Wenn du etwas nicht verstehst
Lesson 23 gave you phone-specific "please repeat" phrases. Today's the broader toolkit for any face-to-face conversation breakdown - genuinely one of the highest-value things in this whole course, since it lets you stay in German instead of switching to English.
Wie bitte? (Sorry, what? - didn't catch it at all)
Ich habe das nicht verstanden. (I didn't understand that - reusing Lesson 23.)
Können Sie das bitte wiederholen? (Can you repeat that, please?)
Quick check: "Sorry, what?" (didn't catch it at all)
Können Sie das anders sagen? (Can you say that differently?)
Was bedeutet das? (What does that mean?)
Können Sie das bitte buchstabieren? (reusing Lesson 97 for names/unfamiliar words.)
Quick check: "What does that mean?" - Was ______ das?
Moment, ich überlege. (reusing Lesson 101.)
Ich lerne noch Deutsch, bitte sprechen Sie langsam. (I'm still learning German, please speak slowly.)
Quick check: "please speak slowly" - bitte sprechen Sie ______.
Verstehe ich richtig, dass ...? (Do I understand correctly that ...? - dass, Lesson 26.)
Also, Sie meinen ... (So, you mean ...)
1. "Can you say that differently?" - Können Sie das ______ sagen?
2. "Do I understand correctly that ...?" - ______ ich richtig, dass ...?
3. Name the difference between "Wie bitte?" and "Ich habe das nicht verstanden."
Cross-checked against the Sprechen strategies emphasized in the official Goethe-Institut A1 practice materials - examiners expect and reward these repair strategies rather than silence or English.
Want to drill these live? Ask your teaching agent to deliberately speak unclearly so you can practice repairing the conversation.