Hey everybody, hi. This is Todd the teacher from ELLLO, and in this speaking tip we will look at how to repeat a question to help the person you are talking with. So, have you ever been asked a question and you froze? You didn't know what to say.

Now, there could be two reasons or three reasons why you froze. One, you didn't understand the question. Two, you don't know how to answer the question, right? So, you really don't know how to make an answer. Or, three, you are thinking of an answer - like, you are like, 'Hm, let me think...' So, there's three possibilities: you don't understand the question, you cannot answer the question but you understand it, three, you need time to think of your answer. So, this is a problem for the person who asks the question because they don't know - like, they're thinking, 'Do you understand the question? Do you understand me?' Right?

So, one way to help the person understand that you understand is to repeat the question. So, somebody asks you a question, you repeat the question, and you repeat it in a way that shows, 'Ah! I'm thinking of an answer.' So, we will do this for 'can ability'. Watch how I repeat the question and then give my answer.

'Level two, lesson number six: can abilities. You will hear five questions using 'can' to express abilities. You have eight seconds to answer or repeat each question. One: what foods can you cook?'

What foods can I cook? Pasta? That's about it...on that.

'Two: what sports can you play?'

What sports can I play? I can play baseball, basketball, futsal, some tennis.

'Three: can you play a musical instrument?'

Can I play a musical instrument? No, nothing! Not even the harmonica. I can't play anything.

'Four: what languages do you speak?'

What languages do I speak? That's tough. I guess I speak some Japanese and Thai, but not fluently.

'Five: can you change a car tire?'

Can I change a car tire? I've done it before, but it was a long time ago.

'That ends the lesson. Thanks for participating.'

Ok, so, notice by repeating the question, that's a really good fluency disclaimer. You are basically saying, 'Hey! My listening fluency is good. I understood the question. I am buying time to say my answer.' So, you don't want to be a deer in the headlights, right? So, when you're a deer in the headlights, you - you don't know what to say, right? So, if you repeat the question, that lets the person you're talking with know you understand what's going on and you just need time to say your answer.

And that's it - that's speaking tip number seven, actually. We're moving up. Alright. And in the next one, we are going to move to the mini-monologues and we are gonna talk about five-in-one, which is a really good speaking technique.