(17) Secret Business English (Speaking)

This time, we will think about speaking English for business purposes. Speaking (output) is said to be more difficult than listening (input). In Japan, someone who is good at English is described as ``fluent in English.'' Many Japanese people tend to think that speaking fluently like a native means being good at English. The first step is to escape from that curse.

■Do you have to speak English fluently to be understood?

The reason why English sounds ``fluent'' is because there are many unnecessary (essentially no difference in meaning) modifiers, resulting in long sentences. It can also be rhetorical and unclear English.

Look at the American president's simple English expressions. Your intentions are conveyed straight, and you can't hear it fluently. For business English that requires accurate communication, simple English is best. In other words, Japanese people should aim for "not fluent English." The expression to ask for permission from the other person is "Can you...". Qualifying expressions such as "I wonder if..." do not add any value. Similarly, never try to "speak fluently." In business English, there is no great value in speaking fluently. It's all about conveying your intentions accurately.

Now, let's explain some tips for conveying your intentions accurately.

■Business English at Globish

"Globish" is a powerful weapon as a technique for correctly conveying your intentions with simple expressions. Simply put, Globish is ``the world standard language of English.'' I won't go into a detailed explanation here, but to put it simply, it is ``English that consists of 1,500 fundamental words, eliminates decorative expressions, and uses simple syntactic patterns in the active voice.'' Interestingly, it was invented by the French, not the Anglo-Americans. For native speakers, globish is a clumsy English expression, but it is perfect for non-native speakers to use in business. There are more than ten patterns of conversation used in business, such as affirmation, denial, agreement, counterargument, proposal, persuasion, etc., and if you master this globish expression, your business English will be 99% perfect.

■Japanese accent is OK

Japanese people tend to be unnecessarily nervous about English pronunciation. The reason for this is probably due to the serious and hard-working national character. There are deep-rooted Japanese weaknesses, such as ``pronunciation of f and v'', ``distinguishing between r and l'', and ``pronunciation of th''.

However, in business, good or bad pronunciation is not such a big issue. There is no need to worry about the distinction between r and l; even all "l"s are sufficient in real business. 　th can be pronounced as ``ta line'' in all cases, and ``I think'' can be pronounced as ``eye tink,'' 10 thousands, or ``ten tousants.''

Actually, this is English with an Indian accent. India is the world's largest English-speaking country, and the reality is that Indian English has become the business standard in the IT industry. Even Japanese-accented English can be used in business around the world. The struggle that Japanese business people have to imitate native speakers' pronunciation may actually be a unnecessary effort.

■How to use Pocket Talk

PockeTalk is one of the portable interpretation devices that Japanese technology is proud of. Several manufacturers around the world make similar interpreting machines, but PokeTalk is the best seller. PokeTalk itself is a small device about the size of a Tamagotchi, but since the conversation is sent to a center via the Internet and interpreted using an AI engine, it is as accurate as Google Translate. Responses are quick, and with Wifi, even long texts can be answered in about 5 seconds.

Although the original purpose of this PokeTalk is as an interpreter, it is also very useful as a self-study tool to improve your English conversation skills. Speak to PokeTalk in English and have it translated into Japanese. If the translated Japanese is what you intended, then it's OK, and your English has been understood.

It is effective to try various things, such as speaking slowly or quickly, to see in what situations it works and in what cases it doesn't. Even with Japanese pronunciation, I think you'll find that you can surprisingly recognize it in PokeTalk (that is, it can be understood as English) even if you don't use English-like liaisons. The advantage is that you can do this by yourself at home, whenever you want, without worrying about other people watching.

PokeTalk supports languages in 100 countries around the world and is useful when traveling outside of English-speaking countries, so it's definitely worth having.