I remember my first day of a new job in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I got to sit next to this wonderful colleague from Poland. As I didn’t speak any Polish at the time and the business language was English, we defaulted to speaking English—until a certain moment when I heard her speak Dutch. At that point, I asked her why we were speaking in English, as Dutch is my native language and she speaks it too! She said she felt uncomfortable speaking Dutch at work because there is so much focus on ‘being perfect’. I knew she was right.
Language. Everyone speaks at least one. In fact, today, about 6,000 languages are spoken globally.¹ And one of those languages stands out, as it has grown to become the global language. This language has changed from being an opportunity for mutually beneficial practice into the leading language in the world today—English.
Learning good English
Recently, I watched a Ted Talk by Heather Hansen about English speakers called 2 Billion Voices: How to speak bad English perfectly. As I’m passionate about languages, I was very inspired by the insights I learnt.
Nowadays, when English is not your first language, you are forced to learn at least one more language, besides your mother tongue. Yes. If you want to be successful in today’s global business environment, you have to know English, and preferably ‘good English’.
But not everyone is talented in learning languages. For some of us, it is almost second nature and we get great fun out of learning another language. For others, it is a dreadful and demotivating struggle. Still, ‘good English’ is the only accepted level.
Is this fair or really necessary?
The way we speak is a part of who we are. We can hear, through language, where people are from. This could help us fit in or make us stand out. No matter how fluent you are in another language, it usually doesn’t sound native. Your accent gives that away.
Only 400 million people in the world are native English speakers while two billion have learned the language in a classroom.2 So who fits in, and who stands out? The great benefit of not being a native English speaker and having learned the language is exactly that. Speaking ‘bad English’ gives you the advantage of more easily understanding other ‘bad English’ speakers, as your ear is more attuned to the wide variety of lovely accents that accompany us speaking English. It is often when a native English speaker joins the conversation that miscommunication tends to increase.
Linguistic adaptability and inclusion
Our differences in background, culture and language, in this case, English, make us unique. And we should do our best to be adaptable and value each other’s differences. For native speakers, it would help to increase your adaptability by adjusting the way you speak, so it is easier for your listener to understand. And for the listener, be open and flexible to hearing a wide variety of English, making a conscious effort to understand. We need to be open to the fact that there is no one global English.
All we need to do is be open to appreciating that we all speak English, whether it is ‘good’ or ‘bad’. It helps to be more inclusive and encourage everyone to grow their confidence in speaking another language. Only then can everyone bring their best self to work and flourish. Any version of English can be the common business language.
Adriene de Vries
HR Programme Manager, Medline Europe
Adriene is passionate about helping people reach their full potential, where needed, by overcoming ‘language shame’. Her educational background is in business and human resources (HR), and she uses her experience in general HR and cross-cultural team management to develop practices across Europe. Learn more on LinkedIn.
2 March 2021
