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Writing about writing work English
Shorter and more specific than the guides — the exact phrase, the exact situation, the exact fix.
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Career & Networking · Jul 2026 · 6 min read
How to Introduce Yourself in English at a New Job
Three first-week introductions — Slack, a 1:1, an all-hands — need three different lengths and registers. Here's how to calibrate each one, with example intros you can adapt.
Career & Networking · Jul 2026 · 5 min read
How to Write a Networking Email to Someone You've Never Met
Generic flattery like "your impressive career" is the tell that a cold networking email is a template. Here's a four-part structure built on specificity instead, with a full before/after example.
Career & Networking · Jul 2026 · 5 min read
Write a LinkedIn About Section That Sounds Like You
Most LinkedIn About sections are a résumé pasted into paragraph form. Here's how to lead with what you do, write like you actually talk, and a full before/after rewrite.
Career & Networking · Jul 2026 · 5 min read
How to Write a Cover Letter in English as a Non-Native Speaker
Most ESL cover letters fail two ways — stiff and translated, or forced-casual. Here's the structure and phrasing that gets past the first ten seconds.
Remote & Meetings · Jul 2026 · 5 min read
How to Write Emails When Your Reader Won't See Them for Hours
Vague phrases like "end of day" and "no rush" break down across time zones. Here's how to write async messages that still make sense hours later, with example phrasing.
Remote & Meetings · Jul 2026 · 5 min read
Small Talk Before Video Calls: What to Actually Say
The two minutes before a video call starts are the hardest part for non-native speakers: too little to say, or way too much prepared. Here's what actually works.
Remote & Meetings · Jul 2026 · 5 min read
How to Write a Meeting Recap Email People Actually Read
Most meeting recaps read like a transcript — first we talked about X, then Y. Here's how to structure one so people actually find the decisions and act on them.
Remote & Meetings · Jul 2026 · 6 min read
Why Your Slack Messages Read as Either Too Stiff or Too Casual
Slack has its own grammar of formality — full sentences, fragments, emoji, threads — and it has nothing to do with how correct your English is.
Difficult Conversations · Jul 2026 · 5 min read
Common Word-Choice Mistakes Non-Native Speakers Make at Work
Grammar-perfect sentences can still sound off at work. Here are the specific words and phrases that give you away as translating — and exactly what to say instead.
Difficult Conversations · Jul 2026 · 6 min read
How to Ask for a Raise in English (Without Over-Apologizing)
A four-part structure (context, ask, evidence, next step) and a full example script for asking for a raise or promotion in English — plus the two habits that quietly undercut non-native speakers.
Difficult Conversations · Jun 2026 · 5 min read
How to Disagree With Your Manager in English, Professionally
A practical guide to pushing back on a manager's plan in English — direct enough to register, warm enough to keep the relationship, plus a full example exchange.
Difficult Conversations · Jun 2026 · 6 min read
How to Push Back on a Deadline Without Sounding Like an Excuse
A four-line structure for telling a manager or client a deadline is slipping — specific enough to read as managed, brief enough to not sound like an excuse.
Tone & Register · Jun 2026 · 5 min read
I Would Like vs. I Want: The Register Trap at Work
Neither "I want" nor "I would like" is inherently more polite. Here's how to pick between them by channel, audience, and who holds the power.
Tone & Register · Jun 2026 · 5 min read
English Words That Sound Rude But Aren't
Non-native writers over-soften "I disagree," "no," "actually," and direct questions — words that read as perfectly normal, even competent, in English business writing.
Tone & Register · Jun 2026 · 5 min read
How to Say No in English Without Sounding Rude
Declining a request in English fails two ways depending on your first language: too soft and it reads as a yes, too direct and it reads as cold. Here's the three-part structure that fixes both, with real before/after sentences.
Tone & Register · Jun 2026 · 5 min read
12 Phrases That Sound Translated, Not Wrong
Twelve phrases that pass every grammar check but instantly read as translated, plus the natural alternative a native speaker would actually write in each case.
Email Writing · Jun 2026 · 5 min read
How to Write an Out-of-Office Message in English
The out-of-office message so many non-native English speakers get wrong: too many apologies, or none at all. Three templates that hit the right register.
Email Writing · Jun 2026 · 5 min read
Cc, Bcc, and Reply-All: The Rules Nobody Explains
English business email treats Cc as a narrow "need to know" list, not a courtesy copy or a cover-yourself move — here's how that changes Reply-All, dropped Cc's, and the bcc trick that backfires.
Email Writing · Jun 2026 · 5 min read
Email Subject Lines That Get Opened, Not Ignored
Non-native writers tend to either cram the whole email into the subject line or leave it blank ("Question"). Here's how to front-load the ask instead — with real before/after rewrites.
Email Writing · Jun 2026 · 5 min read
The LinkedIn Note That Doesn't Sound Like a Template
The default "I would like to add you to my professional network" reads as translated and stiff. Here's what to write instead in four real scenarios, with exact sentences.
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