When you don't understand, speak up! 

And don't feel bad for doing so. Watch this short video to see how I recommend dealing with situations when you don't understand.

Below are some phrases to help you. Remember being as specific as possible will lead to the best outcome. You can also download a PDF of the phrases here.

​Checking you have understood:
“Just to check I‘ve understood, you said XXXX.”

Asking to slow down:
“Please could you slow down a bit. I didn’t catch everything.”    

Asking for repetition of one-word:   
“I didn’t catch that last word/a word in the middle of the sentence. Can you say it again?”
“I didn’t catch the date. Please could you repeat it”
“I didn’t catch the figure. Did you say 80,000?”

Asking for repetition of whole sentence/paragraph:
“I didn’t understand exactly. Please could you repeat it.”
“I am not sure I got that. Could you talk me through that again?”
 
If there are one (or more) key words you don't understand:
There is a word I don't understand. What does XXXX mean?
“There are one or two words you used that I’m not familiar with. Please could you rephrase it.”

     

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Below are some audio recordings that are hard to understand, each for a different reason.

Listen to the file on the left. Decide what you think the problem is, and think what you would say in that situation.
​Then, listen to the file on the right and see if it helped.