Listen to Maya ask for help
Press play and follow the conversation below. Notice the polite phrases Maya uses when she does not understand.
Mr. Davies: Right everyone, please open your books to page 34 and complete exercise B. You have about ten minutes.
Maya: Excuse me, Mr. Davies?
Mr. Davies: Yes, Maya?
Maya: Sorry to bother you - could you explain the exercise again? I don't really understand what we have to do.
Mr. Davies: Of course, no problem. You need to read the three sentences and choose the correct word to fill each gap.
Maya: Oh okay. And sorry - could you repeat the last part? I didn't quite catch it.
Mr. Davies: Sure. Choose the correct word to fill each gap. There are three options for each one, so read carefully before you choose.
Maya: I see. And do we need to write full sentences or just the missing word?
Mr. Davies: Just the missing word is fine for this exercise.
Maya: That makes sense now, thank you. One more thing - I don't understand what the word "contrast" means in sentence two. Could you explain it?
Mr. Davies: Good question. "Contrast" means to show the difference between two things. So look for a word that shows a difference.
Maya: Oh, I think I understand now. Thank you so much, Mr. Davies!
Mr. Davies: You're welcome. Put your hand up if you need any more help.
Polite or too casual?
Sort each phrase. Which ones are polite ways to ask a teacher for help, and which are too casual for classroom use?
Tap a phrase, then drag it across.
Complete the conversation
A student is asking for help. Drag the words into the gaps.
Student: Excuse me, you help me?
Teacher: Of course! What's the ?
Student: I don't this exercise. What does "summarise" ?
Teacher: It means to write the main idea in a few words.
Student: Oh! , could you the last part? I didn't it.
Teacher: Sure, no !
Put the words in the right order
Tap the words in order to build each polite sentence. Tap a word in the tray to send it back.
A polite request to hear an explanation again:
Tell the teacher you don't follow:
Ask them to say it again:
Ask about a difficult word:
A polite way to start:
Now ask for help out loud
Imagine you are in class and you don't understand the homework. Record yourself asking your teacher three questions. Use at least three of these phrases: Could you explain…? · I don't understand… · Could you repeat that? · What does … mean? · Sorry to bother you.
- 1 Ask the teacher to explain the homework instructions.
- 2 Ask them to repeat something you missed.
- 3 Ask what a difficult word means.
Scenario complete
Well done - you can now ask a teacher for help politely. That's a phrase you'll use every week.