I don’t want to get into that debat about whether British English is better than American English. I’m only interested in the reality of how the English language is used today in business. And most international companies are faced with broader issues relevant to today’s society.

Spelling is the easiest part of the equation – you can simply choose the spelling needed for your most important markets. But other difficulties crop up when communicating in English over a broad international audience. For example, British English raises a number of difficulties in international environments related to the British use of the word “should”. This is often spoken as a polite direct order, but it translates into something “optional”, almost the opposite of an order. It’s very easy to understand how this can lead to complications in different cultures.

This opens up the question of the need for an international English in many large international companies.