24.04.2019
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The Importance of Business English for Students

Business English is one of my favourite courses to teach. It’s challenging yet interesting and the student learns so much more than just language but etiquette and skills too.

When we hear the word: “Business English” we usually only think about men and women in suits, maybe even older and more experienced professionals.

What if I told you that business English is not only for your professional adult students but also extremely useful for teenagers who want to start their first job for extra money! If you want to experience something rewarding, teach a young adult or teenager these skills! It’s amazing how proud you’ll feel when you hear the good news that they were hired!

What is business English exactly?

Business English is the kind of language that is focused on professional vocabulary, speech, and writing. In addition to Business English, the students learn about how to conduct themselves in a professional manner on a global scale and not only locally. In essence, it’s all about communication. How to communicate clearly and concisely in a professional and acceptable manner. In short, we communicate very differently with our friends compared to our bosses.

Why is business English becoming so popular?

The world is becoming a smaller place. The global arena is now so accessible that students have a more clear idea of their exact goals. Since the students now have the ability to learn English from anywhere at any time they please, this enables them to focus on these goals and achieve them at a faster and at a more convenient pace.

Anyone can now learn English and our students want to stand out from their counterparts and be able to deliver more than just general English, reading, writing and speaking. Because English is now so accessible to the world our students need to do everything they can to stand out of the crowd.

Who can study Business English?

As I’ve mentioned, Business English is not just for professionals but also for young learners who want to enter the job market, maybe even students who have business modules in their university studies or anyone wanting to get into the job market.

Also, keep in mind that our students who attend international universities also do so because this will greatly benefit their career advancement.

What are some pros and cons of Business English?

Pros

  1. Students will get to meet likeminded individuals.
  2. Students will have the ability to network thus increasing their opportunities.
  3. Students can learn more about different spheres and areas.
  4. If your student is young, Business English can assist them in deciding on a major for University and on a working sphere.
  5. Business English increases technical vocabulary.
  6. Students will learn new things about the professional and business world and this results in the development of new skills and understanding.

Cons

  1. If the student doesn’t have a clear aim, it can be a challenging task to teach the correct content or vocabulary.
  2. If you don’t choose the correct content you could end up teaching outdated materials and maybe even borning content.
  3. Credibility. If you have an older student with more experience, it can be a little intimidating since the student might feel the teacher does not have the relevant business experience to understand what the industry is like.
  4. The teacher might not be familiar with the technical terms thus it can be risky for the teacher to teach on a business topic they are not very familiar with.

I believe that at some point our students will absolutely need these skills. We need to prepare them for the unforeseeable. What if they meet an important person by chance? This could be a representative from international university, it could even be a CEO from a major company who sees potential in our student. I believe they should be prepared for any situation to make a fantastic first impression. Your student can thank you later!

In what areas of the business world will our students need English?

  1. Meetings. In any business environment, meetings will be inevitable and unavoidable. Students will need to understand the vocabulary which is used and of course to be able to understand and listen to a fast-paced speech. They will also be expected to partake in these meetings, brainstorm, problem solve and take apart in group discussions.
  2. Public Speaking & Presentations. Not only does your student need exceptional listening skills, but they will also need speaking skills to deliver a business presentation. To deliver an informative yet interesting presentation your student will require the advanced and technical vocabulary to do so.

When we teach our students these skills we must not forget to neutralize accents, tone, pace, and pronunciation. Need more information on WHY your student should get in on Business English? According to “The Guardian”: The UK economy is already losing around £50bn a year in lost contracts because of lack of language skills in the workforce

That is enough to motivate anyone to get their act together and learn some business vocabulary. Business written skills are just as critical. Why? Because of our tone!

Without tact and the correct tone, colleagues could get the wrong impression of your personality. They might think you are too strict, maybe too blunt or borderline rude when in fact you might not be, you could be lacking the basic business vocabulary to bring across tact to the reader. It’s important that the reader of the written correspondence receive your communication in the manner that it was intended.

To wrap up:

In order to have a successful career in English, you have to put in the work. There are plenty of technical terms and concepts that can be rather difficult to grasp or understand in some English working spheres. The earlier your students get in on Business English the sooner they will be guided to their career of choice and have enough time to develop these important skills so that they can feel comfortable enough when interviewing for their dream jobs! It’s a no brainer!

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