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How To
 

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- Directions

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- Showing understanding

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- Making positive and negative comments

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- Making recommendations

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- Describing a process

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- Giving instructions

Two people listening to a man explaining something

Showing understanding

When you're listening to someone explain something or tell you something, how can you show that person that you understand him or her? How can you indicate that you are following what is being said - or not following it? In this programme, we look at different ways you can do this using body language, noises, words and intonation.

When you've listened to the programme, don't forget to practise what you've learned with the activity below!

Listen - realmedia         

Showing understanding
 Understanding Not understanding
Body language Nod your head Look confused - e.g. by frowning or squinting
Noises Umm-hmm
Uh-huh
Er...
Um...
Words Right...
OK...

Hang on...
Hold on...
Run me through that again
You've lost me

Intonation Speak clearly and confidently Speak more slowly


Vocabulary

to follow someone / something
here, to understand something or someone
e.g. After a while, I stopped following the conversation.
Sorry - I don't follow you. Can you explain it again?


to nod
to move your head up and down, usually in agreement

to run somebody through something
to explain something
e.g. Can you quickly run me through the new guidelines?

Hang on / Hold on
Use this to ask someone to stop or pause
e.g. Hold on - I don't think I follow you
Can you just hang on a second? I need to get my coat...

to be lost
here, to no longer understand
e.g. Aaagh! I'm totally lost!

to lose someone
here, to confuse someone or lead to them not understanding you
e.g. Hang on - you've lost me!





WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT?

Vocabulary and intonation activity
Look at the conversation below and try to work out what words go in the spaces. After you've checked your choices, read the dialogue out loud. See if you can guess what intonation William uses to show Andrea whether or not he understands. There isn't a right or wrong answer - but you can listen to a recording of the conversation by clicking the links below.

You can also listen to the conversation or download a printable version of this activity.

Listen - realmedia         


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