Module 4

Language, writing and interpreters: being understood in a second language

English has become the working language of much international legal practice, and most of the people who use it in that work are not native speakers. For them it is a second, third or fourth language, learned at school or at work, and used with great skill and, at times, with strain. A message that a native reader finds clear may be impenetrable to a reader who has not met ‘touch base’, ‘circle back’ or ‘low-hanging fruit’. A date written 03/04/2026 may mean two different days. A paragraph of a single long sentence may be unreadable. Where a language other than English is needed, lawyers rely on interpreters and translators, and increasingly on machine tools that are fast and convenient and can change a meaning or leak a confidence. This module teaches how to write and speak so that you are understood, how to brief an interpreter, how to use translators and what to do and not do with machine translation. The International Email Checker in the labs finds common traps in a draft. See also Legal English for Foreign Lawyers, which helps non-native lawyers with the language.

General education on communicating across cultures, using invented people, companies and places. It is not legal advice and does not describe any nation or group as a whole. Rules on bribery, privilege, confidentiality, data protection and professional conduct differ between countries and change: check the rules that apply to you.