1 What do you think of your business English?
Quite often, people will say “My English is bad.” “Or my business English is terrible.” But saying this continuously is a bad idea. It can become a self fulfilling prophecy: you think your English is bad, you keep repeating that and you end up believing this is a permanent reality. It’s much better to use a positive sounding adjective in your answer, like: “My English is okay/ good/ very good.” Or you can say what level you have e.g. “I have a B2 level of business English”.
2 Who motivates you to learn English?
If something or someone inspires you, it’s useful to keep this person in mind when you’re working on your business English. For example: my mother moved to Spain, learned Spanish and lived there for many years. When she spoke people didn’t ask if she was an English speaker. They commented on how great her Spanish accent was and asked if she was Italian or Portuguese. Watching my Mum transform like this over the years inspired me to learn Spanish, then German and then Italian.
3 What successes or highs have you had in English?
Staying motivated when developing your business English can be a challenge. You might suffer sometimes from remembering embarrassing moments when you made mistakes speaking English. This is why it’s fundamental to remember the highs and successes. What have been some highs so far? They can be moments or experiences you had in English where you felt amazing. Maybe it was meeting and connecting with someone in English or an amazing conversation, a great book you read or an unforgettable holiday or trip where you were speaking English the whole time.
So, let’s practice now:
1 What do you think of your business English?
2 Who motivates you to learn English?
3 What successes or highs have you had in English?
If you feel like answering and talking about a business English course for you or at your company, get in touch. I’d love to hear your answers and find out more.