are you a non-native english speaker
do you struggle to speak in english
or at times are you a little embarrassed
speaking in english
well you don't have to worry because we
have some survival english phrases for
you
[Music]
hi friends thanks for clicking i am
niharika and in today's lesson we have
some survival english phrases and some
tips for non-native speakers
so are you planning a trip to an english
speaking country
or do you deal with a lot of english
speakers especially native english
speakers
and if you or your english is not that
great then what do you do about it
well in today's lesson we will help you
with some phrases that you can use
now here there are a set of four phrases
that you can use
but the ones in the black are the
phrases that people usually use and i
want you to stop using them
so let's get started the very first
phrase that i commonly come across
people say
is my english is terrible
it's okay
well your english is not very good but
i'm sure your other languages are great
which probably we can't speak
so you don't have to feel
so bad about it you don't have to
literally explain that ugh my english is
terrible or my english is awful
a better expression that you can use is
i'm working on improving my english
now when you end up saying my english is
terrible or my english is just awful it
gives a very negative impact to your
statement if you keep saying that i am
sure
that one day you will just give up or
you'll start believing that yes my
english is bad
so
please stop using this if you are doing
so
don't use it furthermore you are gonna
use this statement instead which is
i am working on improving my english
okay so this is for the english learners
if you use this then then don't do it
use this okay
the next one
sorry for my bad english
hey it's all right you don't have to be
so apologetic about not knowing english
like i said there are other languages
that you speak and probably we can't
so here when you know people end up
saying especially english learners when
they speak to
native speakers they say sorry for my
bad english
okay don't be apologetic you don't have
to say sorry you don't have to apologize
a better positive statement that you can
use
is
english isn't my first language
so please excuse any mistakes
now here when you are making this point
in front of an english native speaker
it shows that yes english is not your
first language okay so you are gonna
struggle or you are gonna make mistakes
while speaking in english
so indirectly you're asking that person
to be patient and understanding
and people will do so it's okay if you
don't know english it's okay if you're
not very good at it
once you use this statement people will
always give you a very positive response
so rather than apologizing by saying
sorry for my bad english
don't do that
use this statement that english isn't my
first language so please excuse any
mistakes all right
let's move on to the third statement
which is
i don't understand what
now when you speak to a native english
speaker
you are not accustomed to their accent
you don't know what they are saying and
probably you think that they are
speaking too fast and that's why you are
not able to understand them so while
they are saying something while they are
talking
and if you fail to understand them
you are not gonna say
i don't understand what
that's gonna be rude that's not a good
way of saying this to someone
that person will not appreciate so
instead of saying i don't understand
what are you saying
you would say could you repeat that
please
so in a very courteous tone you will say
could you repeat that please
okay so that will definitely make that
person repeat whatever he or she just
said
there's another statement that you can
use either you can say could you repeat
that please but you can also say that
could you speak a little slower so that
i understand better
so again when you say that could you
speak a little slower
so that i understand you better is a
very positive way of asking someone to
repeat themselves
right
so if you are using this what oh i don't
understand you
don't do it use this phrase instead okay
and now let's move on to the fourth one
do you understand
okay now again when you go to an
english-speaking country or if you are
having a conversation with an english
native speaker
that person is probably not accustomed
to your accent so he or she fails to
understand what you are trying to say
now if you think that he has this
puzzled look on his face he's confused
he's like trying to catch every word
that you're trying to say
it's all right you're not gonna say do
you understand okay even if you say it
in a very polite tone do you understand
it would still come out in a very rude
way
so instead of saying do you understand
you are gonna say that let me repeat
that for you
now here either you can say let me
repeat that for you or let me clarify it
for you
both these phrases can be used when you
think that the opposite person is not
able to understand you
now again since your english is not very
good and you're trying to explain things
in english
make sure that you speak very slowly
okay don't go too fast because you are
trying to use the limited vocabulary
that you have
so go slow and if you think that the
person is not understanding you then you
would say let me repeat that for you or
let me clarify okay that's the way you
will try to build a conversation with
that person okay
so the four statements or the four
phrases that i need you to stop using
are
my english is terrible
sorry for my bad english stop
apologizing
i don't understand what
do you understand
okay stop using these phrases
and instead of using these phrases
try the phrases written in the red which
are i'm working on improving my english
english is in my first language so
please excuse any mistakes
could you repeat that please
and then the last one is let me repeat
that for you or let me clarify
okay
so start using them trust me people will
understand you better and people would
like to build a conversation with you
even if your english is not that great
okay so please follow these tips and i
will be back with a new lesson soon till
then you take care and have a great day