Business English Podcast · Meetings & Status Updates · Episode 31

The Business Case for English Training

A CFO wants to cut the English budget — until the head of sales calculates what poor English really costs.

B2 · Dialogue · 2 Min. · free

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Editorially reviewed by James Simmonds – English teacher since 2004Published 1 August 2026

SceneAutumn budget round: CFO Katrin wants to cut the English training to save costs. Sales director Ben shows her what language barriers have already cost the company — and why the training is an investment, not an expense.

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Tip: listen to the episode twice before you start the test. · Worksheet (PDF)

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Katrin — CFO, mid-sized engineering firmBen — Head of International Sales

After discussing the budget, explore how needs, groups and schedules are planned in our English training for companies.

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Transcript

The full transcript opens after the comprehension test — so you train real listening instead of reading along.

German support

KatrinNext item: the training budget. Ben, I'll be honest — I'm planning to cut the English course. Forty thousand euros a year is hard to justify when margins are under pressure.Ich plane, den Englischkurs zu streichen – das ist schwer zu rechtfertigen.

BenBefore you do that, may I walk you through some numbers? Because from where I sit, that course is one of the cheapest insurance policies we have.Darf ich Ihnen ein paar Zahlen zeigen? Der Kurs ist eine unserer günstigsten Versicherungen.

KatrinGo ahead. But I want figures, not feelings.

BenFair enough. Do you remember the tender we lost in Lyon last spring? The client told me afterwards, off the record, that our proposal was strong — but the presentation didn't land. My team couldn't handle the questions in English.Die Ausschreibung in Lyon ging verloren, weil das Team die Fragen auf Englisch nicht sicher beantworten konnte.

KatrinThat contract was worth about six hundred thousand, if I remember correctly.

BenSix hundred and twenty. And we're not unusual. The European Commission ran a study on exactly this — the ELAN study. Eleven per cent of European SMEs said they had lost export business because of language barriers. The affected companies lost three hundred and twenty-five thousand euros on average over three years.Laut ELAN-Studie der EU-Kommission verloren 11 % der KMU Exportaufträge durch Sprachbarrieren – im Schnitt 325.000 €.

KatrinHmm. So the downside risk is real. But why a live trainer? Half the team has language apps on their phones already.Warum ein echter Trainer? Das halbe Team hat doch Sprach-Apps.

BenBecause the apps train streaks, not speaking. Nobody loses a deal because they can't match words on a screen. They lose it in the room — in the Q&A, on the phone, in the negotiation. That only improves through live practice.Apps trainieren Serien, nicht das Sprechen. Aufträge verliert man im Gespräch – das übt man nur live.

KatrinAnd what does the course actually cost us per head?

BenThat's the part I like. We pay per group session, not per person — about a hundred euros for ninety minutes. With eight people in a group, twenty sessions work out at roughly two hundred and fifty euros per employee. One lost tender pays for decades of that.Abgerechnet wird pro Gruppentermin, nicht pro Person – rund 250 € pro Mitarbeiter für 20 Termine.

KatrinWhen you put it next to Lyon, the budget line looks rather different. All right — the course stays. But I want progress reports twice a year, something I can show the board.Der Kurs bleibt – aber ich möchte zweimal im Jahr Fortschrittsberichte für den Vorstand.

BenDone. The provider already delivers level tests and attendance reports for HR. You'll have the first one on your desk in January.Der Anbieter liefert Einstufungstests und Teilnahmeberichte – der erste liegt im Januar vor.

Key phrases

to justify a cost

to show that an expense is reasonable

Forty thousand euros is hard to justify without results.

to walk someone through something

to explain something step by step

May I walk you through the numbers?

tender

a formal offer process for a contract

We lost the tender in Lyon last spring.

off the record

unofficially, not for publication

Off the record, the client told me why we lost.

the presentation didn't land

the presentation failed to convince

The proposal was strong, but the presentation didn’t land.

downside risk

the risk of losing something

The downside risk of poor English is real.

to work out at

to result in a certain amount

Twenty sessions work out at 250 euros per employee.

budget line

an item in a budget

Next to Lyon, this budget line looks small.

Language notes

In this episode a sales director defends the English budget in front of his CFO — with a lost contract, the EU Commission’s ELAN study and a simple per-head calculation. You learn how to defend a budget and build a business case in English (level B2).

Figures, not feelings: building the business case

Katrin demands: "I want figures, not feelings." Ben delivers in four steps: a concrete loss (the Lyon tender), an external source (the ELAN study), defusing the cheap alternative (apps) and finally his own cost per head. This order — damage, evidence, alternative, price — works in any English budget negotiation.

Quantifying losses without dramatising

Ben gives exact figures ("six hundred and twenty thousand") and cites his source with year and origin ("The European Commission ran a study — the ELAN study"). In English this sounds more credible than superlatives: precise numbers need no exaggeration. Useful phrases: "the downside risk is real", "that contract was worth …", "on average over three years".

Conditional agreement: the CFO’s reply

Katrin does not simply agree — she ties her yes to a condition: "The course stays. But I want progress reports twice a year." This pattern (concession + control mechanism) is typical of English management conversations. Ben’s "Done." is the shortest possible commitment; he immediately follows with the how ("level tests and attendance reports").

Frequently asked questions

What language level is this episode for?

Level B2 (CEFR). The dialogue uses finance and sales vocabulary at natural speed; the vocabulary list explains all eight key phrases bilingually.

What does poor English really cost a company?

The European Commission’s ELAN study (2006) found that 11% of European SMEs lost export contracts due to language barriers — affected firms lost €325,000 on average over three years. Recent communication research puts the productivity loss from poor communication at several hours per employee per week.

Are language apps enough for business English?

Research on gamified language learning shows mixed results: streaks and points drive usage, not confident speaking. Negotiations, Q&A and phone calls improve through live practice with real interlocutors — exactly what our courses train.

Is there a transcript to read along?

Yes, the full transcript with German support notes is on this page — listen first, then take the test, then read along.

Where can I calculate the business case for my team?

With the Simmonds Language Services ROI calculator on englisch-lehrer.com: enter your groups, level and revenue, get your savings estimate and a quote — then discuss it in a free consultation.

Are the voices real?

Episodes are produced with high-quality AI voices (Hume) and editorially reviewed by our trainer team — the same method as our interactive lessons.

Want to practise these phrases in a real conversation?

The podcast trains your ear — in our online lessons you practise the conversation yourself, with real teachers. For companies across Germany since 2004.

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