Conversation Recovery Phrases

Learn to cope when you do not understand.

Added October 15, 2026. Written with AI assistance and checked for clarity and placeholders; not reviewed by a lawyer, accountant, clinician or other professional. How these prompts are made

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Build a survival kit for conversation breakdowns in [TARGET_LANGUAGE]. My level: [LEVEL]. Situations where I get stuck: [STUCK_SITUATIONS].

Provide forty phrases grouped as asking for repetition, asking for slower speech, checking understanding, buying thinking time, rephrasing when a word is missing, describing a word you cannot recall, and politely ending a conversation. Include a pronunciation guide where useful and the polite register. Create a practice routine where I use three phrases per day, a game of describing objects without naming them, and a card to memorise. Add a note on body language and tone that help communication.

Add a mini-script of a five-line conversation in which the learner uses three of the recovery phrases successfully, and a second where the speaker is too fast. Provide a spaced-repetition schedule for the forty phrases over three weeks and a tip for using them with confidence rather than apologising too much.

Also rank the phrases by how useful they are in a first week abroad, so I know which ten to learn first.

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Asking for repetition: "Sorry, could you say that again?"
Slower: "Could you speak a little slower, please?"
Checking: "So you mean the train leaves at six?"
Buying time: "Let me think for a moment."
Missing word: "It's the thing you use to open a bottle."
Ending politely: "Thank you, I have to go now."
Mini-dialogue
A: The station is past the bridge.
B: Sorry, could you say that again?
A: Past the bridge, on the left.
B: So I go over the bridge, then left?
Practice: use three phrases a day; describe objects without naming them.
Top ten for the first week: repetition, slower, thank you, sorry, where is..., how much.

• conversation
• structured-brief