Speaking English has become essential, even in a French company. Not mastering it has become a hindrance to any career progress.

English is the international language of business and this is not going to change.

You are an employee located in France and you have to negotiate with your Chinese, American or Austrian supplier, negotiations will take place in English.

As well as this, a large number of companies have offices abroad, and speaking English at this stage becomes a necessity to be able to communicate internally with your colleagues outside the borders of the hexagon.

But why English? And why not French, Spanish or even Chinese?

Taking into account the demographic criteria on a worldwide scale, Chinese (Mandarin) is the most spoken language in the world as it is practiced by more than one billion people, ahead of Spanish which is used by about 500 million people.

English is only in third place with 375 million people using it as the first language but it is the reference in the business world with more than 750 million people.

The reasons for this strength :

• the grammatical structure of English is very simple compared to other languages (for the definite article, adjectives, adverbs), so it is easier to obtain a basic understanding of English.
• historical fact: British colonialism which spread the use of English worldwide.
• political, economic and military facts: the power of the United States has resulted in the use of English as the main language of communication in international organizations (NATO, IMF, etc.)

Let’s return to the need to know English for business.

Most commercial and technical vocabulary is in English, it is the same for all computer programs: understanding the English terms is essential, otherwise you will not be up to the required tasks, not to mention the feeling of inferiority that may arise with respect to colleagues of not understanding a language which is nowadays considered essential.

The French are pretty bad at languages. In fact, according to an ETS Global survey, only 8.5% of executives at masters level are “competent” in English.

As English is so important, companies today require an increasing number of their employees to follow professional training courses in English and therefore develop their potential and effectiveness in their daily tasks. All levels are concerned, positions of responsibility, of course, but also less visible functions such as technicians, salespeople, or even secretaries who may be required to perform tasks in English.