Effortless English: Learn To Speak English Like a native

Pronunciation Retells
Earlier in the book, I described the movie technique and taught you a method for
using it to improve pronunciation. You can use a similar technique with mini story
retells.
First, repeat the steps in the previous section. Do a few fast retells of the story.
When you can do that easily, it’s time to work on pronunciation.
Play one sentence from the mini story and then pause the audio. As you play this
sentence, listen very closely. Focus especially on the rhythm and intonation. Notice
when the speaker pauses. Notice when the speaker ’s voice goes up and when it goes
down. Notice when it gets louder and when it gets softer.
Then say the same sentence and copy the speaker ’s voice exactly. Again, imagine
you are an actor trying to exactly imitate this speaker. Use their voice. Use their
emotion. Even use your face and body as you imagine the speaker would. Try to
become this person as you speak.

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Then play the next sentence and pause, repeating the process. In this way, go
through the entire mini story. Be sure to mimic both the questions and the answers.
Of course, it’s best to choose a speaker that you like!
Using the methods in this chapter, you will take your speaking to an advanced,
near-native level.

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CHAPTER 20
English Is The Language Of 
International Business
A few years ago I was reviewing business proposals. Our company needed new
graphics for our website, so I had posted a job on an international freelancer forum.
We got over twenty responses to our job posting. Each posting contained a bid for
our project.
As I reviewed the bids, I noticed the nationalities of the graphic artists. There was
a company from Argentina. There was an artist from Hungary. There was a
Japanese bidder. There was a German and a Malaysian. There were several from the
United States and Canada.
As I looked them over, I was struck by this clear example of globalization. These
people were all participating in an online international marketplace. Then I realized
the obvious: they were all using English to do so. Every bid was written in English.
Therefore, each of these artists was competing not only based on their artistic
ability, but also on their ability to communicate their strengths in English.
Clearly, English is the international language of business. It is for this reason that
schools, everywhere in the world, offer English classes. English language ability is
a competitive advantage to any and all who have it. English opens the world, to
companies and freelance artists alike. Lack of English closes opportunities and puts
you at a disadvantage in our global economy.
These are simply the facts, be they pleasant to you or not. The simple truth is that
English is growing increasingly important to the global economy. More and more
jobs, in more and more countries, are requiring spoken English proficiency. Some
companies, such as the Japanese company Rakuten, are making English their
official language.
Rakuten’s founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani created an English-only policy for
the web commerce company. Mr. Mikitani said “one of the things holding back
Japanese firms from competing globally is a language barrier that prevents them
from fully grasping overseas competition.” He also said that lack of English
proficiency limits Japanese companies from pursuing global talent and retaining
non-Japanese staff.

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With the new policy, all employees are required to use English for company
communications, including meetings, presentations, emails, proposals, and other
documents. The company expects employees to be proactive about learning English
independently.
While this is a developing trend for Japan, many international companies are
increasing their requirements for English. Many, like Rakuten, are instituting
English-only policies. As this trend grows, the demand for business English grows
with it.
Increasingly, in the business world there is simply no escape from English.