Emma Stubbs Pearson Senior Vice President

Emma Stubbs joined Pearson in 2008 from the British Council, where she was a global IELTS manager for four years. Stubbs spent six years in China at the British Council, developing the presence of IELTS in the Chinese market.

Here are some of her advice for a businessperson on how to improve English skills.

- The biggest barrier in learning a language is confidence.

We all suffer from fear of making mistakes.

Native speakers make mistakes.

It’s normal. It’s not necessarily about accuracy.

It’s about communication.

- Start with putting yourself in a safer environment to practice. That might be talking to people you don’t know.

- Try to find high-quality English language newspapers and read them.

- Make most out of the latest technology. You can find English language materials online including podcasts and videos. You can practice listening even in 10 minutes to a meeting. Listen to a story for 10 minutes and try to summarize it as though you are telling it to your friends.