The best business English courses to improve your communication at work in 2024

As the business world expands globally, more and more people are having to communicate with others who don’t speak their native language. With over 1 billion people speaking English as a second language, this has become the go-to language for the majority of international business communication.

Learning business English, therefore, is essential for anyone wishing to pursue a global career and work with people of other nationalities.

Here we will take a look at the best business English courses available in 2024. We begin with a range of online courses, since these are usually the most convenient for busy working professionals (and also the most affordable). 

But if you prefer to take business English lessons face-to-face at a language-learning facility near you, we also have some recommendations for finding this type of English course.

Best business English courses online

Online business English courses typically fall into one of two categories.

1. MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses): These consist of pre-recorded videos and online lesson materials that you can access at any time and progress through at your own pace. This type of online English course is generally cheaper, but lacks the personal, one-on-one time with a teacher or tutor which can be helpful for asking questions and receiving feedback.
2. Live private or group classes: In this setting, you join online lessons at a scheduled time and participate in a live discussion with your teacher (and fellow students, if you choose a group class). These video lessons are usually supplemented by online learning materials as part of the course.

The list below features both types, so you can consider some different options and find the best online business English course to suit your needs.

Preply

Level: All levels

Format: 50-minute lessons, private or group tutoring, learn on your own schedule

Cost: From $10/lesson, with 50% off your first lesson

Highlights: Preply is a language learning platform that connects you with over 16,000 English tutors around the world.

You can search for tutors by specialty, meaning you can select one who has experience in the business world or who specializes in corporate training. You’ll also be able to choose a tutor who is available at a time that suits you, as well as any other preferences you may have.

Coursera

Level: Pre-intermediate and above

Format: Variety of courses with pre-recorded lessons that take from several hours to several months to complete

Cost: Mostly free to access (optional payment for grading and certification)

Highlights: Coursera has perhaps the best business English course selection online, featuring many programs from renowned US universities. Even better, most of these online English courses are free. There is the option to pay a fee if you want to complete graded assignments or receive a certificate at the end.

Here are a few of our top Coursera courses for business English:

• Essential English for Business Professionals (University of California, Irvine)
• Better Business Writing in English (Georgia Institute of Technology)
• English for Business and Entrepreneurship (University of Pennsylvania)
• Business English: Meetings (University of Washington)

Gymglish

Level: Pre-intermediate and above

Format: Daily lessons that take around 15 minutes to complete

Cost: From €12/month, 1 month free trial

Highlights: Gymglish makes learning English fun and achievable, with daily lessons that are personalized according to your learning goals and previous progress. Focus on business English or take a broader approach – it’s up to you! Either way, the AI technology used in the app customizes each lesson to help you progress faster.

Read more and find out if Gymglish is worth it in our full review.

Alison

Level: Pre-intermediate and above

Format: Variety of courses from 2-3 hours to 15+ hours study time

Cost: Free (optional payment for certification)

Highlights: Alison is a free learning platform with dozens of business English communication courses available for all levels, from beginner to advanced.

The courses are completely free to access, there is just a small fee to pay if you wish to receive a certificate of completion (which may be beneficial for demonstrating your credentials in a job application).

Here are some you can check out:

• Effective Business Communication (2-3 hours)
• English for Career Development (5-6 hours)
• English for Business Socializing (3-4 hours)

Udemy

Level: Pre-intermediate and above

Format: Pre-recorded lessons and study materials, courses of various durations

Cost: From $16.99 per course

Highlights: Udemy has some great business English courses that break topics down into small chunks. You can pick the ones that are relevant to you and ignore the rest. For a reasonable fee you receive lifetime access to the course materials, including any future updates.

Here are some specializations that we recommend for gaining confidence using English at work:

• Professional Email Writing: Business Communication Skills
• Business English Vocabulary: Learn 600 Essential Words
• Business English: Easy English for Meetings
• Improve your Business English: English for Presentations

Leonardo English Business English Course

Level: Intermediate and above

Format: Around 10 hours of study time to complete the course

Cost: €129 lifetime access with 30-day money-back guarantee

Highlights: This course from businessman-turned-teacher Alistair condenses a lot of valuable information into 12 modules, each consisting of an audio lesson and a worksheet with transcripts, vocabulary, and other resources. There are 3 hours of audio lessons but it’s recommended you spend around 10 hours in total listening to these and reviewing the course material.

Students appreciate the fact that this course not only teaches key words and phrases to understand in the business world, but it also teaches important principles for communicating confidently that are beneficial even to native English speakers.

British Council English Online

Level: A1 to C2

Format: Up to 15 classes per month, group or private teaching, no fixed duration

Cost: From $11/class

Highlights: British Council offers online English courses on a variety of topics, including many that relate to business English. You are free to decide which modules to study, and in what order, so you can begin with the subjects that are most interesting and relevant to you.

With your monthly package you receive class credits, and you can split these between group and private classes as you wish.

Get a 7-day free trial when you sign up for a Gold or Premium package. The trial includes 2 group classes or 1 private lesson – so you can really find out if it’s a good fit for you.

Lingoda

Level: All levels

Format: Up to 40 classes per month, no fixed duration

Cost: From $12.50/class (group) or $23.50/class (private)

Highlights: With Lingoda, you can choose between general or business English classes. The business English lessons are based on real-life meetings, each featuring a theory section followed by practical application. This structure helps you improve your comprehension and practice your speaking skills and pronunciation.

Group classes let you converse with other English learners from all around the world, which is similar to what you’ll experience in the business world. But if you select private lessons, you’ll benefit from more one-on-one time with your teacher which will probably help you improve your English communication skills faster. There are pros and cons to both options.

EF English Live

Level: A1 to C2

Format: Up to 4 private and 30 group classes per month. Advance to the next level in 12 weeks.

Cost: Request a quotation

Highlights: EF is a globally recognized English teaching institution. Their well-developed online learning platform unites language learners from all around the world, with teachers available 24/7 to suit your schedule.

You’ll learn about a wide range of real-life business scenarios to help you prepare for the world of work. A combination of group and private classes means you’ll have plenty of interaction with other ESL students as well as tailor-made lessons and private conversations. You also receive access to their interactive learning platform as part of your package.

Finding a business English course near you

If you would prefer to take an English course for business near you, in a physical location meeting face-to-face, here are some places to look:

EF

As well as offering English business courses online, EF (Education First) has local language schools all over the world. At these, you can participate in traditional classroom lessons and even do a language exchange for immersion learning in an English-speaking environment.

Wall Street English

Wall Street English brings decades of business English teaching experience to help learners who want to improve their level of English fluency.

Universities, colleges, and language schools

Many teaching institutions offer specialist English courses for business. If you want to switch to a new career or improve your prospects in your current company, a certification from a prestigious university will certainly help you gain access to more opportunities.

Community centers and libraries

Public libraries and community centers often run courses offering members of the community a way to learn new skills, especially in areas that will help them gain employment or improve their career outlook.

They are unlikely to teach very in-depth business English skills, but they should help you build confidence and enhance your resume.

You can find out more about what to expect in our guide to finding an English language course near you.

What do business English courses cover?

Every English business course is slightly different, but here are some of the main topics you can expect to cover as you study in this field. Each of these areas will not only teach you important English vocabulary, jargon, and phrases, but will also cover the general business skills you need to excel at work.

Some longer, comprehensive courses cover most of these topics, whereas others offer different modules so you can pick and choose the ones that are most relevant to you.

Communication & correspondence

• Communicating appropriately when you write emails or speak on the phone
• Obstacles of cross-culture communication at work
• Filling in applications for a new job
• How to write a resignation letter for your current job
• Communicating under pressure
• Raising difficult issues in the workplace
• Participating in video calls
• Working remotely

See also: Business idioms you should know for work

Meeting & socializing

• Small talk and conversational English
• Arranging, booking, and participating in meetings
• Conducting meetings with an agenda
• Networking and meeting people in-person
• Business travel vocabulary and etiquette

Negotiating

• Negotiating your salary and terms of employment
• Negotiating business deals
• Forming contracts

Finance and economics

• Understanding and describing numbers, trends, and statistics
• Discussing salaries and payments
• Forming a business plan
• Writing proposals

Giving presentations

• Preparing slides for a keynote presentation
• Communicating your message clearly
• Interacting with your audience

Sales and marketing

• Brainstorming ideas
• Conducting market research
• Understanding advertising jargon
• Using persuasive speech
• Adjusting your tone to different audiences

Leadership & management

• Hiring and training people
• Mentoring others in your team
• Listening effectively
• Discussing performance
• Teambuilding and motivation

Why learn English for business?

English is the most widely-spoken language in the world, and is also the language of global business.

For the majority of companies doing business internationally, the default language of communication is English. So as more and more organizations expand into the global workplace, it’s becoming increasingly important for employees to speak good English.

English is also widely used in tourism, hospitality, medicine, programming, and aviation – so if you wish to work in any of these industries, English language skills will be especially important.

As you learn more about communication in English for business, you will benefit from:

• Improved communication skills: Understanding the nuances of the English language will help you communicate appropriately in every situation and build strong relationships with your colleagues.
• Increased confidence doing business internationally: From interviews to negotiations to building relationships, you’ll have confidence in what you are saying.
• New networking opportunities: Speaking English opens up doors to meet new people around the world.
• Salary increases: One of the benefits of learning English is that you’ll be able to access higher-paying roles.
• Global career opportunities: Once you have mastered business English communication, you can apply for jobs in English-speaking countries.

Additional resources for business English learning online

It’s not just courses that can help you learn business English. Here are some other free English learning resources that will give you a head-start in your business interactions:

• Business English Pod: A free English learning podcast with over 400 episodes on a range of topics from greeting people to discussing proposals. Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
• British Council Business Magazine: A series of articles about various general business English topics for intermediate level and above. Each one has preparatory vocabulary, quizzes to test your understanding, and an accompanying worksheet.
• News websites: Check out some websites where you can learn English by reading the news about business topics that interest you.
• Business English Resources: Contains lesson plans for teachers as well as lessons for students. Especially helpful for learning vocabulary for business English.

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