@alex_p_roe

I guess so - the French habitually say numbers in tens+units pairs, eg. when telling you their phone number.

Over the 30 years or so I worked internationally, mainly in Europe, a clear phenomenon arose out of the use of English as a lingua franca. We called it 'Eurospeak', and in certain circumstances, such as writing EU transnational funding applications in English, it came to be seen as better for non-native speakers to do the final edit, so they could ensure the right emphasis was on the key Eurospeak terms and usages Brussels would be looking out for, rather than quaint outdated native English expressions.

@GeofCox Yes, I feel the Eurospeak or Globish (global English) approach may be better nowadays. The people I teach English to tend to interact with other non-native speakers more than with native speakers. As you noted, English is used as a lingua franca - actually, being in Italy, when I come across someone who does not know English, Italian is my lingua franca - and the way I use Italian is influenced by my native tongue. I shall correct with a caveat!

@GeofCox Ah, the joys of phrasal verbs and literal translation! Non native speakers detest them, understandably and avoid using them. I teach commonly used phrasal verbs and then there’s really idiomatic English! I pity those trying to get to grips with English and find it odd it’s become a lingua Franca.