english corner

Paul McAdam grew up Ottawa, Canada. He studied law at college and English/Psychology at university and has his TESOL degree. He came to Indonesia to teach English and give Indonesian students the chance to get a higher education and a better future.
As of today Mr. Paul has been in Indonesia for 13 years. During that time he has taught all levels of English including TOEFL/IELTS/TOEIC. He has been the manager of a language school and taught many business professionals along with being a university lecturer at President University.
Currently Mr. Paul has been teaching at President Senior High School for the past 5 years. He has also worked as the Senior English Editor for Erlangga Publishing in Jakarta.
Mr. Paul is a very friendly, outgoing, reliable and professional person who always does his best and really cares about the results. His hobbies include traveling, fitness, watching movies, reading and using the internet.
This month’s question comes from Budianto:How can the English ability of my employees and company help my business?

Thank you for this very important question. English is the International Language of Communication and Business and so to be successful in attracting customers for importing and exporting your goods and services, it’s really important to be able to speak and write English effectively because people in other countries want to make sure that their businesses run smoothly and without any problems.

In the world today English is used as the first language in US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand which combined have a population of over 400 million people. English as a second and third language is spoken by many countries in the world and especially in Europe (400 million), India (1.1 billion), Africa (200 million) South America (200 million) and Asia (300 million).

As you can see there are giant markets available to those companies and business people who can communicate effectively in English. These countries have billions of dollars to invest in Indonesia and also want to buy the many resources, products and services that Indonesia has to offer.

Unfortunately 100’s of millions of dollars are also lost every year in Indonesia over miscommunication and misunderstandings in English and also by the way some Indonesian companies conduct their business. By learning how western companies and people think and understanding about the way they do business, Indonesian companies will gain a lot more foreign investment. To do this effectively, it is very important to learn English and/or have access to western people to help you deal with your foreign customers.

There is also a new Free Trade Agreement between Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and other Asian countries which can really help Indonesian companies expand their markets in 2012 and beyond!

Indonesia is a great country and has many resources, products and services that can be sold around the world and there are many foreign companies that want to invest in Indonesia. English is the key for Indonesian companies and business people to become even more successful in the global market.

Thanks again for your question Budianto!

Please send your questions in English or Indonesian to pauleslteacher1@yahoo.com, or to cikarangpos@yahoo.com or sms them to Afriska at number:  081385035533.  See you next month at English Corner…..!