好久沒寫英文的東西，昨天新聞中出現小英總統講中文結舌的尷尬場面。名嘴黃智賢出來糾正小英的英文也說得辭不達意。
http://www.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/new/20160526/871408/
小英這樣說：「I have problem of saying this in the Chinese language. I’m sorry.」
黃智賢沒聽到「saying this」 修正如下：「I have a problem speaking Chinese. 或是I have problems speaking Chinese.」
當一個總統說出「I have problems speaking Chinese」的確讓外賓難以想像這位總統到底有什麼語言障礙。
小英當場應該說：「I apologize for my spoken Chinese, a little tongue-tied for saying this.」
蔡英文總統接見美國商務部助理部長，「I’m sorry」有點情緒化地表達心裡的難過 (sorry = heartfelt apology)，不適合總統的高度。
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Sorry but I have different opinion. "Sorry but" is used very often to express your different opinion from others, so I think saying "Sorry" is acceptable. "Sorry" is jut nothing but only lip service ! On the contrary, "apologize" will mean a very serious situation. See how the Obama had said for his soldier's mis-conduct toward the Japanese girl. He will say "I'm "sorry" to hear about that", instead of "apologize".
As for his soldier's misconduct toward Japanese girls, yes, Obama need to use "sorry". But Tsai is our President ! Please note that Tsai had no misconduct. She did not have to say "sorry" on behalf of ROC. Any US Representative represents the US government. Tsai represents ROC. "I apologize" is appropriate instead of "I'm sorry" officially. 大體上，有冒犯別人，用sorry較好。其它可用apology。 "apologize" means a less serious situation.
Based on my limited knowledge, "apology" means that you admit your fault, and compensation could be legally asked after your apology, while "sorry" is just lip service like "Excuse me". The Japanese government apologized for 慰安婦, and paid for it to Korea, but saying only sorry to Taiwan. President Tsai said that "I'm Tsai-Ying-Wen, but my English is not tasi (菜)". In this case, I agree with you that her spoken English is not good enough (poor) !
I'm sorry 與 I apologize 其實很好區別。 你踩了別人一腳，I'm sorry. 你說了傷人的話，I'm sorry. 你表達感傷，I'm sorry for your father's death. 你因車拋錨而遲到，你做解釋。 I apologize for being late because I got a flat tire. 蔡英文無法用中文說出美方代表的名字。 I apologize for it's hard for me to say your name in Chinese. 你 apologize 有背後的理由。 你 sorry 代表你有錯，或你想表達對別人的感傷。
I asked a friend of mine for his opinion. He happens to be in a long vacation and replied me late. Unsurprisingly, his reply starts with sorry: Ugh! Sorry (really – I did mean to reply to this, but I was sitting at a campfire when I got it) Mike – this caught me at the beginning of a US holiday weekend that was cut short by a trip to Edinburgh and it got buried in my inbox! I guess the difference is “sorry” is more heartfelt and apology is more formal. I think apology would definitely be enough in this situation. Really it sounds like there is no real harm or anything needing to be heartfelt in the situation below. Personally it sounds overly critical to complain about use of sorry when apology would be sufficient. However, I find the other way around can cause troubles, e.g. “I apologize” to you wife instead of “Im sorry” is a pretty cold way to try to end an argument – sorry much better in this situation It’s a stereotypical thing for some people to say ‘I’m Sorry’ too much, lots of articles and comedy skits on it in the US: https://www.google.com/#q=women+and+%22I%27m+sorry%22
其實，這篇文章的主旨是，在國與國對等關係，一個總統不該隨便用sorry。sorry=heart-felt apology，sorry 有虧欠與愧疚之意。
My friend did know what problem our president experienced while meeting foreign guests at the Presidential office. He is supposed to master his native language much better than us while humble enough using "I think", "I guess" and "personally" in expressing his opinions. His final remark for such a controversial argument is: Indeed – mix in politics and parsing of every word looking for weakness or error and It’s good fun