The 1.75 billion English speakers across the globe have learned all diverse forms of it. For many, it’s still their second language. The thing is this: They speak all various types of English, at all diverse skill levels, learned in all sorts of multiple environments. The kind of English spoken in Nevada is different than that expressed in Norway. As it occurs, several Nevadans are Latinos, and several Latinos speak English as their second language, not they are first. The same goes for Norway as well. Lots of English, but it’s their secondary language. For marketers, it becomes rather difficult to engage second language English speakers.
To connect with your audience, you need your message to be crafted well so that they can understand it quickly, without unnecessary effort or frustration, irrespective of their background. It implies utilizing a variety of English that some people call international English, but which in the business world is more regularly known as a Global English, or English that utilizes structure and vocabulary crafted for the most fabulous comprehension across cultures amongst all who speak English as a second language.
It is real whether your message is in a landing page, a web ad, or a mass email, or a letter to that one major client you want to land. It’s true irrespective of whether your target audience is in your country or somewhere else if you’re creating marketing content that you plan to engage second language English speakers. Here are four content tips for globalizing your marketing content to engage second language English speakers better. These content tips will surely take you forward in your journey to engage second language English speakers.
Keep parts of clauses together
Let’s discuss the first of the four content tips that we’ll share in this article.
English becomes difficult for second language speakers when you move from simple and compound sentences too complicated ones—that is when you bring independent clauses. Therefore, it gets more challenging to engage Second Language English Speakers. Once you begin mixing up clause parts like above, such as Picasso putting two eyes on the same side of the face, your reader starts to sweat.
Two sentences here would be of a much more precise approach: The investigation team’s principle must be re-analyzed. Then the policy can be submitted for approval from the management and distributed to the field offices.
The correct form of sentence formation is an absolute must to deliver your message to the audience or to engage second language English speakers.
Avoid idioms and figurative language
It brings us to the second tip of the four main content tips to engage second language English speakers.
English has full of idioms and pre-defined phrases that make no apparent sense, such as behind the curve or the upside. The best oddity here is a hard and fast rule. That description of fast is so old you have to blow the dust off it, but today’s second language audiences possibly don’t even know it. It is a hard rule, but the fast rule?
Sports idioms are a particular risk. If you attempt to hit a home run with an audience that doesn’t wish to play baseball, you’ll be on a sticky pitch.
A similar language habit of avoiding is the usage of secondary definitions. For instance, most of those 1.75 billion people are aware of what “pretty” means—it implies something like beautiful.
It does, that is, until you utilize the phrase “pretty expensive.” Then your overseas reader may not be so confident to understand what you’re talking about. To engage Second Language English Speakers, go through your content with the literal meanings of the words in mind, and replace any that don’t utilize the simple definition.
Include extra clues
The third tip among the top four content tips to engage Second Language English Speakers is as follows.
For a second language English speaker, the parts of a sentence that a native speaker would usually leave out are essential context, such as road signs when your phone navigation is dead.
For instance, the invitation Try out 3D Viewer may be more speedily and confidently digested by a second language speaker if written: “Try out the 3D Viewer program.” However, that’s longer because it presents the Viewer with two extra clues: 3D Viewer is a software program whose name is a proper noun. These types of content with hints help to engage Second Language English Speakers more.
Reduce the cost of reading—make it easy
In the last section of these content tips, we share the last but not the least tip to engage Second Language English Speakers.
Consider the audience’s overall labor and time required, and make both as low as possible. Just because somebody can theoretically read your message doesn’t mean that you want to put forth the work or the minutes to do so, which reduces your chances to engage Second Language English Speakers.
As mentioned earlier, the content tips are here to help you make the readers understand what you want to convey, irrespective of English being their first or second language. It increases your chances of engaging Second Language English Speakers more. But all these content tips can be summarized down to just one point: Even if your message is confusing, it doesn’t necessarily mean your words also have to be.
Ty Young
4 years ago