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International issues
Posted by: Catie Holdridge
23 / 09 / 20
An estimated one billion people in the world now speak English as a second language. That number will only grow. Meanwhile, some big international companies have chosen English as their official corporate language – including Nokia, Airbus and Nissan. This despite the fact that they’re based in Finland, the Netherlands (and France) and Japan respectively. […]
Posted by: Lynne Murphy
19 / 08 / 14
Some differences between UK and US English are well documented. For example, most people know that football is a different game in North America and the UK, and any American in the UK quickly learns not to talk about fanny packs. But there are also some more subtle differences that might stymie visitors to Britain, […]
Posted by: Cathy Dann
28 / 01 / 13
Sacré bleu! France has added hashtag to its list of banned English words, writes Cathy Relf. The Académie française, the state body appointed to protect the French language, has announced that the English word is to be eschewed in favour of the French mot-dièse. Mot-dièse has attracted some criticism, partly because it can’t actually be […]
Posted by: em-admin
26 / 05 / 11
The growth in global commerce means it is more likely than ever that your writing will have an international audience. Increasingly, we need to communicate with people who speak English as a second language, whether they are based in the UK or overseas. But your words can easily get lost in translation when writing for […]
13 / 05 / 11
English is, to quote The Economist, the language of global business. You may feel you already have many of the secrets of better business writing at your fingertips, but writing for a global audience can require a new set of rules. Here are five top tips for communication skills that travel well. 1. Make sure […]
10 / 05 / 11
According to playwright George Bernard Shaw, the UK and the US are ‘two countries divided by a common language’. We may not need translators to converse, but you can save potential embarrassment or confusion by learning some of the writing differences. Most UK-English speakers know that ‘colour’ (not ‘color’) and ‘centre’ (not ‘center’) are correct, […]
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