Learning English online? Be careful!
As a Learn Business English online student, you’d agree that a lot can be learnt about English through social media.
Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook all offer an appetising array of topics into which to sink your teeth and to learn English at grass roots.
Many Learn Business English students may send tweets on behalf of their employers, or as individuals. The use of social media may be a good way to build and develop links and to spread the word. The online Learn Business English student may retweet and engage in written conversations and discussions, which are very similar to business reception networking. But, beware! And this is the problem . . .
Unlike spoken English, whatever you write and post in social media is ‘Published’. And, by publishing what you have written, you may be inviting trouble if you don’t have any knowledge of media law, or if you’ve failed to carefully check how you have used your English. Apart from feeling foolish if your use of English wasn’t quite publishing quality, you may unknowingly also run the risk of making a defamatory statement – the greatest threat on earth to writers and a costly mistake to make!
For those of you who may not know what a defamatory statement is, it is making a statement which may cause other people to lower their opinion of the person or group to whom the statement relates. But, alas! English law has never been clear cut – there are two forms of defamation: Libel and Slander. Let’s deal with ‘Slander’ first.
Slander may refer to an act of defamation made through speech, so be careful in your use of spoken English.
But, ‘Libel’ is the one which you as online Learn Business English students should be aware. Libel concerns ‘the publication’ of comments which may be regarded as defamatory.
“I’m never going to tweet again!” we hear you shouting.
As Business English trainers, we are not suggesting that you don’t participate in social media. On the contrary, we feel that the world of social media offers an informative and cost-effective way of learning English online. But, we do recommend that whatever you write for publication is checked carefully by your boss or media adviser to remove any risk of liability to your employer, the site owners and, of course . . .
‘You’!
