English for IT: What Developers Need to Know

In IT, English is your second programming language. Without it, you're cut off from 80% of useful information: documentation, articles, libraries, StackOverflow answers.

What level you actually need

For a junior developer, B1 is enough — everyday conversation level. The key is being able to read documentation and understand code comments. You can learn to speak later as you grow.

50 essential terms

Basic: bug, feature, commit, merge, branch, repository, pull request, deploy, release, build, framework, library, dependency.

Architecture: frontend, backend, fullstack, API, endpoint, database, cache, server, client, request, response, authentication, authorization.

Process: sprint, standup, retrospective, backlog, kanban, agile, scrum, deadline, milestone, scope.

Actions: implement, refactor, optimize, debug, deploy, test, review, ship, fix, patch.

How to read documentation

Documentation is technical English, usually simple. Common constructions:

• "Returns the value of..."
• "Throws an error if..."
• "Deprecated since version..."
• "See also:"
• "Note that..."

IT abbreviations

• TBD — to be determined
• WIP — work in progress
• PR — pull request
• MR — merge request
• LGTM — looks good to me
• TIL — today I learned
• FYI — for your information
• ASAP — as soon as possible

StackOverflow and GitHub Issues

Conversational English rules here. Useful phrases:

• "This doesn't work for me"
• "I'm getting an error..."
• "Any ideas?"
• "Worked like a charm!"
• "Can confirm"

Standups and meetings

If you work in an international team, standard standup:

1. Yesterday I worked on...
2. Today I'm going to...
3. I'm blocked by...

How to learn

Real method: read English blogs on your topic (Medium, Dev.to). Translate every unknown word with our site — gradually there will be fewer. In six months you'll read without translation.