What Is Global English? A Simple Guide for International Communication

The marketing team for Big Big Company in Tokyo is preparing a major international product launch with their colleagues from Berlin, Dubai, and São Paulo. They’re finalizing ad copy, exchanging emails, and jumping on Zoom calls. Everyone is speaking English and using it for their written materials, but none of the team members is a native speaker.

At one point during a call, Takeshi says, “Let’s table this for now.”

The others nod, but they leave the meeting with very different understandings of that expression.

Stefanie from Germany thinks it means “let’s schedule it for later.”

Luiz from Brazil assumes it means “let’s ignore this idea.”

Rashid from the United Arab Emirates expects Takeshi to prepare a new table or graph to share at the next meeting.

Takeshi’s Japanese teammate, Saiko, isn’t sure what he means and doesn’t want to ask. She just knows that before Takeshi joined the team at Big Big Company, he worked at Another Big Company’s Los Angeles headquarters. So he often uses English expressions that nobody else understands.

This kind of confusion is common among international teams. It can slow progress, cause misunderstandings, and may even stir up feelings of resentment or distrust.

That’s where Global English comes in.

What is Global English?

Global English isn’t a dialect or a specific set of grammar rules. Also known as “international English”, “world English”, or “English as a lingua franca“, Global English is all about clear, simple, inclusive communication.

Instead of trying to sound American, British, Canadian, or Australian, Global English speakers focus on being easily understood. It is designed to work in situations like the Big Big Company meeting where people from different language backgrounds need to communicate with each other.

Why Global English makes a difference

Trying to understand someone’s English can be difficult for non-native speakers, and even for native speakers from different regions (e.g., British English vs. American English). Grammar, vocabulary, idioms, and other features can be inconsistent and confusing, especially if the other person’s speech or writing is sprinkled with jargon or slang.

By contrast, Global English emphasizes:

• Plain vocabulary (e.g., “work as a team” instead of “synergize”)
• Clear structure (e.g., shorter sentences, straightforward organization)
• Fewer idioms
• Consideration for different cultural expectations

Using simpler, less complicated forms of English makes communication more inclusive and efficient. In fact, many companies have been training their teams to use Global English when writing emails, giving presentations, or creating documents.

 

How does it work?

Let’s say a customer support agent in Toronto needs to reply to a client in Seoul. Here’s a typical native-style English sentence:

“Thanks for bearing with us while we iron out all the kinks in the system.”

Now here it is in Global English:

“Thank you for being patient while we fix the problems in the system.”

The meaning is the same. However, the second version is easier for a non-native speaker to understand since it doesn’t include idioms like “bear with us” and “iron out the kinks”.

Let’s look at some more examples:

Native English	Global English
Igor is really good at thinking outside the box.	Igor has a lot of unique ideas.
Let’s touch base next week.	Let’s meet next week.
I’ll pencil you in for Friday afternoon.	I’ll schedule a meeting with you for Friday afternoon, but I might have to change the date or time.
We don’t need to reinvent the wheel.	We don’t need to come up with something new.
This plan has a lot of moving parts.	This is a complicated plan and parts of it keep changing.

How TextRanch can help

If you’re learning how to use Global English, you’ll probably find it easier to start with written communications. When you’re writing, you can take your time and choose your words carefully. Then you can review what you have written (or ask our TextRanch editors for help) and change any words or expressions that might confuse your teammates.

It can be more challenging when you need to speak Global English, especially if you’re like Takeshi and regularly use idioms that non-native speakers struggle to understand. You may need to practice slowing down and substituting idiomatic expressions with their more straightforward Global English counterparts. While our TextRanch services are focused on written English rather than spoken English, you can send us a list of expressions—or even just one—and we’ll help you find the right words.

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