What do you mean?

I have this strange idea that life would be better for many of us if we were able to communicate more effectively. Indeed, much of my work as a Business English trainer goes far beyond the normal boundaries of a language course and enters the precarious territory of communication, and why not? After all, the language is just the medium used for verbal and written communication and even people who share the same native language can be heard asking ‘What do you mean?’, or saying, ‘I don’t understand.’ So, is it a hopeless cause? Am I wasting my time? I don’t believe so.

I’ve just read an article posted in the Harvard Business Review about communication between departments in a...

The future of communication

It was reported in the local press yesterday that more than half of Mallorca’s fourteen-year-olds have a level of English below the average. The same report says that the levels of Catalán and Castellano (the language commonly known outside of Spain as Spanish), which are the two official languages of the island, are worse than ten years ago for the same age group. One in four of these young people is not able to communicate fluently in their native languages. It’s hardly surprising that the level of English is not good if young people don’t have a good command of their own languages.

I wonder if this report is a reflection of a much wider problem that exists way beyond...

Read Shakespeare to win

‘Gaming the system’ is a term which was originally used to talk about the manipulation of a system and its rules in order to achieve a desired outcome. Other variations of the expression include ‘playing the system’, ‘abusing the system’, ‘milking the system’ and ‘working the system’. Using the concept of games is common in business and takes on various forms, such as ‘employee of the month’, which encourages employees to work harder in competition with each other in order to win a short-term reward of increased status. Sales departments may reward top salespeople with bonuses or incentives for hitting or passing their targets.

We see gaming in learning too, especially in online and mobile applications which award users with...

Big business verbs

We like to use expressive words when we talk about business, especially in the news, as they help to emphasise meaning and sometimes add a certain twist. Today, I’d like to pick a few headlines and look at how the verbs chosen might change the way we read and understand the news.
Firstly, from the Telegraph:
Inequality falls as low earners’ wage growth outstrips the rich
Here, the verb ‘to fall’ implies a lack of control. If I fall, it is not the same as if I jump. I decide to jump. I don’t choose to fall. So, in this sentence, inequality is not being reduced in a controlled manner through the specific actions of someone...