Good Enough English Accents!

Welcome to the Good Enough 8 Newsletter. ??

Last week, I wrote a LinkedIn post that generated some interest and comments.

It concerned the accents of non-native English speakers.

The Ted Talk by Heather Hansen eloquently pointed out that there is no such thing as Perfect English and only Bad Perfect English or Good Enough Perfect English or Your Unique English. She was so right!

She explained that there only 400 million native English speakers compared to some 2 billion second or more English language speakers in the world. So, native speakers like me from the UK for example, are significantly outnumbered, and we are indeed the odd ones out!

Furthermore, in my opinion it is likely that only about 10% (40 million) of these native English speakers speak what I would call “very good” professional Business English, the type of which many of you aspire to. So, you could argue there is a large proportion of 2 billion non-native English speakers trying to speak like only 2% of the total English speakers in the world. Even less if you are comparing yourself to the former British Queen or current Royal Family! ??

I do not need to tell you that this imbalance is a kind of delusion or madness.

We need to rethink the way we learn English and reframe how we talk about English accents. ??

As I said in my post last week, we need to recognise that it is the responsibility of the 400 million to adapt their language to you. Imperfect English is the norm in the global business world and you, and your HR departments should be making this clear to your “perfect English” colleagues in native English-speaking countries. Conscious Communication needs to become the norm.

In addition, you need to embrace your imperfect English or Good Enough English as I like to call it. This is what most people in the world are speaking! Second/third language English speakers in Latin America, Africa or Asia should not be hiding because their grammar is not good enough or they believe they are not worthy of being listened to because they have an accent.

They do not need to be fixed or have their accents reduced. ?They should focus on simple, concise English, relevant to their audience and pay attention to non-verbal communication to engage their audience. This is more than good enough!!

There is no one English. We need to be open to all kinds of English in the modern world. Everybody has the right to speak up and be heard without judgement of their accent!

Interestingly, the topic of English accents and how we think about teaching English is a symptom of how the world’s education system is no longer “fit for purpose”. The world is changing rapidly from a technological, social, and spiritual perspective but I am not convinced teaching and coaching is keeping pace. In general, teaching practices do not seem to differ too much from forty or fifty years ago. I wonder if it is laziness, fear of change or a lack of training, time and purpose to embrace new ways? ??

It is not only me thinking this. There were many LinkedIn posts last week saying that the global education system needs to change significantly. We are not preparing our children and young professionals for the reality of the modern world. See the LinkedIn post by dipl-ing-lars-behrendt where he shares a video by #jackma , the Chinese entrepreneur and founder of Alibaba. He simply says that if the robots can do it better than humans, we need to teach our kids what they can do better than robots such as creative thinking, empathy, collaboration, communication and soft skills. Ma reiterated the point that we are still teaching children things that we were teaching them 200 years ago. It is not logical or sustainable.

I feel the same way about English coaching and Business English coaching.

In my opinion, we should be focusing on:

??Effective English or Good Enough English communication skills

??Conscious or Mindful Communication

??Adapting English to the audience

??Non-verbal communication

??Being understood in our authentic and unique way

??Embracing our accents and less than perfect English

??Encouraging positive mindsets

??Helping students overcome mental blocks in their learning

We should not be:

??Learning the Queen’s English

??Rote learning or learning by repetition without significant interactive speaking practice such as role plays

??Learning more complex grammar at the expense of the full understanding of the essential communication skills and phrases

??Learning more phrasal verbs or business idioms to sound more native when we don’t know all the English Essentials such as expressing opinions or the more common linking or connecting words.

??Leaning the phonetic alphabet chart. I do not understand it and I have never used it. I guess it has some uses but I do not believe it is mainstream or an efficient use of time.

??Learning complex vocabulary when simple, clear and concise English will do and avoids misunderstandings in international companies!

What do you think? I would be interested to receive your thoughts and comments on LinkedIn ??

To summarise, in my opinion, the world is changing rapidly, and we need to adapt.

This is why I am rethinking my Business English Masterclasses to:

1)???Focus on Business English Essential Skills

2)???Introduce a foundation of the top 3000 most common English words and phrases

3)???Improve effective communication including non-verbal cues.

4)???Incorporate Mindful techniques such as Active Listening

5)???Learn how to use or prompt ChatGPT as Generative AI such as ChatGPT will undoubtedly be an essential Business Skill to future-proof your career.

6)???Encourage a positive mindset. Get your mindset correct and the rest will follow!

I hope you have enjoyed this Newsletter and it has given you some “food for thought” regarding your Business English learning.

If you would like more information about any of my Masterclasses or you are interested in one to one coaching please message me via LinkedIn, email me at [email protected] or book a free consultation via Calendly at:

https://calendly.com/english-purpose/business-english-consultation