Europa / Europe and the EU + EEA

The development of generative AI may mean that only excellence in a language is useful — there may no longer be much point in just having a few words and phrases, the kind of level to which apps such as Duolingo take most learners. Mundane interactions can now be handled by automatic speech translation. Similarly, executives no longer need to write English as well, since machine translation systems such as DeepL can do that for them (although translators suggest having a native-speaking human to check AI’s output when there is a legal or reputational risk). Translation technology reduces a historic advantage of English-speakers in international settings: they were often chosen to write reports or corporate statements, giving them power to shape the content. I’ve observed a rise in the level of English spoken by people in international workplaces: Globish, the simplified, nuance-free version of English, has been superseded by colloquial English. For instance, fewer EU gatherings now open with a speaker saying, in franglais: “I wish you good work!” One non-native English-speaker employed in banking in the US reports: “To collaborate with colleagues globally, the simplest business English is best, no ambiguities or misunderstandings. However, at senior level, being native and succinct and ‘funny with words’ is seen as an asset. My boss (native) is a literature major from an Ivy League school. His expressions easily switch from highbrow to swear words, and always draw laughs.” Accents in English matter, too. Sociolinguists believe western European “non-native English accents”, such as German, are more valued “than accents from other, economically less developed, regions”, write academics Martyna Śliwa and Marjana Johansson.
The upshot is a two-tier labour market in which top jobs with international contact are reserved for a fluent English-speaking elite. A specialist at an international insurer observes: “People who can’t communicate well in English drift off into local activities. They become less relevant.”