Engineers, pharma researchers, bankers, lawyers and IT specialists often look for “business English” or “technical English”, as if they were separate languages. It makes sense: what matters is the English of your job. But there is a misunderstanding here, and it explains why so many professionals study business English and still freeze in meetings.
You already know the technical words
Open any technical book in English at any page and count the words that are not part of basic English. There will be few, and you probably know most of them already, because they belong to the international vocabulary of your profession: software, compliance, budget, deadline, cash flow, feedback. Professionals often know these words better than their English teacher.
Robin Callan, the creator of the Callan Method, put it simply: technical English is normal everyday English with a few technical words in it. The same is true of commercial and literary English.
The problem is basic English, and speed
When professionals say they can’t talk comfortably with foreign colleagues, it is rarely for lack of technical terms. It is because they don’t understand everyday English at the speed it is spoken, and can’t build sentences fast enough to join in. In a meeting, the sentence that blocks you is not “the deployment pipeline”. It is “I would have done it differently if I had known that earlier”.
Memorised phrases don’t help
Callan liked the example of someone who walks into a shop with a well-rehearsed “I would like a pint of milk, please” and is asked whether he wants skimmed, semi-skimmed or whole milk. With memorised phrases, the conversation dies on the second line.
What is the shortest route?
First, build a solid base of general English, with fast listening comprehension and automatic speaking. Then the vocabulary of your field almost learns itself, as you read, listen and work in English. A basic word means the same in a technical, commercial or literary context. Learn it once and it serves everywhere.
English in Swiss and European business
In Switzerland, a team in Zurich, Basel, Geneva or Lausanne may mix French, German and Italian speakers with colleagues from all over the world. English is what allows them to work together. As Callan pointed out, a German buyer visiting an Italian company doesn’t expect anyone to speak German, nor do they expect him to speak Italian: everyone uses English. For selling, negotiating or leading meetings, though, survival English is not enough. You need to speak fluently, usually at B2 level or above.
See also English for IT professionals.
Hear it from Robin Callan
Robin Callan explains what he told managing directors of electronics companies who asked for “electronics English”: there is no such thing. Their engineers already know the technical words of their field; what they need is the English language itself.
This article was inspired by Mr Q’s study of the handbooks written by Robin K. T. Callan and by the dozens of hours of conversation he had with Mr Robin Callan at his home, conversations that were recorded and that Mr Q considers a treasure trove of knowledge.