Business Analyst
Business analysts bridge the gap between business needs and technical solutions. This path covers the English for requirements workshops, writing clear user stories and use cases, facilitating stakeholder interviews, and producing documentation that both engineers and executives can act on.
Topics covered
- Requirements elicitation
- User stories & use cases
- BDD & acceptance criteria
- Stakeholder interviews
- Gap analysis
- Process documentation
Vocabulary spotlight
4 terms every Business Analyst should know in English:
The process of drawing out requirements from stakeholders through interviews, workshops, and observation
"During requirements elicitation, we discovered two user groups with conflicting needs."
The current state (as-is) and desired future state (to-be) of a process or system
"The as-is process takes 3 days manually; the to-be system automates it in seconds."
A prioritisation framework: Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have
"We ran a MoSCoW workshop and cut 40% of the backlog from must-have to won't-have."
A specific, testable condition that a feature must meet to be accepted by the stakeholder
"The acceptance criterion is: the user receives a confirmation email within 30 seconds."
📚 Vocabulary Reference
Key terms organised by category for Business Analysts:
Requirements
Elicitation Techniques
Analysis
Documentation
Recommended exercises
Real-world scenarios you'll practise
- Running a stakeholder workshop to gather conflicting requirements
- Writing an acceptance criterion that both developers and testers can act on
- Presenting a gap analysis to senior management
- Challenging scope creep diplomatically with a business owner
🎯 Interview questions specific to this role
Practise answering these questions out loud — or in writing. Each question targets a real interviewer concern for Business Analysts.
- How do you handle conflicting requirements from different stakeholders?
- What is the difference between a use case and a user story?
- Walk me through how you would conduct a requirements workshop.
- How do you ensure your requirements are testable?
- How do you manage scope creep during a project?
Recommended reading
Frequently Asked Questions
What English skills do Business Analysts most need to improve?+
Business Analysts most commonly need to improve: technical vocabulary (the correct English terms for domain concepts), collocation accuracy (using the right verb for each action), written communication (bug reports, PR descriptions, technical docs), and spoken communication for standups, code reviews, and stakeholder meetings.
How long does the Business Analyst learning path take?+
The Business Analyst learning path contains 20–40 hours of material studied comprehensively. Most learners focus on the highest-priority modules first and return to the rest over time. Spending 30 minutes per day for 4–6 weeks produces noticeable improvement in workplace English.
What vocabulary should a Business Analyst prioritise first?+
Start with the vocabulary that appears most in your daily work — terms you read in documentation, use in commit messages, and hear in meetings. The Business Analyst path begins with the most frequent vocabulary clusters before moving to advanced communication patterns.
Are there interview exercises for Business Analyst roles?+
Yes. The Business Analyst path includes role-specific interview question modules with model answers and key phrases — the actual questions interviewers ask and the vocabulary needed to answer them fluently. There is also a dedicated Interview Practice hub for general interview skills.
Does this path include pronunciation help?+
Yes. The path links to pronunciation exercises for the technical terms most commonly mispronounced in this domain. The Pronunciation hub includes drills for acronyms, silent letters, word stress, and minimal pairs — all in IT context.
What are the most common English mistakes Business Analysts make?+
The most common mistakes: incorrect collocations (using the wrong verb with a technical noun), false friends from L1, tense errors when narrating past incidents or walkthroughs, and using overly formal or overly casual register in written communication.
How do I improve my English for code reviews?+
Learn the standard code review collocations: approve a PR, request changes, leave a nit, address feedback, block a merge, resolve a conversation. Use hedging language for suggestions: "This might be cleaner as…", "Have you considered…?". The Collocations section includes a dedicated Code Review set.
Can I use this path alongside my daily work?+
Yes — the path is designed for working professionals. Each exercise set takes 10–15 minutes. The most effective approach is to study a vocabulary module before a meeting or task where you'll use that vocabulary, then practise immediately after. Context-linked practice produces much faster retention.
Is the content free?+
Yes, completely free. No registration required, no payment, no time limit. All vocabulary modules, exercises, glossary entries, and learning path guides are open access.
How do I track my progress through this path?+
Progress is tracked in your browser's local storage — completed exercise sets are marked with a checkmark when you return. No account is needed. You can bookmark specific modules and use the exercises overview to see which sets you've completed.