💬 Communication ★ Core Say it yourself

Survival language and communication repair

Keep an interaction going when vocabulary or comprehension fails.

These phrases are high-value tools, not admissions of failure. Memorise them as immediate responses.

Patterns to reuse
No entiendo. / No lo sé.
I do not understand. / I do not know.
noh ehn-TYEHN-doh
¿Puede(s) repetir, por favor?
Can you repeat, please?
Más despacio, por favor.
More slowly, please.
mahs dehs-PAH-thyoh, pohr fah-BOHR
¿Qué significa…? / ¿Cómo se dice… en español?
What does… mean? / How do you say… in Spanish?
keh seeg-nee-FEE-kah
Watch out for
Repite! to a stranger
¿Puede repetir, por favor?

Use a polite question with strangers.

No comprendo nada and switching immediately
No entiendo. Más despacio, por favor.

Use a targeted repair request.

Perdona, no entiendo. ¿Puedes repetir?
Sorry, I do not understand. Can you repeat?
pehr-DOH-nah, noh ehn-TYEHN-doh PWEH-dehs rreh-peh-TEER
¿Cómo se escribe “apellido”?
How do you spell “apellido”?
KOH-moh seh ehs-KREE-beh ah-peh-YEE-doh
¿Qué significa “sobremesa”?
What does “sobremesa” mean?
keh seeg-nee-FEE-kah soh-breh-MEH-sah
Hablo un poco de español.
I speak a little Spanish.
AH-bloh oon POH-koh deh ehs-pah-NYOHL
Strategies
ask for repetitionask for slower speechask for spellingconfirm what you heardparaphrase or point
Confirmation
¿Entonces…?¿Quiere decir…? (recognition)Vale, entiendo.
Try it out loud
recall
Say five repair phrases without looking.
What to include

Include repeat, slower, spell, meaning and “I don’t understand”.

roleplay
Handle a speaker giving a phone number too quickly.
What to include

Interrupt politely and ask them to repeat digit by digit.

paraphrase
Describe an unknown object using es una cosa que…
What to include

Use simple known words, gesture or category.

Happy with all of this?
  • I can repair a misunderstanding in Spanish.
  • I can ask for meaning, spelling and slower repetition.

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