Study English for Finance

English for finance and banking is one of the fastest growing sectors of English learning. When dealing with money, companies and organisations expect you to have a solid foundation in communicating in English. If you are interested in pursuing a career in fields such as accounting or finance and come from a non-English speaking country, your knowledge of English will help you stand out among the rest of the candidates.

By far the most important way to prove your English skills in finance is to register and take the International Certificate in Financial English, or ICFE, offered by University of Cambridge's ESOL Examinations. The test has four sections:

• Reading (1 hour and 15 minutes)
• Writing (1 hour and 15 minutes)
• Listening (about 40 minutes)
• Speaking (16 minutes) [1]

The examination is aligned with Common European Framework (CEF), the body charged with providing a framework for the mutual recognition of language qualifications. The test is set at levels B2-C1. You can expect financial and accounting firms to look highly upon those passing the ICFE exam. [2] [3]

Before taking an examination in the specific topic of English for finance, banking, and accounting, one must already be proficient. You may have already have had year or English training but English City, the virtual city for learning English online provided by Languagelab.com, is the perfect place to refresh your confidence in speaking English before taking the ICFE or an ICFE related course such as Cambridge Financial English.

If you are not yet an advanced English speaker, you should postpone taking the exam until you reach that level. If you are unsure what level you are, take our free English level test to find out.