 There are two phrases. I hear many students say my English is terrible and Sorry for my bad English Be careful because these phrases are dangerous to your English learning Why? Because if you constantly describe your English as bad or terrible you will eventually begin to believe that this is true The result is that you'll have less confidence in your English slower progress and you might even give up completely The people who are most successful in achieving goals are those who believe they can do it Even if your English isn't perfect. Tell yourself. I am an English speaker I'm learning to be fluent and I'm making good progress So how can you say that you're an English learner without using words like bad or terrible? Here are some phrases Don't say my English is terrible Instead say I'm working on improving my English The focus of this sentence is positive with the word improving and it shows that you are actively working on making your English better Don't say sorry for my bad English Instead say English isn't my first language. So please excuse any mistakes this sentence expresses the fact that you're not a native speaker and requests patience and understanding without using the negative word bad to describe your English If you're talking to someone don't say I don't understand Instead say could you repeat that please or could you rephrase that please? Asking someone to repeat means you want them to say it again with the same words Asking someone to rephrase means you want them to say it again with different words You can also say could you speak a little slower so that I can understand you better Again, the focus of the sentence is positive Understand you better not negative with the word don't If you say something and the other person looks confused don't worry Maybe they didn't hear you or they weren't paying attention Also, maybe they're just not yet accustomed to your accent To check understanding say does that make sense? If the other person says no then say let me try again or Let me clarify and then repeat your sentence You can try saying it again using the same words saying it again using different words and Speaking with more careful pronunciation Here's an extra tip Keep an English success journal There's so much to learn that most people focus on their difficulties and all the things they don't know yet However, you can change your perspective and learn to think more positively with this exercise Every time you make progress or have some small victory in English Write it down in a notebook or in a document on your computer or cell phone For example today. I learned three new words Today I practiced listening Today I understood how to use the present perfect Today I understood some of the phrases in a song or movie Today I successfully made a phone call in English The things can be big or small the important part is that they show progress and improvement When you're feeling depressed about your English or when you don't have much motivation Read your success journal to see all the wonderful progress you've made It will increase your confidence and encourage you to keep going Thanks for watching English tips from espresso English if you liked this video, please share it