Teaching Business English is an extension of General English... I'm very glad that prior to being a Business English teacher I was a Business Management Trainer, and also worked in the Corporate World..... I was able to talk the language, explain negotiation skills, and cultural differences when in a negotiation or meeting etc., and as a previous writer said, often when in a negotiation "Yes" means 'No", and all the nuances when in a meeting .... I also learnt a lot from my business clients, who were from all over the world.

Personally, I don't think anyone is ready to learn Business English until they are at Upper Intermediate Level.

...and I do think that any teacher that has a speciality should be paid for that speciality - not just Business English, but EAP, English for Medical use, etc. etc.   I admire any teacher that can teach EAP, and not make it boring. With Business English there is so much that can be taught that will be useful, such as Presentation Skills, Meeting Skills, Negotiation Skills, etc. etc - all of which can have class simulations to give the students practice and fun.

cheers.. Dee

Over the last fifty years, teachers have become less 'teachers of subjects' and more 'teachers of students'. In the 1970s, the concept of needs analysis was developed, and lesson became less driven by the needs of the subject area and more by the needs of the learners.

Business English learners require general language and also language which is related to the domain within which the learners will operate.

Average English language teachers are experts on grammar, syntax, phonetics, phonolgy and the other intricacies of language communication. Their knowledge of Business is limited to being a customer and consumer rather than bieng a manufacturer, distributor or  salesperson.  In the past, Business English textbooks attempted to teach Business through English. This led to a great deal of resentment from experienced Business professionals being taught how to do their jobs by incompetent and inexperienced English language teachers.

Now most textbooks are much more sophisticated and teach functional language which is appropriate in a Business context. For the English language teacher who is a foreigner in the Business environment, these books still demand extra preparation by the teacher in preparing lessons which reflect the culture of the Business context. Fernanda says she wants her students to trust her. Part of this involves creating lessons which are believable and reflect her Business English learners' knowledge of the Business world.

A Business English course is like any other ESP course. Imagine that you were teaching a group of Olympic athletes, airline pilots, broadcasters, or immigration officers, you would need some understanding of the world within which they operate. Lesson preparation will take more time and therefore this extra work should be compensated.