“Do you speak English?” is often the first question of many job interviews around the world. To those job applicants who answer “Yes!”, a whole range of opportunities opens up.

By now it is redundant to say that the language of global commerce is international business English. For many reasons, the language in which most of the world’s people do their buying, selling, and servicing is English.

Within the growing industry of ESL, there is another industry of the business English course which specializes in instructing students in the terminology of international business. The best of these courses teaches more than vocabulary, however; the best business English lesson combines English instruction with an initiation into the customs and conventions of international business.

Two types of students are interested in business English courses at Cambridge Schools, and therefore we offer two types of courses.

The first course – Business English A – is geared toward the majority of our students. These are foreign students who have come to our school on F1 student visas, study at our school full time, and have the intention of eventually matriculating to American colleges or universities. For those students who are interested in either matriculating to a business school or majoring in business, Business English A serves as an introduction to the basic ideas and practices of the business world. In a class early in the semester, a student will learn how to compose his or her own personal résumé in English and in the conventions of the American style. In a later class, the same student will learn how to compose that first crucial business English letter: the cover letter that introduces his or her résumé. Seemingly simple topics such as making excellent first impressions, succeeding in job interviews, acquiring phone etiquette and interpersonal skills, and navigating the complicated cultures of American and multinational corporations are also explored. Upon closer inspection, these topics are not as simple as they seem, especially when filtered through a second language. In fact, many American executives wish that some of their own American-born, English-speaking employees had acquired these same skills before entering the work force!

The second course – Business English B – is designed for working professionals who attend the school part-time. Because Cambridge Schools is located in Manhattan, an international capital of finance where half the residents are foreign born, there is a demand for advanced classes in English for business communication. Typical students of this type are foreign-born professionals who have been transferred by their companies to New York City. These students’ English abilities are probably strong, but they have come to the school to improve further and seek advice in the array of language and cultural challenges in their new city and workplace. Classes in Business English B might be generated out of textbooks that examine case studies of famous business dilemmas. Other classes might focus on business English writing. Finally, looking through and discussing such business-oriented magazines and periodicals such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Weekly, and others, is helpful in building vocabulary and understanding the attitudes of American businesspeople.

As any honest teacher will admit, students have much to teach their instructors. And so it is true that the instructors of Cambridge Schools have learned much about working in international corporations through teaching business English and advising their students in the practical matters they face everyday.