Unit 1中级务英语阅读.docVIP

Text A Is Your English Too English? English may be the language of international business but as Alison Thomas reports, it’s not only non-native speakers who need to learn how to use it effectively. Ask a Swedish Ericsson executive “Talar du Svenska?” and he may well reply“ Yes. But only at home. At work I speak English.” Ericsson is one of a growing number of European companies that use English as their official corporate language. These companies recognize and at the same time increase the dominance of English as the language of international communication. Soon the number of speakers of English as a second language will exceed that of native English speakers. Although a company might use English as its official language, its employees are unlikely to be bilingual. Language trainer, Jacquie Reid, thinks we consistently overestimate the fluency of non-native speakers. “We always assume that their language skills are as good as ours, so they understand everything we say.” So how should we adapt our use of language and what are common problems. “Simplify it” is Reid’s advice. “Don’t over-complicate the message. Reduce what you’re saying to manageable chunks.” Reid always tells people to limit themselves to one idea per sentence. “It’s also important to slow down and not to raise your voice.” Dr. Jasmine Patel, a language consultant at Europhone, says different languages also have their own approaches to dialogue. “The British start with idiomatic expressions such as So, should we get down to it? And they understate important issues with phrases such as there could be a slight problem. They also say That’s a good idea, but... when they mean No and they repeatedly use the word get with different meanings. And worst of all they insist on using humour which is so culture-specific that no one understands it.” The majority of English native speakers are insensitive to the stress of trying to understand a foreign language in a work environment because they rely on th