One thing buyers like to see is that providers have a good knowledge of whichever language the buyer requires for communication and/or the project at hand. If the provider doesn’t know the necessary language well enough, then the project’s details will be misunderstood.
Most of the time, the language they want is English, and for native English speakers, that works out well. However, I’ve run across buyers who do not understand exactly (or even close to) what I’m saying when I’m speaking in what I consider to be normal styles. That presents an equal disadvantage when trying to state my case for getting a job or doing the work.
The reason they had difficulties understanding me is because I used vocabulary and mannerisms that I take for granted. A lot of times, a foreign speaker will not understand the delicate intricacies of a metaphor such as “I’ll write that web-copy over yonder so people come runnin’ like a stuck hog on a moonlit night dressed to the T” unless they’re from Arkansas like I am. Most of the time, natives of my area don’t even know what we’re talking about, so you should pay attention to the words you use as well as the cliches and phrases.
When applying for a job, consider the job details from a language perspective. Did the buyer write the job ad in broken English? If so, while taking into account the location and native language of your buyer, you should be careful to not make giant, 200-word compound-complex sentences that would be impressive to your high-school teachers but generally unintelligible to the rest of the population of Earth, and you should try, best as you’re able, to keep it as simple as possible without being insulting so that you have a better chance of communicating with your buyer.
The point is: keep to the point. There is no reason to go overboard and show off how many commas you can fit into a sentence to impress someone; you will just confuse the buyer and waste your time.
Another useful trick I’ve found is to learn a little about the buyer and their culture/language. If you can do something as simple as learning how to say “Hello” in their native language, then it means a lot. At least you’re giving an effort to communicate with them instead of putting the burden all upon them.
Try to come to mutual terms for communication–it humanizes you, forms a better personal and professional relationship, and it makes you look like less of a monoglot tool.
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Important point here Nelson, and it goes back to something we’ve all been talking about. Provide the client with what they want and need. Part of that has to come in the form of communications about the job that they can follow.