3 Steps to Help you Understand Someone Speaking in Another Language

How do you communicate with someone who is a much higher level speaker than you are?  Don’t be nervous that you cannot communicate well with people that you meet, instead of trying to listen to someone use 100% natural English with you – stop them.

Take these few steps to make sure that you can keep some control of the conversational situation.

1.     STOP them – Don’t just listen to the other person if they are speaking too fast.  Stop them!  Use a phrase such as “Wait a moment” or “Excuse me” hold the other person while you can think.  Remember to be aggressive!  Use a strong voice to interrupt people.

2.     CLARIFY what they mean – After stopping someone, they will be waiting, so ask your question.

·       If they are too FAST – “Could you please speak more slowly?”

·       If you want them to repeat themselves – “Could you please say that again?”

·       If you don’t know what they mean – “What does that mean?” or “What do you mean?”

3.     CONFIRM that you understand – Make sure that you really understand someone.  Try a phrase like “So you mean….” Or “Let me see if I understand, you mean…”

If you can follow these steps then even if you are a low level speaker, you will have a better chance to understand what somebody is saying to you.  Just remember to be brave!  It is hard to say “Excuse me” when somebody is speaking – don’t wait!  Just say it and you will be able to avoid miscommunication early.