Does everyone really speak English?

English is often the go-to corporate language, because everyone knows it. But do they really? We've found it's a little more complicated than that.

Roughly half of online content is in English. But the number of native English speakers worldwide count only around 400 million! If we count non-native speakers, the number is still only 1 billion.

In other words, a language spoken by around 15% of the world’s population has become the global lingua franca.

It begs the question: when businesses choose English as their corporate language, what does this mean for communication? Should teams worry about English proficiency? And what can they do to bridge language barriers?

To learn more, I reached out to my colleague Lawson Stapleton who not only has a background in small language models but also personal experience living abroad. He has felt first-hand what it’s like to uproot oneself, learn a new language, and integrate into a foreign business environment. Plus, he knows a great deal about the science of speaking a second language.

He helped me understand why proficiency is complicated, how language can cause friction, and how you can help your team succeed regardless of these problems.

Busting a pervasive myth: No, not everyone speaks English

Linguistic misalignment often goes under the radar. Especially when it's masked by strong English skills.

“Everyone speaks English,” as one business man said here, thinking the real problem was culture. It's a common assumption in the business world.

Even among the 1.4 billion English speakers, proficiency is far from uniform. It is also highly subjective.

Someone might think they’re fluent but feel uncomfortable with technical conversations or niche vocabulary. They might think they understand a topic while they actually don’t.

Lawson points out that “someone’s level of comprehension can’t be immediately assessed by a conversation or an individual’s own idea of how much they can actually speak.”

This is an issue even when teams’ English skills are at a high level.

Even small differences in fluency within English-speaking teams can impact who gets heard and who doesn't, and that in turn has real consequences for team output.

Uneven levels of language skill can impact group and power dynamics.

Employees who are more fluent in the corporate language often progress faster and gain more power and influence than those who are less proficient or confident.

Even if those less fluent employees are experts at their work and have critical input to share.

This imbalance can exclude them from important decision-making or negotiation only because of the language.

These small discrepancies in perceived fluency can cause a lot of friction. And they can be hard to spot.

A surprising source of language misalignment: Our identity

Research shows that language actively shapes our perception of ourselves and the world around us.

This is important in a business setting. Our personality is the foundation of how we deal with people, how confident we feel about speaking up, and how we solve problems.

People often have a stronger emotional connection to their first language. Talking about childhood memories can feel more intense in the language in which the memory was first formed. A second language can have a professional distance to it. This can be a strength or a weakness.

Research suggests that learning English academically makes people feel less confident (and less likely to speak up) than if they learned in more casual settings. If someone learned English in a highly competitive environment, they may see the ‘English speaking’ version of themselves as not good enough or as a high achiever, whereas their native selves feel more laid-back and relaxed.

This matters, because it directly influences what version of themselves people bring to a conversation.

"Words are a bit like tools,” Lawson says. “You can pick any word up and use it any way that you want. And I think your personality dictates how you use it.”

If you’re suddenly presented with a whole new ‘tool box’, - a new language - what does that mean for your identity in that language?

How can you help your multilingual team?

Language is not only an expression of culture: it also shapes culture actively.

When operating in a shared corporate language, teams must also build a new culture together.

Lawson suggests making space in the conversation to check in or give a moment to speak. Interjecting in a second language can be difficult, both in terms of language and social queuing, (the unspoken rules for when you can take a turn to speak).

A non-native speaker’s silence may be misread as disengagement, disagreeableness, incompetency, or shyness, when in reality, they may miss linguistic cues of when to speak, lack confidence, or simply need extra time to process verbal input.

You can also offer a little extra help in situations when understanding and participation is particularly important. Some choose to offer language lessons. You can also translate onboarding or introductory content, or subtitle townhalls.

To make sure everyone understands complex topics in industries like life sciences, manufacturing, or legal, interpreting is also an option. Listening in their own language can help participants focus on the message instead of the language. It can free up mental resources for contribution and participation.

The goal isn't ‘perfect English’ but shared understanding

Language will always influence how teams collaborate, make decisions, and build culture. The goal isn’t perfect fluency, but shared understanding. With the right awareness, frameworks, and support for critical communication, your team can move from simply “speaking the same language” to actually understanding one another.

This article was originally published in the February 2026 edition of Lost & found in translation, our monthly newsletter sharing insights, opinions, and reflections by real people who work in localisation.