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What is offshore English

Offshore English is a term used by many people for international English (I). It is the English spoken and written by non-native speakers in international communication (II) (03). Many in business are starting to worry that native speakers are actually at a disadvantage in international communication. A good example of this situation was when a company tried to sell flight simulators to South Korea, where a French company won the contract because the buyers found it easier (02) to understand the English that the French people spoke than the English spoken by the British company.

Many native English speakers feel little necessity to learn foreign languages, so they often don’t understand the difficulties and problems learners have. They also don’t see (1) the need to modify their language for a foreign audience, so they use (2) idioms, synonyms, colloquialisms, phrasal verbs, etc, and don’t think (3) of the impact this has (4) on a foreign businessperson.

The English studied by non-native speakers tends to use a more simple vocabulary, and considering the similarities in courses in many parts of the world, emphasized by a small number of course books (Headway Series) (01) and the domination of a few examinations, for example TOEFL, etc. This means that non-native speakers from different countries and cultures sometimes understand each other more easily than the native speaker. Few native speakers outside the world of ESL (English as a Second language) teaching have much idea of what non-native learners assimilate, and think that as their English is native speaker level, they speak it better than their non-native counterparts. Because of this, companies are offering courses in Offshore English to native speakers to train them to speak the type of English that will make it easier for non- native speakers to understand. So they will gain more contracts.

(Adapted from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/what-offshore-english.html Acessado em 14/03/2013)

Glossary:

Foreign: estrangeiro

Businessperson: homem/ mulher de negócios

Counterpart: seu semelhante

To win: ganhar, vencer

Disadvantage: desvantagem

Outside: do lado de fora

Level: nível

The underlined word in the sentence "... native speakers to train them to speak ...” refers to