Stop saying "Sorry"
Why do you apologise for your English?
Hello!
Do you ever say things like “I’m sorry about my English” or “My English is bad” or “Sorry about my mistakes. I’m a beginner”?
I’ve heard learners say these things in my lessons and I’ve seen lots of comments like this on social media.
I’ve even done it myself. When I lived in Poland, I often apologised for my Polish. I’m the same when I go to another country on holiday.
So why do we say sorry?
Sometimes we simply apologise automatically. It’s just a habit or it’s to be polite. I don’t know about your country but British people do that a lot! This might be OK in social situations and I’m not too worried about it. Just keep your apology light and relaxed.
There is one thing to think about though. When you say “Sorry” you can actually make the other person feel uncomfortable. They will feel obliged to say, “Oh, don’t worry. Your English is great” or something like that. And if they don’t understand you, they won’t say anything because they don’t want to make you feel bad. Wouldn’t you prefer them to be honest? The whole thing can be a bit awkward.
What worries me more is when people are genuinely ashamed of their English. They feel embarrassed when they speak and they feel bad when they make mistakes. I don’t want anybody to feel like this!
Is this you? Do you feel ashamed of your English? Why?! It’s not your fault that English is not your first language. That’s just about where you were born!
And if you can speak more than one language, even if it’s not perfect, that’s something you should be proud of, not ashamed!
What about at work? There are some work situations where it’s important for you to sound confident to give a good impression, right? If you apologise about your English, you can sound like you’re not confident.
Instead say, “English isn’t my first language so let me know if you don’t understand anything.” Or perhaps you don’t need to say anything about your English at all!
What about when a friend, colleague or teacher corrects a mistake you made? Are they doing that to shame you or are they trying to help you? Most likely, they want to help you, right? So what’s a suitable response?
Some of my students apologise when I correct their mistakes. They feel bad about their mistake and say “sorry” and then I feel bad because I made them feel bad! This is a crazy situation!
Other learners say “thank you” when I correct a mistake. This is much healthier. They are happy because they’ve learnt something and they understand that mistakes are nothing to be embarrassed about. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn and improve.
A few weeks ago, I gave you some tips on how to sound more confident when you speak. Today’s tip is to stop apologising for your English. You can read all these tips and more in my latest blog post here:
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
Katie
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Good luck teacher. Thank you