Improve your IT English with our English for technology lessons. Learn vocabulary and English for IT, technology and computers. We have lessons on project management skills, technical English and the world of tech.
Learning IT English is important for all tech professionals. Many companies work internationally, so technology workers often collaborate with people from different countries. Clear communication helps projects go smoothly and avoids misunderstandings. By improving your English for IT, you can explain complex ideas better, influence important conversations, and connect with colleagues around the world, making you a valuable part of your team.
Our IT English lessons are listed below with the newer lessons first.
Welcome back to Business English Pod for the first in a two-part lesson on English for project management and dealing with subcontractors. In this lesson we’re going to look at how to manage conflict with an external contractor.
Very few projects run perfectly smoothly. There are just too many variables involved to expect nothing to go wrong. One of the trickiest variables in any project is the people involved. And some of the trickiest people issues are conflicts with subcontractors or external vendors.
Conflict with subcontractors is almost inevitable. Different companies have different goals, priorities, and communication styles. Project managers who know how to handle tension early can prevent escalation and maintain a productive working relationship. And this can keep everyone focused on results instead of resentment.
Managing conflicts well requires a very tricky balance. You need to address issues and accountability head-on, while remaining diplomatic. You need to set expectations but steer away from too much blame. And it can be very helpful, as you do this, to reference documents to achieve clarity.
In today’s dialog, we’ll listen to a telephone conversation featuring a project manager named Celia at a software development company. Her company has outsourced the payment gateway module of a new banking app. Now she’s talking to Raj from the subcontractor about their first delivery, which doesn’t meet expectations.
Listening Questions
1. What are the problems that Celia introduces directly near the start of the dialog?
2. What document does Celia refer to in order to clarify their agreement?
3. At the end of the dialog, Celia sets some clear expectations. What’s the timeline she expects for the actions she mentions?
In this Business English News lesson on recent hiring trends, we look at business English vocabulary related to IT English and the DeepSeek AI chatbot.
A surprise development in artificial intelligence is making waves across the industry. DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab, has upended expectations, drawing global attention and raising new questions about the future of AI. With new players entering the field and established giants forced to respond, this moment could redefine how AI is built, funded, and controlled in the years ahead. The drama kicked off at the start of the year, as the Financial Times reports:
A small Chinese artificial intelligence lab stunned the world by revealing the technical recipe for its cutting-edge model. This has transformed its reclusive leader into a national hero who has defied US attempts to stop China’s high-tech ambitions. DeepSeek, founded by hedge fund manager Liang Wenfeng, released its R1 model, explaining in a detailed paper how to build a large language model on a bootstrapped budget.
Welcome back to Business English Pod for the second part of our series on English idioms related to technology.
Every day you use dozens of high-tech devices and apps to communicate, plan, organize, monitor and store information. It’s almost impossible to imagine the workplace before modern technology. It’s also almost impossible to imagine the English language without all the idioms we use related to technology.
If you want to be on the same wavelength as expert English speakers, you can’t ignore idioms. And I just used a prime example there. If you are “on the same wavelength,” it means you understand each other. This comes from radio technology, where you have to be tuned to the same frequency to receive a signal.
As you can see, an idiom has a special meaning that isn’t always clear. You can think about the words on their own, but that won’t help you. You need to learn idioms as chunks of language, with a special meaning beyond the individual words. In this way, you will be able to communicate even better in English.
In this lesson, we’ll rejoin a conversation at an engineering company between Maggie, Antonio, and Finn. They are continuing their conversation about upgrading the tech systems in their company. In their discussion, they use many idioms related to technology. See if you can spot some of these, and we’ll explain them later in the debrief.
Listening Questions
1. What does Antonio say about HR and their training plans?
2. Why didn’t the company move to PayWorks software a couple of years ago?
3. How does Antonio describe the new servers that are available?
The world of tech has given rise to a host of new vocabulary and terminology. Think about a phrase like “to reboot,” which originally referred to restarting a computer but is now commonly used to mean starting over in any context. Idioms like that highlight how mastering language goes beyond just grammar.
Indeed, many language learners spend a lot of time trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of a language. By that I mean the grammar, writing system, sounds, and basic vocabulary of a language. The thing is, once we’ve got the nuts and bolts, it can feel like our progress stalls. Getting to the next level requires you to move beyond basic vocabulary and master expressions like idioms.
For example, a second ago, I mentioned the “nuts and bolts” of language. Nuts and bolts are a way of connecting things made of metal. So why am I using those words when I talk about language? Because “nuts and bolts” is used as an idiom to refer to the basic parts or pieces of something. And with technology as such an important part of our lives, it’s no wonder we have so many English idioms related to technology.
In this lesson, we’ll listen to a conversation at an engineering company. The company is led by Maggie, Antonio, and Finn. They’re talking about how the growth in their company requires upgrades to all their tech systems. In their discussion, they use many idioms related to technology. See if you can spot some of these, and we’ll explain them later in the debrief.
Listening Questions
1. Near the start of the meeting, what does Finn say he wants to avoid doing?
2. What does Maggie worry might happen if they don’t improve or “level up” their tech systems?
3. What does Antonio say the company did with Zoom not long ago?
In this Business English News lesson on the resurgence of robots, we look at business English vocabulary related to robotics and technology.
While generative AI has been grabbing the headlines lately, the world of robotics has been developing at a rapid clip. The robot industry has been expanding exponentially, albeit mainly outside the spotlight of the mass media. And, as MSN explains, business is booming:
According to an announcement by the International Federation of Robotics, the stock of operational robots around the world has now reached 3.5 million units, and the value of installations has reached an estimated $16 billion. According to the Federation, robotics now plays a fundamental role in the changing demands of manufacturers around the world.
Of course, talk of robots will immediately call to mind automotive manufacturing, and car-makers were certainly one of the earliest adopters. But it’s not just the automotive industry anymore. Robots are being deployed on smaller scales, alongside humans, outside of assembly-line manufacturing. Robots have found applications throughout the economy, for companies big and small.
