Business English: What’s Important, What’s Not

I think there is a great deal of confusion among students of business English over what is most important to study if you want to “improve your English.”

First, instead of thinking “I want to have better English,” think this: “I want to communicate more clearly and more effectively in English.”

If your goal is a high TOEIC score, that’s fine, but if you only take the Listening and Reading parts of the TOEIC (which is what the current TOEIC is made up of–Speaking and Writing will be introduced later this year), you aren’t going to do a lot for your writing and speaking skills.

If you want to improve your English speaking and writing skills, here’s what’s important:

1. A good understanding of English grammar. The most important parts of English grammar, the parts that have the biggest impact on clear communication, are:

-Verb Tense

-Singular/Plural

-Clear Pronouns

-Correct Use of Articles, especially “the”

-Word Form

I will write more on why each of these is so important in other posts.

2. You must be able to choose words and use them correctly. You cannot just translate from your native language into English. For example, many Chinese speakers write things like “traffic tools” (transportation methods), “He lives a colorful life” (He lives an interesting life), “I want the chance to perform myself” (I want the chance to show my value), and “relax myself” (relax, take a break) because they don’t understand that you can’t just translate a phrase from Chinese directly into English. You MUST learn to write and say things in a more simple way, and stop translating directly from your native language if you want to be clear.

These are the two big areas to focus on. Are you surprised that I didn’t list “A big vocabulary” and “perfect pronunciation” as very important things in speaking or writing clear English? That’s because they are NOT very important.

Pronunciation: As long as your pronunciation is somewhat close to how things are actually pronounced in English, you are fine. In other languages, like French, Mandarin, and Japanese, pronunciation is very important. Everyone who speaks English has some kind of accent, so don’t worry too much about yours. Just mimic the sounds of English speakers whose pronunciation you like, and don’t worry too much about having an accent.

A Big Vocabulary: This is only helpful in reading and listening, and to some extent in speaking and writing, but it is not nearly as important as using correct grammar and choosing the right words. If your grammar is clear, you can focus on vocabulary, but not until you understand how to choose and write or speak words in a way that makes sense to native English speakers.

Feel free to e-mail me with any specific questions.

Happy studying!

Coach True