DO NOT SAY Can you repeat or I dont understand ask for repetition in this BETTER way
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hello everyone and welcome back to
english with lucy when you are learning
english there is one sentence that you
have to say a lot or you feel you have
to say a lot it is can you repeat that
can you repeat that please
or please could you repeat that when you
talk to natives and especially when you
are listening to native speak it is
highly likely that you won’t understand
everything that they’ve said and you
will probably want to ask them to repeat
something so you can try to understand
unfortunately many students feel
embarrassed because they’re saying the
same sentence over and over again can
you repeat that sorry can you repeat
that please can you repeat that a lot of
my students tell me that in the end they
just give up and stop asking for
repetition which really isn’t good for
their listening practice this video is
really going to help you improve your
listening skills and indirectly help you
with your vocabulary as well and your
pronunciation but if you want to improve
your vocabulary and your listening
skills even further then I highly
recommend the special method of reading
books and at the same time listening to
their audiobook version inaudible it
sounds complicated but it’s not so let
me explain take a book that you have
already read in English or a book that
you would like to read in English I’ve
got lots of recommendations for you in
the description box and I’m also
thinking of making a video all about the
different books that you should read for
different levels let me know down below
if you would like that and once you’ve
chosen that book read it whilst
listening to the audiobook version on
audible I recommend audible in
particular because they’ve got the most
amazing range of books with fantastic
native narrators and I really like their
subscription model it encourages you to
do a little bit each month reading alone
will not help you with your
pronunciation because English isn’t a
strict
phonetic language the way something is
written in English might not give you
any indication as to how that word is
pronounced in English it’s like the
spelling and the pronunciation is nearly
separate this is why so many students
find pronunciation so hard but if you
listen to a word as you read it your
brain will start making connections and
the next time you see that word written
down you’ll know exactly how it’s meant
to be pronounced and the next time you
hear that word you’ll know exactly how
it’s spelt it’s such an effective method
and the best part is you can get one
free audio book of your choice that’s a
30-day free trial at audible to do is
click on the link in the description box
and sign up give it a try because it
really really works right let’s get
started with the lesson so the first
alternative way of saying sorry can you
repeat that sorry I don’t understand is
the most natural native way it is just
one word it’s sorry sorry this is what
we are most likely to say if we can’t
hear or can’t understand what someone is
saying make sure you focus on the
intonation we want to go sorry
down up down up sorry that way we are
showing the listener that it is a
question we are showing doubt this is
also a word that you can add on to lots
of the other phrases which are going to
follow but it’s a really nice quick one
and because it’s so short you don’t feel
like you are repeating yourself as much
if you have to say it over and over
again next we have a slightly more
formal one it is excuse me excuse me
now I don’t like this one as much as I
like sorry this is because sometimes if
said with the wrong tone of voice and
the wrong intonation it can make it
sound like you’re slightly offended if
somebody says something offensive to me
I would say excuse me excuse me but I
definitely show with my body language
that I’m offended if I can’t understand
what someone’s saying I would say excuse
me excuse me
and maybe shake my head to show that I’m
having trouble following what they’re
saying another one which is even more
formal and this isn’t even the most
formal one yet the most formal one is
coming after this one
this is pardon pardon and this is quite
a posh word not everyone will consider
it to be posh but in general I think it
is more of a posh word
I remember being taught this word by my
grandmother as a little girl instead of
saying what I had to say pardon and then
the most posh of all of them the poshest
is I beg your pardon I beg your pardon
now you have to be careful with the
intonation of this one because again it
can be used to show offence if somebody
says something offensive I could say I
beg your pardon it’s often used in a
jovial sense kind of in a sarcastic way
maybe to respond to an accidental
innuendo or something like that if we
want to use it to ask for repetition
you’ve got to say it like this I beg
your pardon I beg your pardon really
showing with your body language and that
upward intonation at the end that you
are asking a question a genuine question
if we’re showing a fence we’re likely to
push our body back I beg your pardon
now back to neither informal nor form
all these are just normal phrases you
can say you could say what was that what
was that this is much nicer than just
what even better you can follow it with
sorry what was that sorry what was that
sorry
you could also say what did you say what
did you say
or what did you say sorry what did you
say sorry it feels strange to repeat
them over and over again but really the
intonation makes it so clear what did
you say sorry sorry sorry now what if we
want to be just really really clear we
could just put it out there you could
just say I don’t understand could you
say that again please or I don’t
understand please could you say that
again it
really matter where you put the please
as long as you say please I always like
to put please first because then the
person knows from the very beginning
that I’ve said please please could you
say that again in my household growing
up pleases and thank-yous were
incredibly important overly important
and it scarred me for life I just can’t
not say please thank you
now if you want someone to repeat
something that they have only just said
very recently and you want to interrupt
them stop them there and say I want that
exact sentence repeated again then you
can use the word just for example sorry
what did you just say what did you just
say and note that I’m not saying what
did you just say I’m saying what did you
just say just just what did you just say
what did you just say that’s real
connected speech there what did you just
say I’m missing out the sound between
just and say I’m saying just say instead
of just say just a little pronunciation
tip for you there or an alternative
version what did you say just then what
did you say just then again I’m not
including that after just I’m saying
just then just then now if you didn’t
understand everything that someone said
but you did understand parts of it and
you could say sorry I didn’t quite catch
that I didn’t quite catch that and the
quite is implying that you understood
some of it you caught some of it but you
didn’t catch all of it and catch here is
used to mean to hear and understand it’s
a slang use of catch I didn’t catch what
you just said I didn’t understand or
hear what you just said an alternative
for this is sorry I didn’t quite get
that I didn’t quite get that and both of
these could imply then it’s not because
you didn’t understand what they said it
could be that you didn’t hear what they
said and if you can’t hear what
saying then you could say something like
would you mind speaking up a bit would
you mind speaking up a bit this is a
nicer way of saying please could you
speak more loudly or please could you
speak less quietly to speak up is to
increase the volume of one’s voice now
if you want to make it clear that it’s
not anything to do with volume it really
is that you’re just not understanding
your understanding little bits but
you’re not managing to understand
complete sentences you could say sorry
I’m not following what you’re saying I’m
not following what you’re saying or an
alternative wait a second I’m a bit lost
wait a second I’m a bit lost and both of
these imply that you would like the
person to slow down if you’re struggling
to follow or you’re getting lost it
could make the speaker think that they
are speaking too quickly and implying
that they need to slow down without you
having to ask them to slow down if you
do want to be clear about it or they
don’t understand you when you’re trying
to imply that they’re going too quickly
you could say would you mind slowing
down a bit I’m struggling to follow I’m
struggling to follow now if there is a
specific word or phrase that you don’t
understand but you understand everything
else but you want to ask a specific
question about a specific word or phrase
then you could point it out and say
something like I’m not sure I understand
what you mean by word or phrase or you
could simplify it and say I’m not sure
what you mean by word or phrase it’s a
bit of a funny preposition so make sure
you learn it properly to mean by I’m not
sure what you mean by pidgin I’ve
mentioned pidgin again just squeeze it
into every video now one annoying thing
about asking for repetition is that you
constantly feel that you’re interrupting
someone but I think it’s okay to
interrupt as long as you apologize for
interrupting and you can say something
as simple as I’m sorry to interrupt but
would you mind repeating blah blah blah
another alternative if you’re with
friends you can use ace
bang phrasal verb which is to butt in to
button I’m sorry to butt in but I’m
sorry to butt in again I’m sorry to
interrupt again those two are really
really useful if you feel that you’re
constantly stopping someone to ask them
what they mean now let’s have a look at
four idioms or slang phrases that we can
use to say that we don’t understand
someone or to ask them to repeat
something or make themselves more clear
a really fun one is this is all Greek to
me this is all Greek to me
this is all a foreign language to me
that would be a really funny one to use
if you are actually Greek this basically
means this is all impossible for me to
understand another one is that was as
clear as mud that was as clear as mud
now this be careful with it just use it
with friends and people that you like to
have a joke with because you’re
basically saying that what they have
just said was very unclear and obviously
a teacher or a professor or someone you
don’t know that well is not going to
appreciate such a sarcastic remark so if
someone has been trying to explain
something but they’ve been doing a very
bad job of it then you can say well that
was as clear as mud if you want to say
that something was far too complicated
for you you can say that went right over
my head that went right over my head it
didn’t go into my head it went over like
this I didn’t understand or process any
of it and the last one I think this is
fairly British but if there are any
Americans watching please do let me know
it is what are you on about what are you
on about
and this means what are you talking
about but the phrase to go on about
something implies that somebody is
talking too much to go on about
something is to talk excessively about
something so when you say what are you
on about it means what you’re talking
about you’ve been talking for ages again
another one to use just with friends
people you have mutual trust with and
maybe share a sense of humor with not
professors not teachers
not your boss right that’s it for
today’s lesson I hope you enjoyed it and
I hope you learned something and most
importantly I hope you feel more
comfortable when asking for repetition
because you absolutely should ask for
repetition and any good person
any good native speaker should not be
offended or should not get bored by you
asking for repetition constantly I’ve
said it in previous videos a really good
way to get people to accept that you’re
going to constantly ask them for
repetition is to flatter them and to say
look I really like the way you speak
English I’m trying to improve would you
mind if I ask you a couple of questions
or ask you to repeat something and then
you can just use one word repetition
questions like sorry sorry or just
gesture to them so it’s less
embarrassing and awkward for both of you
don’t forget to check out audible you
can claim your free audiobook the link
is in the description box and don’t
forget to follow me on all of my social
media I’ve got my facebook my Instagram
and my Twitter and I’ve got my new
vlogging channel as well it was just a
personal channel at first but now I do
all of my vlogs documenting my daily
life on an English farm in the British
countryside I’ve really been enjoying
making them and they’ve had a really
lovely response and they’re all
completely subtitled so that you can
pick up some new vocabulary and practice
your listening right I will see you soon
for another lesson
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