You leave the message unfinished because of

language difficulty.

You try not to talk about concepts difficult for you

to express.

You describe or paraphrase the target object or

action.
 You use an alternative term (ship) to express the
meaning of the target word (sail) as closely as
possible.

You expand a general word to the context where certain

words are lacking like the overuse of the words: thing,
stuff, make, do, what-do-you- call-it, what-is-it.

You create a new English word based on whatyou

know of the way English works like “vegetarianist”
(which is not in the dictionary) for the “vegetarian
You mime,
the gesture, use facial expression, and imitate sound
to express the meaning you want.

You translate a word or an idiom from your mother

tongue to English using the structure of your first
language.
You use the word in your native language but
pronounce it like English.

You use the native word or expression for the English

term that expresses the meaning you want.
 You ask other students or your teacher for help when
you do not know or forget some words, structures or
idioms.

You use filling words (uhhmmmm) to gain time to think.