Considering the last article published on this blog about how to avoid the 3 most common Export Errors, I think that, at this point of this fantastic adventure in the Export world, we all agree about how important is to properly speak English. To only translate into English all the company material is never enough if you don’t have then the right capacities to introduce your product in English even from a technical point of view in order to promote it abroad. So, the question is:
Technical knowledge, even from a linguistic point of view?
Absolutely yes! As in all human relationship, communication is a very important factor, in particular if you think that generally, everyone can chat, but very few people can communicate, let’s imagine now how this process can come to be more difficult if we try to communicate then in a language that is not our native one. For sure, an export manager will go forward and over the traditional English clauses what’s your name? How old are you? e What time is it? A technical English concerning the field in which you operate will be strictly required, that’s why I prefer to name it Business English. Only a proper knowledge of this businees English will enable an export manager or anyone else in his stead to properly introduce a product, to point out its technical features, to compare it with a similar competitor’s product in order to finally place it in a new foreign market. Any field and sector requires its proper specific technical language, it’s not always useful to memorize a list of technical words if you are not able then to use those words in a specific context. Without a specific and proper technical linguistic knowledge, in case of client’s specific questions, for sure you would have trouble in answering them.
Pay attention to the English False Friends! 
False friends are pairs of words or phrases in two languages or dialects (or letters in two alphabets)[1] that look or sound similar, but differ significantly in meaning. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend). So, while trying to communicate into another language, pay attention to these words that even though they are similar to some Italian words, they don’t have the same meaning, that’s why they are false. Here below an useful list of the most common Technical English False Friends that are generally used wrongly: 
To Advertise is Pubblicizzare and not avvertire Argument is Discussione/Litigio and not argomento Comodity is Merce/Prodotto and not comodità To Control is Dominare and not controllare Factory is Fabbrica and not fattoria Furniture is Mobili and not fornitura Magazine is Rivista and not magazzino Patent is Brevetto and not patente Petrol is Benzina and not petrolio Notice is Avviso and not notizia Preservative is Conservante and not preservativo Stamp is Francobollo and not stampa Taste is Sapore and not tasto *** Have you ever experienced embarassing situations due to a wrong language usage? How much importance do you give at your staff linguistic skills? Let us know your comment writing it in the space below, it will be interesting to know your experience in order to compare it to ours. If you like and approve the content of this article, don’t forget to share it on your social network profiles using the buttons reported here below.
Ultimi post di Vera Narducci (vedi tutti)
- How to avoid the 3 most common Export errors - 29 July 2014
- I Speak English! How important is a correct English language usage abroad - 29 July 2014
- How to get a Smarter Company and improve the productivity - 29 July 2014
Cooper
24 September 2014 at 8:18 #
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