最近看到很多新人對于自己成單狀況不理想的原因做了剖析，將出不了單歸咎于英語差。而事實真的是這樣的么？誠然，英語在外貿(mào)中的作用不言而喻，但是英語并非核心，它只是一個載體，或是說一個工具。身邊有許多人靠著蹩腳的英語做出了相當好的業(yè)績。
Recently, lots of initiates analyze on the reasons why they can’t close orders and blame their poor English. Is that so? Indeed, the fact that English is of great importance in foreign trade is self-evident while it’s not the core of foreign trade but a carrier or an instrument. There are still many people who achieve great results with their poor English.
舉個簡單的例子，我們要砍一棵相當粗的樹，我可以用電鋸，幾分鐘搞定；還可以用兩個人拉的大鋸，個把小時也可以搞定；還可以用小鋼鋸，估計一兩天也差不多；什么鋸都沒有，水果刀慢慢摳。
Take a simple example that we are going to cut a big tree. It takes me a few minutes if I utilize electric saw. We can finish it within a couple of hours if we use hacksaw. We can also spend one or two days using small saw to cut the tree. Without any saws, we can just use our fruit knife.
只要堅持，目的總能達到，只是快慢，不是能否。
We can eventually achieve our goals as long as we stick to them despite of time efficiency.
你也許會認為，這效率也太低了。然而這只是個比喻，現(xiàn)實中差距并沒有那么大，關(guān)鍵是你愿不愿意去付出時間去努力。
Perhaps, you consider it as a method with low efficiency. However, it’s just a metaphor and there is a small gap in reality and it depends on whether you are willing to devote your time on that.
英語，無非兩個內(nèi)容：郵件和口語溝通。
Speaking of English, we mainly refer to emails and oral communication with foreigners.
?量力而為。既然你英語差，就不要指望辭藻有多華麗，用很多的從句，就寫短句，表達得越清楚越好。
Do your utmost. Since your English is not good, then don’t you expect that you can speak or write outstanding English such as plenty of subordinate clauses. Just stick to using short sentences and do your best to make yourself clear.
舉一個例子：我出生在中國，一個人口有13億的國家。 I was born in China, which has a population of 1.3 billion. 如果是考試，這句話絕對要比 I was born in China, and in China, there is a population of 1.3 billion 分數(shù)高！
Let me take a example: The sentence “I was born in China, which has a population of 1.3 billion” is much better than the sentence “I was born in China, and in China, there is a population of 1.3 billion” in the test!
然而外貿(mào)業(yè)務(wù)不是考試，沒有人給你評分，你要做的就是通過最簡單的語言，表達清楚你要傳達的意思。
Nevertheless, foreign trade is not just an examination. Besides, no one gives a mark to you. What you are up to is to convey the needed information clearly with simple language.
所謂函電，真正起作用就是其承載的內(nèi)容，內(nèi)容越清楚，函電作用就越大。
For correspondence, it works with its contents. The clearer they are, the more helpful it will be.
?找一些范文，例句并背誦下來，接著應用到函電中，所謂照葫蘆畫瓢就是這個意思。
Find and recite some model essays or example sentences and then apply them to the correspondence which is considered as an imitation.
?打任何一個電話之前，腹稿也好，筆記也好，想明白你要說的內(nèi)容，哪怕你聽不懂對方說的，也不要糾結(jié)，而是把你要說的說完，然后給他個郵箱。
Before dialing, you are supposed to make mental notes or take down what you are going to say in writing. And even if you don’t understand them, just convey your intentions and give them an email address.
?不用畏懼自己說英語時表現(xiàn)差，有機會就說，抓住機會同時委婉要求對方說慢點。熟能生巧，自然會越來越流利。
Don’t be afraid that you have bad performance when speaking English. Grab opportunities to speak and require them to speak slowly. Practice makes perfect and then you English will be more and more fluent.
?說自己郵箱的時候，遇到對方聽不清楚的字母，用單詞來代替，例如d for dog， p for pig，這樣能確保對方不會搞錯你的郵箱。
When telling customers your email addresses, replace letters with words if they can’t get the right letter such as d for dog, p for pig.
?類似上述一條，我們可以先把要說的用中文寫出來，逐條翻譯，這樣能夠確保更有條理。
Similar to the above-mentioned reminder, we can write out what we are going to say in Chinese and have a detailed translation so that we can make sure it’s self-consistent.
?其實某些客戶的英語比你的還差，有什么好擔心？
Well, there is no need to worry since some customers speak English worse than you.
當然話說回來了，要想在外貿(mào)行業(yè)走得踏實，長久，英語必須要提高起來。一開始，你的確是個新人，不停地pardon無可厚非。但是待到你已經(jīng)從事外貿(mào)多年，還是這樣，就說不過去了。
Anyway, you have got to improve your English as long as you intend to have a steady and promising future in foreign trade. At the beginning, indeed you are an initiate and no one can blame you for your consecutive “Pardon”. But it doesn’t make sense if you are still the same after several years in foreign trade.
特別提示：
Special hint：
如果你的英語真的不好，而對于客戶反饋過來的信息，有著你掌握不全甚至誤解的可能性時，一定要謹慎，向同事或其他人求證，以避免進一步的謬誤。
Supposing that your English is terrible and you are likely to misunderstand customers’ feedback, be cautious and seek help from colleagues or others for fear of further mistakes.
