What is Business English?

The importance of Business English...

English is more important than ever if you want to get ahead at work and make an impact. Improving your business English vocabulary and cultural knowledge will help your career and open up many more opportunities for you.

However, what exactly is business English and how does it differ from normal English?

Let’s take a look at some examples of what business English actually is. Imagine that you work for an international engineering company and your role requires you to communicate regularly with colleagues, suppliers and customers globally. To do your job effectively, you need to use some English vocabulary that describes work processes, your products capabilities or even greeting customers in a formal manner.

Now imagine that you work as a lawyer and your company has offices in several large cities around the world.

Again, to work effectively and efficiently, you will need to be able to communicate using vocabulary that describes your work and processes. These words will probably be very different from those used in an engineering company, especially those words relating specifically to the law. However, there will be some overlap between the two different situations.

Both people will need to write reports, attend meetings or presentations and some of the words they use will be the same.

Now, let’s imagine that you are meeting a friend for a drink after work one day.

You both work in the same field of business but at different companies, so when you meet, you chat about your work for a while using words that are specific to your jobs. Then afterwards, you move on to subjects such as families, sports and your weekend plans. Now the words you are using are very different from the words used to describe your work.

This is, in essence, what we call business English

The podcast

BizPod Episode 1 Version 4 15062020.mp3

Here we discuss the question of 'What is Business English'.

We try to define it between these 3:

General English,
General Business English,
Technical English.

Do you know which one you might need?

The Script - See the transcript and key vocabulary from the podcast below...

BizPod 1 Transcript.pdf

BizPod 1 Vocab.pdf

Article: Global Business Speaks English - Harvard Business Review

Business English Book Recommendations:

Another good point...

Business English means the words used to describe various work-related topic areas, but it also includes things such as etiquette, cultural differences and the formalities of doing business.

Business English is different from normal everyday English in that it includes specific topics and words required for a specific business or job, but it is also just the same as normal English in terms of the grammar and structures required to use it effectively.

Native speakers also need to learn business English

Yes, it’s true! Native English speakers also need to learn and use different words and they also need to learn and understand the culture of the company or industry they work in.

For example, doing business with a Japanese company requires anyone to learn the formalities of Japanese culture, in order to work effectively and to not cause offence by saying or doing something that is considered rude in Japan. It doesn’t actually matter which language you choose to communicate in, whether you choose English, French or Japanese, you still need to understand the etiquette and need to learn the dos and don’ts of that culture.

So, to sum up...

Business English isn’t just learning more words and using them in a business meeting. It is also about learning how to communicate with different people from different backgrounds, with different customs and expectations.In short, it is a minefield to be navigated carefully and considerately.