Hello and welcome to this Bizmates question and answer video series.
And today's question is a really interesting one. It's "Is broken English OK for business?"
Interesting question. And I got this many times from many students over the years.
And I want to share my answer with you. OK. But first let's try to understand. What is broken English? OK.
Because many people think this "Broken English is unacceptable for business."
Because you sound uneducated; you sound unprofessional; you sound rude.
OK. That's not necessarily true. OK.
Now, broken English is English with many grammatical mistakes.
Yes, there are many mistakes and that's why it sounds broken.
And broken is, you know, there is very broken English and not so broken English.
Yeah, but basically it's English with many grammatical mistakes.
But the key point in business is not... I'm gonna tell you I... I think it's OK.
And because the key point in business is whether what you are saying, the other person can understand the meaning of your sentence.
I think that is important, not whether you used in or on or at.
That's not the important thing. It's better to use correct grammar, of course.
But the important thing is can they understand your meaning?
OK. And can they understand how you feel? Because when we speak
it's not just the meaning, it's also the feeling that's also communicated.
So can the other person understand the meaning of your sentence?
How you are feeling? And the reaction of the other person. Is that the reaction you want?
So the other person is angry or he's insulted. That's not good, right?
Or you know he does a different action. That's not good.
So these 3 points are important and if you could do it with broken English.
I think that's fine for business. Now. OK
Because I'll give you an of example of perfect English. Here's a perfect sentence. OK.
And someone says to me. You know,
we're having a party and everyone is going drinking after work and they say:
"Hika, Hika, you had better come to this party." And I would be insulted.
I would say what?! You're telling me, I have to go to this party?
Because had better is like you have to. Yeah people say it's the same as should.
No, it's not the same as should. It's much stronger it's much more direct.
So the meaning, I understand the meaning. The meaning is a little bit off. His feeling is a little bit off.
I think he's telling me and saying you have to come but he's not.
So that meaning and feeling have been misunderstood.
My reaction is" what no I don't wanna go. Forget it. I'm not gonna go."
It's a bad reaction. So even perfect English will not get you the best result.
Here's broken English now. And if you say it the right way,
"Ahh Hika ahh if come to party, it is fun for you."
OK, and I would be like "Oh really, OK, OK. Yeah sure, sure Taro I'll, I'll go to the party."
Broken English, I understand the meaning. I understand the feeling that he's saying. And my reaction is a good one.
So that's just one example, just one example of how broken English is OK in business.
I hope I answered your question. OK and I look forward to your next question. OK, thank you.