Swipe through essential tips to prepare for your FIDE exam
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Ask the examiner to repeat if you don't hear well. But if you hear perfectly fine but don't understand the vocabulary, ask them to reformulate — to say it in different, simpler words.
You only need to remember one of these two options:
• "Pourriez-vous reformuler la question, s'il vous plaît ?"
(Could you reformulate the question, please?)
• "Je n'ai pas bien compris. Pouvez-vous l'expliquer autrement ?"
(I didn't understand well. Can you explain it differently?)
Asking to reformulate is a smart move — it shows the examiner you want to understand and keep the conversation going.
"Pourriez-vous reformuler la question, s'il vous plaît ?"
"Je n'ai pas bien compris. Pouvez-vous l'expliquer autrement ?"
Ask to "repeat" if you did not hear. Ask to "reformulate" if you did not understand the vocabulary. Memorize one phrase to use.