjoys talking with people with her good sense of humor.

She is proud of her educational background, and emotional stability. She is always telling the truth, and she thinks that this is one of her weaknesses. She tends to say what’s on her mind even if it means offending another person. Nevertheless, she is sociable and outgoing, and she always likes to be around other people, never alone.

She doesn’t have any bad habits. She spends a lot of time studying. Besides that, she only goes to the store to buy things, and she is accustomed to carrying a lot of cash.

Maria's a gregarious and outgoing person, so she likes to go dancing with her husband and a couple of friends. Moreover, she dances very well, but she doesn’t like to drive her way back home.

She doesn’t like sports like camping, skiing or all those dangerous activities, but she likes to go jogging around her neighborhood park to keep in shape, and in the summer, she goes swimming at a city pool. She prefers to do exercise that is aerobic, like jogging and biking. She doesn’t like chess, video games or dominoes.

In general, you will find Maria a very interesting, and trusting person, who loves to help people, and is always able to do it, anytime, anywhere, but do not try to call her because she has a very jealous husband.

Andres: A Great Catch

Andres is a very friendly boy. He always cares about his friends. He is a very emotional person. Sometimes that is good but not all the time, because sometimes he cries and nobody knows why.

All his life, he hasn’t had any problem with drugs, but sometimes he drinks too much alcohol. He tends to get really smashed at parties, but, fortunately, he’s a happy drunk, so he never starts fights.

On thing he likes to do to release the stress of everyday life is to go for long walks. He also stays in shape by going jogging on the weekends. Furthermore, every Saturday, he goes dancing. He is a very good dancer.

The chores that he most likes doing at home include cooking and vacuuming, but he hates doing the dishes. Andres is very concerned about his house. Everything in his apartment must be very clean, so he cleans it every day.

Andres is usually working. He lives with his parents, so he saves most of his money. On the other hand, whenever he has free time, he likes to go shopping. He buys a lot of clothes because he likes to look very nice.

Andres likes to watch sports on TV in his free time, especially soccer and volleyball, but he hates to read newspapers and books. He only reads if he has to. He usually reads only to study.

He says that the most important thing for him right now is finishing college successfully because he would like to be somebody in the future. Andres is dreaming of being a famous and successful person. He believes that some day he will be.

Andres is fun-loving and can have a good time playing practical jokes, and sometimes he gets together with his friends to make phony phone calls to people, telling them that they’ve won the lottery or that their twelve pizzas will be delivered right away, but he is never tempted to make fun of people behind their back. He hates when somebody does something like that.

Andres is a very spiritual person but he doesn’t speak too much about what he believes. He believes that it’s better to keep religious feelings personal.

Andres right now isn’t thinking about getting married but someday he would like to be a father and husband. He really enjoys spending time playing with little children. He is also a very romantic person. He likes watching the sunrise and the sunset with somebody he feels close to.

Andres is an intelligent person who knows what he wants in his life. He is emotional, sensitive to other people’s feelings, and not ashamed to cry at a good movie. I think he would make somebody a wonderful boyfriend.

[