{"id":728,"date":"2016-09-05T17:56:05","date_gmt":"2016-09-06T00:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/?p=728"},"modified":"2019-01-31T15:05:19","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T23:05:19","slug":"clarification-ielts-speaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many Students believe that they cannot ask questions in the IELTS speaking test. Actually, you can ask for clarification if you don\u2019t understand a question. Here are several useful tips on how to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking!<\/p>\n

\"Ask<\/a><\/p>\n

Andypandy<\/a><\/p>\n

Ask for repeating a question<\/h2>\n

Examiners are allowed to repeat the questions in part 1 and part 3. If you do not understand a question or miss a word, just politely ask them to repeat the question or the word. Here are some expressions that you can use!<\/p>\n

Sorry, I didn\u2019t get the question. Could you say it again please?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sorry, can you repeat the question please?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sorry, would you mind repeating the question?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sorry, what was the last word?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Remember, asking for repeating a question is better than pretending that you understand it and saying meaningless answers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Different from part 1 and part 3, part 2 doesn\u2019t involve listening because the question is on a card. If there is any unfamiliar word on the card, do not ask the examiner to explain it for you<\/span>.<\/em> <\/strong>Try to guess the meaning by yourself. Check out our post on how to deal with unknown words to learn more information!<\/p>\n

Ask for rephrasing a question<\/h2>\n

In part 3, you can ask for rephrasing a question if you don\u2019t understand it. Here are two examples!<\/p>\n

Sorry, could you explain that question in another way?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sorry, I didn\u2019t get the question. Could you say it in a different way?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you still have confusion\u2026<\/h2>\n

If you still don\u2019t understand the question the second time, do not ask for clarification again. Just talk about something related to the question because saying something is better than nothing. You can start your answer by saying: “I’m afraid that I’m not quite familiar with this topic, but I guess\u2026”<\/strong> or “Sorry, I don\u2019t know much about\u2026 because\u2026 but I guess\u2026”<\/strong> Then forget this question and try to do your best on other questions.<\/p>\n

Other Tips<\/h2>\n

Do not ask the examiner to repeat or rephrase every single question.<\/p>\n

Do not ask questions such as “What is your opinion?”<\/strong> It is a test, not a two-way discussion.<\/p>\n

Do not keep silent when you are thinking. You can paraphrase the question to save extra time to think. <\/p>\n

Check out our post on how to paraphrase on the IELTS<\/a>! If you need more time, just honestly tell the examiner by saying That\u2019s a tricky question, please give me a second<\/em><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many Students believe that they cannot ask questions in the IELTS speaking test. Actually, you can ask for clarification if you don\u2019t understand a question. Here are several useful tips on how to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking! Andypandy Ask for repeating a question Examiners are allowed to repeat the questions in part 1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3989],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[5084],"class_list":["post-728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speaking-section"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking - Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You can ask for clarification if you don\u2019t understand a question. Here are several useful tips on how to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You can ask for clarification if you don\u2019t understand a question. Here are several useful tips on how to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-06T00:56:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-31T23:05:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2016\/08\/road-sign-940528_960_720.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kuangyan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kuangyan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kuangyan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/person\/24d8ad54eb078e91414791a4923af4e8\"},\"headline\":\"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-06T00:56:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/\"},\"wordCount\":422,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"IELTS Speaking: Academic & General Training\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/\",\"name\":\"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking - Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-06T00:56:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"You can ask for clarification if you don\u2019t understand a question. Here are several useful tips on how to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam\",\"description\":\"Everything you need to know about the IELTS\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Magoosh\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2020\/04\/site-title_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2020\/04\/site-title_logo.png\",\"width\":144,\"height\":37,\"caption\":\"Magoosh\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/person\/24d8ad54eb078e91414791a4923af4e8\",\"name\":\"Kuangyan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/ad715b612b9472e490637101e844684a\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/758199c9b1cfdbe6b1b645c77a9182c01fd1f2a862d569be097f668a6edaa769?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/758199c9b1cfdbe6b1b645c77a9182c01fd1f2a862d569be097f668a6edaa769?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kuangyan\"},\"description\":\"Kuangyan creates IELTS blogs at Magoosh. She is passionate about language education and has a MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from New York University. Kuangyan has experience of teaching English both in China and in US. In her free time, she drinks mocha, does yoga, takes photos and travels to different places to explore the exciting world.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"IELTS\",\"Teaching\"],\"knowsLanguage\":[\"English\",\"Chinese\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Magoosh\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/author\/kuangyan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking - Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam","description":"You can ask for clarification if you don\u2019t understand a question. Here are several useful tips on how to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking","og_description":"You can ask for clarification if you don\u2019t understand a question. Here are several useful tips on how to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking!","og_url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/","og_site_name":"Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam","article_published_time":"2016-09-06T00:56:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-01-31T23:05:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2016\/08\/road-sign-940528_960_720.jpg"}],"author":"Kuangyan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kuangyan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/"},"author":{"name":"Kuangyan","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/person\/24d8ad54eb078e91414791a4923af4e8"},"headline":"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking","datePublished":"2016-09-06T00:56:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/"},"wordCount":422,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#organization"},"articleSection":["IELTS Speaking: Academic & General Training"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/","name":"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking - Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-09-06T00:56:05+00:00","description":"You can ask for clarification if you don\u2019t understand a question. Here are several useful tips on how to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/clarification-ielts-speaking\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/","name":"Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam","description":"Everything you need to know about the IELTS","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#organization","name":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2020\/04\/site-title_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2020\/04\/site-title_logo.png","width":144,"height":37,"caption":"Magoosh"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/person\/24d8ad54eb078e91414791a4923af4e8","name":"Kuangyan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/ad715b612b9472e490637101e844684a","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/758199c9b1cfdbe6b1b645c77a9182c01fd1f2a862d569be097f668a6edaa769?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/758199c9b1cfdbe6b1b645c77a9182c01fd1f2a862d569be097f668a6edaa769?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kuangyan"},"description":"Kuangyan creates IELTS blogs at Magoosh. She is passionate about language education and has a MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from New York University. Kuangyan has experience of teaching English both in China and in US. In her free time, she drinks mocha, does yoga, takes photos and travels to different places to explore the exciting world.","knowsAbout":["IELTS","Teaching"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Chinese"],"jobTitle":"Writer","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/author\/kuangyan\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":5084,"user_id":150,"is_guest":0,"slug":"kuangyan","display_name":"Kuangyan","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/758199c9b1cfdbe6b1b645c77a9182c01fd1f2a862d569be097f668a6edaa769?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Chen","first_name":"Kuangyan","description":"Kuangyan creates IELTS blogs at Magoosh. She is passionate about language education and has a MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from New York University. Kuangyan has experience of teaching English both in China and in US. In her free time, she drinks mocha, does yoga, takes photos and travels to different places to explore the exciting world."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}