Nz Business English

What Is Nz Business English?

Nz Business English is a Claude Code skill designed to assist developers and writers in producing professional communications in New Zealand business English. Tailored for use in emails, chat messages, proposals, and other business documents, this skill ensures that the writing style is warm, inclusive, and aligned with EN-NZ spelling conventions. It is particularly useful for organisations serving New Zealand’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, where the tone must be professional but approachable, and language must reflect contemporary Kiwi business culture.

The skill automates the process of converting generic or international English into a distinctly New Zealand business register. It also provides editing and tone-checking capabilities, enabling teams to produce consistent and culturally competent communications. The skill is available as part of the Claude Code plugin ecosystem, integrating easily into automated writing workflows.

Why Use Nz Business English?

For businesses operating in or with New Zealand, effective communication is more than correct spelling—it is about context, tone, and cultural nuance. Standard spell-checkers and generic English models often default to American or British conventions, which can make business documents feel impersonal, inauthentic, or even misleading to a New Zealand audience.

Using Nz Business English helps teams:

• Reflect local conventions: Adhere to EN-NZ spelling, vocabulary, and sentence structure.
• Project the right tone: Strike a balance between professionalism and the approachable, collaborative style expected in New Zealand business circles.
• Increase inclusivity: Leverage warm and inclusive language, with the option of gently incorporating Te Reo Māori terms where appropriate.
• Reduce friction: Avoid common pitfalls such as US spellings (“color,” “organize”) and overly formal or corporate-speak that can alienate Kiwi audiences.

This skill is particularly valuable for distributed teams, content automation pipelines, and any organisation seeking to maintain brand consistency across communications.

How to Get Started

Nz Business English can be integrated into your Claude Code environment by installing it from the official repository. The skill is open source and maintained on GitHub at jezweb/claude-skills.

Installation Example (Claude Code YAML):

skills:
  - nz-business-english

Basic Usage: To rewrite or check a business communication for NZ English, use the skill in your workflow:

from claude import Claude

claude = Claude(skills=['nz-business-english'])
nz_text = claude.draft(
    text="Please organize the center's color scheme before traveling.",
    style='nz-business-english'
)
print(nz_text)

Output:

Please organise the centre's colour scheme before travelling.

This simple example demonstrates how the skill automatically applies EN-NZ spelling conventions. For more advanced usage, the skill can be incorporated into batch editing scripts or CI pipelines for document standardisation.

Key Features

• EN-NZ Spelling and Grammar: Automatically converts US/UK/AU spellings to NZ standards, including common noun/verb splits (e.g., “licence” vs “license”).
• Business-Appropriate Tone: Ensures communications are warm, inclusive, and professional—avoiding both excessive formality and casualness.
• Te Reo Māori Sensitivity: Recognises and appropriately integrates common Te Reo Māori words without overuse or tokenism.
• Batch Processing: Supports checking or rewriting multiple documents or message threads in a single workflow.
• Editing and Tone-Checking: Flags or corrects language that is inconsistent with NZ business norms.
• CLI and API Support: Operates seamlessly in both interactive and automated environments.

Advanced Example (Batch Editing):

messages = [
    "We recognize your effort and appreciate your support.",
    "Please check the license before practice.",
    "The theater's color palette needs to be finalized."
]
nz_messages = [claude.draft(text=msg, style='nz-business-english') for msg in messages]
for msg in nz_messages:
    print(msg)

Output:

We recognise your effort and appreciate your support.
Please check the licence before practice.
The theatre's colour palette needs to be finalised.

Best Practices

• Use for all external communications: Apply the skill to emails, proposals, and client reports to ensure consistency.
• Combine with style guides: Integrate with your in-house style guide or document templates for maximum alignment.
• Review for context: While the skill handles spelling and tone, always review communications for contextual appropriateness, especially when including Māori terms.
• Automate in workflows: Leverage the CLI or API capabilities to automate checks in your document management or CI/CD pipelines.
• Stay updated: Monitor updates to the skill for changes in NZ business language trends or spelling conventions.

Important Notes

• Not a replacement for human review: While Nz Business English automates many aspects of localisation, it should complement—not replace—editorial review, particularly for sensitive communications.
• Focuses on SME context: The skill is tuned for the language commonly used by New Zealand SMEs. For highly formal legal or technical documents, further customisation may be required.
• Handles most but not all vocabulary: While major spelling and tone issues are addressed, edge cases or highly specialised terminology may need manual adjustment.
• Respect for Te Reo Māori: The skill aims for authentic incorporation of Te Reo Māori without tokenism. Users should remain mindful and respectful when referencing Māori language or culture in business writing.
• Open source and extensible: As an open-source skill, it can be forked and tailored to meet specific organisational requirements.

By adopting the Nz Business English skill, organisations can ensure their communications resonate authentically with New Zealand audiences, strengthening business relationships and enhancing professional credibility.