Attempts to go after English records (7)
I believe the answer is:
entries
'records' is the definition.
(entry is a kind of record)
'attempts to go after english' is the wordplay.
'attempts' becomes 'tries' ('try' can be a synonym of 'attempt').
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'go after english' becomes 'en' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'tries' put after 'en' is 'ENTRIES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for entries that I've seen before include "Sneer it (anag.)" , "Gateways" , "Doors, gates" , "those given admittance" , "Contestants" .)