Pitfalls of English as a Contract Language

Abstract

The language spoken by business people in our globalized world is generally also the language used when they enter into contracts. Thus, there is a natural progression from the language used in business to the language used for conducting negotiations and, ultimately, the language used for contracting. Regardless of whether or not one believes the British Council’s estimate that one out of four of the world’s population speaks English to some level of competence;… ¹, it cannot be denied that a substantial share of the business transacted in our global economy is handled in English. After all, nearly half (approximately 227) of the companies listed in the Fortune Global 500² are headquartered in an English-speaking country (Australia, Britain, Canada (not counting Quebec), Ireland or the USA).