9 Proven Ways to Improve Your Business English

English is the language of the business world. It is also the most spoken and learned language worldwide.

Almost every country on our planet uses English in business and trading and to communicate professionally with each other. Therefore, business English skills are essential in today’s world.

Knowing business English and improving vocabulary is also important for career growth because it gives you many possibilities.

Sometimes, however, it can be challenging to improve your business English and to expand your vocabulary. Many people come across obstacles, which don't allow them to continue their path.

Perhaps the reason is the lack of communication in English. If your difficulty lies in communication skills, English tutors can help you with that.

Besides getting help from native speakers, you can check out these 9 useful ways to improve your business English and open the path to more job possibilities.

Let’s get started.

#1 Set Your Goals

Setting specific goals to get to the desired point is both useful and beneficial. Not only will you reach that goal but you will also have a particular reason to work harder and more to get to it.

For example, if you want to learn how to write a professional email in English, you give yourself a week or two to learn how to address professional letters, how to use greetings in email, or how to end an email professionally.

During your learning process, use every learning material you can get. Such as using apps, listening to podcasts, or watching and following YouTube channels.

#2 Use New Words And Phrases

When a language learner comes to the point to learn the business vocabulary, it usually means that his proficiency level is at least intermediate.

In other words, that person is already good at grammar, pronunciation, even learning slang words and phrases. The next step would be boosting his business vocabulary, and more importantly, using it.

By using new words and phrases, you learn to use them in particular situations, and not only passively knowing them. 

For brand new words and phrases, you can try including them in the sentences in written form and then start with speaking.

#3 Use Connectors

Connectors are words used usually in longer sentences so that they sound logical and understandable.

Thanks to them, listeners can link one part of the sentence to the other and understand the whole context.

In the following lines, you can find some common connectors to use.

To present points by order: 

• Besides

• Firstly/secondly/thirdly, 

• Furthermore

• Moreover

To contrast points: 

•  However

• On the contrary

• On the other hand

•  Nevertheless 

To explain: 

• That is to say

• That is

• To put it differently 

• Namely

To link points: 

• As for

• As regards

• As far as … is concerned

• With respect to

#4 Pay Attention to Long Sentences

In business English, it is common to use longer sentences.

As much as it is a common thing, it can be challenging.

Therefore, we suggest you write down longer sentences and break them into smaller parts to understand them.

Once you get every part of the sentence and understand why you have to use particularly those words and grammar rules, using them in practice will be much easier.

#5 Learn With Particular Learning Materials

Besides podcasts and perhaps other channels, using some specific learning materials such as TED conferences or tv shows in English, helps you get into the language the other way, the way its native speakers use it in real-life situations.

Materials such as conferences often offer educational material in an entertaining way and thanks to their speakers you enjoy watching it and you don’t realize that you are actually learning.

This is one more efficient way to get to know the specific vocabulary, its form and structure, and above all, how and when to use them.

#6 Filler Phrases Are Good to Use

When you speak a foreign language, hesitation is usually a sign of your weakness or not knowing what and how you should say something. In some cases, it can also be a sign that your vocabulary isn’t strong enough.

However, hesitation doesn’t have to mean only that.

Hesitation words, or better known, filler words and phrases are also a sign of thinking about what to say or which arguments to use in a conversation.

Therefore, they can be quite useful in a conversation. Filler words and phrases are also natural, so feel free to use them naturally.

Some of the filler words and phrases you may use are:

• Actually/ Basically…

• At the end of the day...

• How should I put this...

• In other words…

• To put it differently…

• Well…

• What do you call it…

• You know...

• You see…

#7 Pay Extra Attention to The Weird Words

If you’ve heard some words or phrases that sound quite differently from what you’ve heard or you think that they are pronounced the other way, you should pay more attention to them.

First, you can take a look at their pronunciation in the dictionaries.

Also, find some ways to enhance your English pronunciation.

But then, one of the reasons you might pronounce some words wrong or differently may be because of the English variant. Maybe you’ve learned to pronounce it in American English, and in British English, they aren’t pronounced the same way, like the word ‘schedule,’ for example.

When you find out that you are pronouncing the word wrong, practice saying it out loud several times until you get used to pronouncing it that way.

#8 Use Intonation Properly

While dialect and English variants are one thing, using intonation for particular parts of the speech or a sentence is something different.

When we pronounce particular words, phrases, or even sentences it is called intonation.

In conversations, using intonation means that you want to emphasize that part of the speech, that is, the part that is particularly important to pay attention to.

It is equally important to highlight particular parts of the conversation in business, sometimes even the whole paragraph. This podcast about highlighting parts of the speech in business will show you its importance, so we gladly recommend listening to it and paying attention to how particular words and phrases are emphasized.

#9 Find Online Community for Business English

Thanks to the internet, today, we can find anything that comes to your mind.

So why don’t we use that privilege and use it for improving our business English?

There are many great online communities where you can ask for help if you have any doubts about using business English generally, practice your knowledge with someone, or just listen to others and their experiences. The British Council, for example, offers business English learning and practicing.

Although not particularly business English, English tutors can be a great help because they are native English speakers who are also familiar with using business vocabulary, writing professional emails, etc, so besides boosting your vocabulary, you will practice your conversational skills as well.

Final Thoughts

Even though at first sight it seems that using English in the business world is hard, it isn’t.

You can learn business English words from everyday usage and real-life situations.

Also, these 9 ways of improving your business English are more than enough to help you spread your horizons, get a little wind in the back, and use it without hesitation.