Sorry, could you say that again?

[Guy Gene]

I have the same problem with listening comprehension and always have to ask people to repeat. I find that え？ もういっかい言って。。。？ or just もういっかい？seem most natural. Sentences like すみませんけど、もう一度言ってもらえますか are impractical and probably longer than the sentence you want repeated.

Too often though, when I ask someone to repeat something (in shops, restaurants, etc), they somehow think I can't understand Japanese at all and start looking around the room for someone who can speak English.

 

[undrentide]

Even if I try to use え？with a voice filled with wonderment and my face wrinkled in confusion, not surprise, it can still be taken sometimes as ええっ！What ! I can't believe it ! Depending on the subject. Kind of like 分からない is vague to mean both "I don't understand" or "I don't know."

え？ for "what did you say?" and ええ？for disbelief might be confusing and could be difficult to convey properly as it largely relies on the tone of your voice and face expression.

So I try to add え？ 何？for clarification. Or, 何言ってるの？

何て言ったの？ and 何言ってるの？ look similar but have very different connotation... the former is to ask "what did you say?" but the latter sounds very strong and negative tone like "you are totally wrong", etc.

 

[Elizabeth]

え？ for "what did you say?" and ええ？for disbelief might be confusing and could be difficult to convey properly as it largely relies on the tone of your voice and face expression.

何て言ったの？ and 何言ってるの？ look similar but have very different connotation... the former is to ask "what did you say?" but the latter sounds very strong and negative tone like "you are totally wrong", etc.

Yeah, the latter is more like "What are you talking about ? I think it's the same with nani hanashiteru no? It was just a small joke...

In writing often え ? is astonishment as well. but there it is a lot easier to disentangle.

 

[undrentide]

Yeah, the latter is more like "What are you talking about ? I think it's the same with nani hanashiteru no? It was just a small joke...

In writing often え is astonishment as well. but there it is a lot easier to disentangle.

Oh, I see. I have this bad habit of taking things too literally/seriously...

 

[Elizabeth]

Oh, I see. I have this bad habit of taking things too literally/seriously...

いいえ、私もそれは、完全に否定的な感じがするのか分 からなかった。

 

[Glenn]

Even if I try to use え？with a voice filled with wonderment and my face wrinkled in confusion, not surprise, it can still be taken sometimes as ええっ！What ! I can't believe it ! Depending on the subject.

Interesting. Usually it goes the other way in my experience: i.e., they think you didn't understand what they said when in fact you are just surprised by it.

Kind of like 分からない is vague to mean both "I don't understand" or "I don't know."

In the former case I usually hear it as 意味が分からない.

 

[J44xm]

とにかく、確かに、日本に居るのは幸いですよね。
アメリカでは勉強していると比べると、状況は随分良くなったね。

Elizabethさんが言う通りです。でも、国語がわからなければ生活には難しいところがありますね。僕は前よりコミュニケーション価値を認めます。

何て言ったの？ and 何言ってるの？ look similar but have very different connotation... the former is to ask "what did you say?" but the latter sounds very strong and negative tone like "you are totally wrong", etc.

Sounds like the difference between "What did you say?" (normal) and "What you are saying?" (disbelief and/or disgust). Which might be a difficult thing for the non-native speaker at first.

Wow, this thread has grown a lot more than I expected. I appreciate everyone's feedback!

 

[epigene]

In the former case I usually hear it as 意味が分からない.

意味分からない seems to be the "in" word for saying something like "I lost you there" when you can't follow what someone is saying.

Variations being 意味わかんない or 意味わかんねぇ～
I personally think it's being overused, it does make the person using it look not too smart..

 

[Glenn]

Heh, then I'm glad I haven't said it. The first time I heard it I got that impression (that it was like "what are you talking about?"), but I kept hearing it so I thought it was used for clarification.

 

[Elizabeth]

Elizabethさんが言う通りです。でも、国語がわからなければ生活には難しいところがありますね。僕は前よりコミュニケーション価値を認めます。

本当です。外国語を習うは人生最大の喜びの一つじゃないですよね。
いろいろな、私の関係も、言いたかった事をうまく伝えられなかったので、だめになってしまったんですよ。
初めて、人生は苦労が耐えないなあと実感していましたよね。
でも、もちろん苦しい仕事をしなければ、全然人生で成功しないですね。:
がんばってね！みんなさん、お互い体に気をつけましょうね。


シグナチャーを参考にするように。



たとえ辛くても、永遠に続く苦しみなどないでしょう。

 

[J44xm]

はい、頑張りましょう！
（でも永遠に続く苦しみなどあれば困っちゃう！（笑））