Sometimes when we do not know what to say in response to question from a foreign visitor or English-language caller, we say nothing. This does not tell the other person that we are trying to help. If we do not know what the library user is talking about, but would like to try to hear it again, we can reply:

I don’t understand. Would you say that again that more slowly?

Sometimes even if things are said slowly, they are impossible to understand, especially if the library visitor speaks with an Australian or Scottish accent. These accents can be difficult to understand even for native English speakers from the UK and USA. The best attitude to not being able to understand someone else’s spoken English is not to blame ourselves or the other person. Just accept it as a problem that happens, and try to get past it. If we have tried to get the person to repeat the phrase, and we still do not see what it is about, it is better not to repeat again

I don’t understand. Would you say that again more slowly?

Repeating the same sentence usually does not help, and especially on the phone, can give the impression of a machine repeating the same thing endlessly. If we have a feeling that hearing the same thing one more time might help, we may try to ask:

I still do not understand. Once more, please.

Note that as often in real-life English conversation, a very short phrase such as

Once more, please.

Is all that we really have to say. The foreign library visitor will understand what we mean. It is not necessary to think of a long and complex sentence in our heads, or translate it from Thai language. In English as it is spoken, we usually get the same results with two phrases:

Would you say that again please?

and

Once more, please.

It is up to us to choose the easiest and quickest phrase for us to say. Once more, please can be used in many different situations. If we have some delicious ice cream as a dessert in a restaurant in the UK or USA, and decide to order it again, we can also say

Once more, please.

The waiter will understand and bring us another order of the same type of ice cream. If we have heard the visitor’s sentence three times and we still do not understand, that is usually a good time to stop asking for it to be repeated. Most visitors do not realize that instead of repeating the same words we cannot understand, it would be better to try to say the same thing using different words. If the words change, we may finally understand. But English language speakers usually just keep repeating the same thing louder, expecting foreigners to understand. To avoid getting to the point where people can get irritated, this would be the time to either bring in a colleague who is more confident in speaking English, or taking a message and having someone at the TU Libraries get back in touch with the visitor later. If it is possible to find another library staff member who is happy to speak English, we can show the visitor that we do sincerely want to help, but saying phrases like:

Let me check. 

I am not sure. Let me find out.

I will be glad to help.

These are all useful for keeping the visitor in a good mood, demonstrating that we care about the request, whatever it is, even though we do not know how to respond to it at the moment. Some visitors will always be impatient and in a bad mood, but if we show that we are trying to help, that should calm them. This does not mean that we have to say yes to every request by visitors, but even if we are saying no to whatever they have asked for, if we do so politely, they should leave with a good impression of the quality of service at the TU Libraries.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)