Hi! Do you think people who have "bad English" should apologize for it? I mean I have seen in this forum people talking just OK and at the end they add this sentence: "Sorry for my bad English! It's not my first language." I don't mean to be sarcastic or anything. It's just that English isn't my first language either and of course I know that I'm not as proficient as native speakers so I was wondering am I rude for not apologizing?
It can be due to various reasons: false modesty, acute self-consciousness, preemptive defence against grammar nazis or a genuine butchery of the language. Do you need to follow the trend? Your choice. Would you be rude for not going with it? Absolutely not, even if your English makes heads reel and eyes bleed. P.S. But you ought to ask pardon for your French if you ever feel the need of using it.
You're not rude at all for omitting an apology. Another way to look at it is that using a new & unfamiliar language may be intimidating, because the learner still feels awkward. The apology may help the person be less tense. It also might be an effective talisman against the grammar Stasi, though their numbers seem to be dwindling as time goes on. Just try to not forget the 'l' in the word public .
No you shouldn’t need to apologise. It’s not your first language and you’ve done the best you can. Some people have terrible English despite it being their first language. They’re the ones that need to apologise. In the context you’ve mentioned I think it might be that people are trying to get their views across or maybe asking for help with a novel name and they add an apology because they’re not able to explain it clearly due to their poor English~
It is mainly used as a deterrence against a so called grammar-nazi-infestation. Some people who have otherwise nothing to contribute to a forum post tend to post a list of all the spelling errors the OP has made. While some do so in an friendly attempt to help the OP correct their mistakes, others sadly prefer to use the "Ur gramma bat U shuld fiel bat" approach. Therefore apologizing for your bad English is used as a way to say "STFU about the grammar/vocabulary of my message and focus on the content" politely.
Not really rude. I agree with the commenter above. I just use it as a phrase of courtesy or a request of patience with how I am doing with expressing myself regarding a certain matter. Spoiler I used to not do this at all but after being attacked due to my low proficiency in English (which now that I think of it might have been a deliberate misdirection of a conversation), it really made me very self-conscious.
@Esha07 i always bully @Purple1029 for her bad English cause she stupid and used the wrong term and ruined the meaning of what she meant to be saying lol
Don't worry about your bad English. There are lots of native speakers that butcher it worse than you do. Rule of thumb: apologize only if you really feel like it.
I hear it all the time too. We are our worst critics. We see flaws no one even cares about, but it’s that 1%. That drives us to be cautious. I’m from Hawaii. We’re a mix of many cultures, languages and etc. You just have to grow up with that influences. Bad English is normal, but shouldn’t be encouraged. Life’s is what it is and all we can do is the best that we can do. With that being said there’s no reason you can’t cover your butt along the way thou. Lol
If you're not sure whether the message you wanted to deliver was actually delivered, it's just safer to warn people to use their own discretion and connect the dots if needed. That way others are less likely to take any errors in communication at face value, and will hopefully try to make out what the person intends to say instead. So while it doesn't matter if you apologise or not, some people might prefer the sense of security the apology brings with it.
It's not necessary. You can do it, if you really want to, but you really don't have to. Like many have said, there are many native speakers that don't speak their own language all that well. This is not just a thing in the US, it happens in all countries and all languages. Spanish is my mother tongue, but I'm pretty sure my Spanish isn't perfect. I don't use it much in my daily life and I don't write books, poems or any literary things in Spanish. I haven't read a book in Spanish in like 8 years... imo, unless your work requires you to have superb grammar, many people will butcher the language to a degree. We all make mistakes and have brain farts from time to time. Some are already thinking about their second sentence, before even finishing up their first one and get both sentences mixed up. Most people don't care about it, and as long as what you say is understandable, everything is fine. Some things are a bit annoying (really bad grammar and so on), but you can easily ignore those in daily conversation. In literature though, or in anything that requires a lot of reading, it does become annoying after a while. But even then, you get used to it. And your English is already really good (and I really mean it.) We are really our own worst critics. Someone might not realize you made a mistake while talking/writing, but you probably will and you will be bothered by it (at least that's how I am.)
Hmm...if you think that you have room to make a real apology, that means you have room for improvement. Don't apologize but keep up the good work. If it's an apology as lip-service, don't even bother. You're not going to get better and it's just going to give your listener some kind of undeserved mental superiority. Unless you're aiming to sucker someone by eliciting some form of sympathy from your "hardships". Although that'd just be mean.