The FIFA World Cup highlighted the importance of learning Business English
The FIFA World Cup that was held in Doha, Qatar (it finished on 19th December) was a stark reminder as to why it is important to be able to speak English. To speak Business English, is even more important.
Although Qatar is an Arabic speaking country, the vast number of people who live there, who are largely expats, speak and understand English, whether well or not. English is the common language, especially because many people come from different parts of the world and therefore speak their own language.
Since I have travelled there a great deal for work – I have visited there many times from Dubai, where I lived – I know how important English is, to the locals and to expats.
When you have such a disparate group of people from all over the world, from different walks of life and backgrounds, you never know who you might bump into. In Qatar, it is likely you will bump into people who might be one of the following: bankers, venture capitalists, private equity firms, entrepreneurs or technology developers. They might even be a multi-talented. For this reason, it is likely you will not only have to understand Business English, but that you will have to speak Business English to some degree as well.
Remember the following:
- Business English is the language in which most business is conducted around the world.
Back in 2012, the number of people who spoke Business English was estimated to be 535 million, according to an article in Harvard Business Review. Undoubtedly, there will be a lot more speakers of Business English now. Then, Tsedal Neeley wrote: “More and more multinational companies are mandating English as the common corporate language—Airbus, Daimler-Chrysler, Fast Retailing, Nokia, Renault, Samsung, SAP, Technicolor, and Microsoft in Beijing, to name a few—in an attempt to facilitate communication and performance across geographically diverse functions and business endeavor”. A rough estimate puts the number of Business English speakers at about 1 billion people now. - Speaking Business English enables you to have more meaningful conversations with customers, suppliers and business partners.
For example, maybe the company you are working for is based in the United Arab Emirates but there are customers and suppliers in Australia. As Neeley said: “Without common ground, communication will suffer. Better language comprehension gives employees more first-hand information, which is vital to good-decision making.” - A good knowledge of Business English makes it easier to expand your business.
It may be that you, or a business associate, may want to enter into a merger or acquisition (M&A) to expand the business. An M&A deal is usually complicated enough, especially negotiations, especially if you do not have a common language. Business English solves that. Neeley cites Germany’s Hoechst and France’s Rhône-Poulenc as an example of an M&A deal which merged in 1998 to create Aventis. “Without common ground, communication will suffer. Better language comprehension gives employees more first-hand information, which is vital to good decision making”, she said. - Being competent in Business English can make it easier to win a new job.
It might be worth asking yourself: “Would I be demoted if I am not proficient in Business English?”
“Could I win a job with my limited Business English?” - If a multinational company has people from different nationalities (which is normally the case), people cannot interact with one another.
If there is a common language such as Business English, then people can do this, which can help creativity and ensure more creative conversations.
To learn Business English go to https://learnbusinessenglish.net/courses/business-english/
