Speaking English : If you don't understand
We’ve all been there. Someone is using vocabulary you don’t know or talking in an accent you don’t understand. How do you solve such communication problems? We provide some tips.
In the globalized world of business, most of us have become used to speaking and listening to people from a wide range of linguistic backgrounds. Communicating with both native and non-native speakers can be difficult. Native speakers often speak faster and use idiomatic language that learners are unfamiliar with and they are often unaware of doing so. Look at this dialogue between Alan, a British-English speaker, and Beate, his German colleague:
As you can see, Beate has no idea what Alan is talking about. But, instead of stopping him and asking him to explain, she lets him go on and on. What could she have said? Here are some useful phrases:
Notice that these sentences contain softening language : “sorry”, “a bit”, “not quite”. This is a common method for stating unpleasant facts.
PROBLEMATIC ACCENTS
The situation is slightly different when the person you are having trouble understanding is a non-native speaker or talks with a regional accent. You may need a little time to get used to their pronunciation. In the meantime, here are some polite ways of asking for help:
If the problem continues, it may be necessary for you to take the blame for the communication problem:
And if all else fails, you can ask:
ASKING FOR CONFIRMATION
A good method to use when you are unsure whether you have understood something correctly or not is to ask for confirmation of your understanding:
In the globalized world of business, most of us have become used to speaking and listening to people from a wide range of linguistic backgrounds. Communicating with both native and non-native speakers can be difficult. Native speakers often speak faster and use idiomatic language that learners are unfamiliar with and they are often unaware of doing so. Look at this dialogue between Alan, a British-English speaker, and Beate, his German colleague:
PROBLEMATIC ACCENTS
The situation is slightly different when the person you are having trouble understanding is a non-native speaker or talks with a regional accent. You may need a little time to get used to their pronunciation. In the meantime, here are some polite ways of asking for help:
A good method to use when you are unsure whether you have understood something correctly or not is to ask for confirmation of your understanding:
No comments:
Post a Comment