Disneyland English X Professional English

The tittle of this post, fluently speaks for itself...

The tittle denotes the existence of two kinds of English, which I have coined Disneyland English and Professional English, but before I proceed, I must say I mean no disrespect to people who speak the so called "Disneyland English", I only wish to highlight the differences that separate the two. (you can, subsequently draw your very own conclusions)

"Does it really matter if I am fluent"

One of my dearest friends asked me this question "does it really matter if I am fluent?", he was somewhat content with his current dubiously rated "upper intermediate" English level meaning to say, if there was indeed a big practical difference between "speaking English" and "being fluent".

Stand out in the crowd

People may not know, or better, they may not quite understand the difference between speaking English and being fluent. Some might even say it's a thin line...Well, the so called "thin line" looks more like The Great Wall of China if you ask me.

Speaking English (Disneyland) enables you to order a hot dog, tell people about your likes and dislikes, maybe even describe what people look like, it allows you to go to Disneyland and enjoy the amenities, after all, at the end of the day you are "the customer". You are the one spending your hard earned money. It doesn't matter if you make grammar mistakes, if you use the wrong verbal tense, if you mispronounce a word, nobody cares really, and they shouldn't, you have no obligation to perfectly speak their language, as long as you make yourself understood, that's good enough

Being fluent (Professional English) makes you kick ass at meetings, impress people, establish credibility. By speaking well, using proper grammar, good pronunciation, sophisticated vocabulary you gain the customer's trust and there is nothing worth more than that. You have to keep in mind that when you are providing services to international clients unlike some people might say, it is your responsibility to speak English well. After all, you are servicing a client, who is paying money for a certain level of excellence and that includes not only the quality of the service or product but communication as well.

I've said this before, and I will say it again, prior to venturing into the world of teaching, I "did my time*" working for a blue, three letter multinational company, which by the way, I am very grateful for (despite the prison reference*).

Truth be told, I was never the best analyst, transition manager or architect (the three positions I held while working there) there ever was, Furthermore, I don't think it would be an understatement to say I was average at best!

But...(well, I wouldn't badmouth myself if I didn't have a point) I was really good at SPEAKING ENGLISH.

As I brought up before, my clients were all from overseas, which meant they required constant travelling...and although I was not the sharpest pencil in the drawer, I often got drafted by upper management to visit, pitch and transition these clients.

That certainly annoyed my better half colleagues who felt someone with only "average" skills should not be sitting at the grown-ups table, and that would certainly be true if these tables were in Brazil. Luckily for me, they were all over the world, and people around them...well, they spoke English.

So, my point is, a lot of people feel their English is already good enough to face a complex meeting, a merger deal, a sale, or even an important company presentation, simply because they can order a combo at McDonald's.

As I said in the beginning of this post, I don't mean any disrespect to people who speak a broken English, that's part of the journey! and let's be honest not everyone needs to speak English for professional reasons, so if that's your case, Disneyland it is.

Now for those looking for PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH, the bar is HIGHER. Way higher!

In the remote working environments we've been thrown into since the beginning of the pandemic SPEAKING a good English can make a world of difference for your career.

I am sure your technical / management skills, business acumen and even commitment are far better than mine, chances are, you outweigh me in every aspect of business. Having said that...imagine what you could do with that "Fluent English" cherry on top of that cake.

Paraphrasing Carlos Brito, AB InBev CEO;

"If you are gonna dream, dream big, it takes the same amount of energy"

I have humbly rewritten the phrase to make my final point.

"If you are gonna LEARN, LEARN it big, takes more energy, pays off though."