English learning or language exchange websites for improving business conversation?

Question

As a non-native speaker, I am trying to improve my English communication skill, including fluency, accuracy, and being business sharp.

Just wondering whether there is any recommended website where I can find people to practice business English? I've found some English learning website / language exchange websites, but seems that these sources focus more on daily conversation instead of “ business communication”, and it's hard to filter appropriate people who could discuss business topics. Are there any good source for this? Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi there,

Good question! I am currently studying 4 different languages and definitely understand the struggle. Here are my main tips:

Find a teacher. I am personally using preply.com, another alternative is italki.com. You can filter teachers based on languages, reviews, budget, availability, etc, similarly to PrepLounge coaches. I am using it for a couple of languages and it works really well. In your case, you should target teachers willing to help you with business terms. Working with a teacher is relatively cheap and helps enormously if you manage to stick to a weekly class
Study daily new words. I recommend the app Anki, which uses the SRS system – the best way to learn new words. Focus on the words critical for your job – usually, if you master the 1000 most important ones, you can talk and understand relatively well your niche
Gamify your learning. I tried a few apps and the one I liked the most in terms of gamification is Memrise (focused mainly on building vocabulary) – you should target a course based on business terms in your case (you can add for free one of those created by the other users, besides the official ones offered by the app)

Best,

Francesco

Answer 2

Hi there,

I feel with you because I had the same challenge with Spanish when I started working for McKinsey in the Chile office.

Best advice I can give is to use this very platform to practice - it's perfect! This includes both written cases and live interviews.

Written cases: These are great to pick up key business terms/vocabulary and allow you to kill two birds with one stone - familiarize yourself with cases and pick up business English.
Live interviews: Nothing beats practice! I would suggest to do plenty of peer practice and ask for feedback for language/form in particular.

My strong advice would be to focus from the beginning on top down communication. Even native speakers struggle with this and it will make your life easier because it’s the key skill for being concise (the less you feel the need to ramble, the better for you).

Lastly, not everyone is a native English speaker and this is accepted in the consulting world. Hence, it’s OK to be imperfect and trip up from time to time as long as it doesn’t knock down your confidence and you’re still able to deliver. Easier said than done but I know from experience that it’s possible!

Best of luck!

Answer 3

ah this is tough…simulating business conversation with people via apps etc. It wont be natural at all unless you are lucky to find the right person who just wants to talk business.

I suggest, dont differentiate between business english vs other types. Rather, focus on learning the right grammar, pronunciation etc. Combine this with storytelling techniques and you will be fine. There are plenty of great resources available to learn properly- Coursera, Udemy or British Council courses. You can even book a personal trainer for a small fee via British Council site.

Outside of this, practice as much as you can with colleagues, peers, friends. Keep it natural and allow yourself enough weeks/months to get better.

Answer 4

Hi there,

I would recommend the following:

1) HelloTalk (app)

2) Italki (cheap language teaching platform)

Answer 5

Hi,

I moved to Indonesia for a couple of months and needed to pick up practical conversation as well as business language. I found iTalki to be the most flexible and reasonably priced option out there.

Hope this helps!