The most natural and polite way to say "sorry I can't speak German" is "Tut mir leid, ich spreche kein Deutsch" or slightly more formal "Entschuldigung, ich spreche kein Deutsch." The first part "Tut mir leid" is like "I am sorry" in an emotional sense, while "Entschuldigung" is like "excuse me" and works perfectly for getting attention or apologizing for a lack of skill. If you want to be even more apologetic you can say "Es tut mir leid, aber ich spreche kein Deutsch" adding "aber" for "but." For a beginner, you can also add "nur ein bisschen" which means "only a little," so "Ich spreche nur ein bisschen Deutsch" means "I speak only a little German." After saying you don't speak German, it is very helpful to add "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" in formal situations or "Sprichst du Englisch?" with friends, meaning "Do you speak English?" Germans generally appreciate the effort, so starting with even this small German sentence before switching to English is seen as very polite. Pronunciation tip: "Entschuldigung" is pronounced ent-shool-dig-oong.
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