Frequently asked questions

Yes. Every guide, course, tool and workshop kit is free for every user. There are no paid tiers for core content, no ads and we never sell user data. Companies that want a custom, in-house workshop can pay for one, and that income helps keep the platform free.

DealDialect was created by Ayomide Adeyeye, a sociolinguist with an M.A. in English (Linguistics concentration) from North Carolina State University. Ayomide's research covers Nigerian English and Nigerian Pidgin. Every market guide is also reviewed by business practitioners who work in the market.

DealDialect was founded and is funded by Ayomide Adeyeye. Paid custom services, such as in-house workshops for individual companies, help cover costs, and partner organizations contribute venues and outreach. We may also seek grants. Whatever the funding, the content stays free and openly licensed, and funders do not decide what our guides say.

No. DealDialect is an independent project. It is not a government agency and is not tied to any employer. We work with public and nonprofit organizations that support exporters, but we do not speak for them.

Three reasons. First, trade is growing fast: U.S. goods exports to Nigeria were $6.8 billion in 2025, up 56.3% from 2024 (USTR). Second, English is Nigeria's official language, so U.S. firms often assume there is no communication gap, and the gap goes unnoticed. Third, Nigerian English and Nigerian Pidgin are our founder's research specialty, so we can start where our expertise is deepest.

Ghana is next, in phase 2. Kenya and South Africa are planned for phase 3. You can sign up on each market page to hear when a guide is ready.

No. Every tool works without an account. A free account lets you save your learning path, course progress, assessment results and templates. Sign-in uses a link sent to your email, so there is no password to remember.

Take the 5-minute readiness check. It shows where your gaps are and gives you a personal learning path.

You paste a message you plan to send to a partner, such as an email or a WhatsApp note. Message Check flags phrases that may not land well, explains why and suggests a better version. It is based on rules reviewed by people who do business in the market.

Use them as advice, not orders. Message Check gives general guidance. You know your partner, and an established relationship may call for a different tone. Use your judgment.

Yes. Pages are built to load quickly. Turn on Lite mode to hide decorative images. Quick cards can be printed or read offline once loaded.

Yes. The kits are licensed under CC BY 4.0, which allows any use, including commercial use, as long as you credit DealDialect and note any changes you made. We ask that you do not present the material as your own or suggest that DealDialect endorses your program. The kits themselves stay free for everyone.

Yes. Adapt them to your audience, add your logo or translate them. Keep the credit line: "From DealDialect (dealdialect.com) by Ayomide Adeyeye, licensed CC BY 4.0." If you translate a kit, we would be glad to hear about it.

No. The facilitator guide includes speaker notes, timings and the reasons behind each point. Most advisors can prepare in an afternoon.

Use the "Tell us you ran it" form on the For Counselors page. It takes about two minutes. Your session is added to our public counters after a quick review.

Yes. Course modules, simulator scenarios and the readiness check can all be used in your teaching under the same open license.

By default, we do not store the text of your message. To run the check, your message is sent securely to an AI model provider, which returns the suggestions. We keep only basic details, such as the market, message type, which rules were flagged and the date. Your text is stored only if you tick "Help improve DealDialect by sharing this message anonymously."

Please do not. Remove prices, account numbers and other sensitive details before you check a message. The tool works just as well without them.

Yes. If you have an account, use the "Delete my account and data" button on your dashboard. We remove your personal data within 30 days. If you do not have an account, send a request through the Contact page and choose "Privacy or data request."

No. We do not sell or share personal data, and we do not use advertising trackers. We collect only what we need to run the site and measure our impact. Read our privacy policy

Only if you agree. Follow-up surveys are sent only to people who tick the consent box, and you can stop them at any time.

We work hard to avoid it. Our guides describe common tendencies in business settings, not rules about individuals. We note regional and individual differences, explain the reason behind each norm and treat every market as a modern, sophisticated business environment. Every guide is reviewed by people who do business in that market. If something reads as a stereotype to you, please tell us.

Our guidance is based on research into real business communication and reviewed by at least two business practitioners in the market. It is still general guidance. People and companies vary, so use it as a starting point. Each guide shows the date of its last review, and we review every guide each year.

At the end of each guide chapter, answer "Did this match your experience?" and add a comment. You can also use the Contact page and choose "Report an error in our content." Please include the page link. Every report goes to our review queue.

No. DealDialect offers general communication guidance. It is not legal, tax or compliance advice. For contracts, payments, export controls or anti-corruption rules such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, consult qualified counsel.

We use the Kirkpatrick model, which looks at four levels: whether people found the training useful, whether they learned, whether they used it in real deals and whether it changed results. We collect this through short ratings, before-and-after tests and follow-up surveys at three and six months. We publish the results each year on our Impact page.