Fluency Workshop:

Language to deal with tricky situations

Navigating challenging situations:
(Feelings being hurt due to cultural differences; someone being too direct, second language challenges,
miscommunication in a multicultural environment)

Comment and Responses

❏ Actually, the way youʼre speaking, (or what youʼre saying) hurts my feelings.
Oh! Sorry! I didnʼt mean to! / I didnʼt mean to upset you!

❏ Iʼm sure you didnʼt mean to, but what you said really hurt my feelings.
Iʼm so sorry; that came out the wrong way!

❏ Could I stop you there? That seems quite hurtful, even if you didnʼt mean it to.
Iʼm so sorry, I totally didnʼt mean it like that. That must have come out the wrong way!

❏ Can I stop you there? I need to tell you that what you are saying doesnʼt make me feel good.
Has what I said upset you? Do you want to talk about it so that we understand each other?

Dealing with a misunderstanding or miscommunication:

Comment and Responses

❏ I'm sorry, I think that there was a misunderstanding. What I meant to say was….
Ah, yes! Now weʼre on the same page! / Now I get what you meant!

❏ I think I may have misunderstood. / I think you may have misunderstood.

Youʼre right! Letʼs try that again!

❏ I didnʼt mean to say that… What I meant was….

Oh, now I understand. Thanks for clarifying!

❏ Wait a minute! Are you upset/ angry?

Sorry perhaps that came out too strongly! (being overly passionate can seem aggressive)
Discussing sensitive issues:
(too personal or culturally inappropriate; for example, health, money, grief, marital status)

Comment and Responses

❏ I donʼt feel up to talking about this right now. (Do you mind asking someone else?)
Of course, donʼt worry. (Would anyone else care to jump in?)

❏ Iʼd rather not answer that if thatʼs okay!

Thatʼs absolutely /totally fine!

❏ Is it okay if we talk about something else? This topic is a bit sensitive for me.
No worries at all.

❏ I find that too personal to discuss here.

I get that completely.

❏ I find this hard to talk about. / This is hard for me to talk about.
Thatʼs okay, you donʼt have to. We can talk about something else.

Discussing controversial topics:

(politics, religion, LGBTQ+ issues, vaccinations, family planning/abortion)

Comment and Responses

❏ Honestly, this conversation is making me very uncomfortable.

Oh, Iʼm sorry, letʼs move on to something else.

❏ I never feel comfortable discussing this topic./ I really donʼt want to talk about this.
Thatʼs totally understandable. Letʼs (rather) talk about …….. / What would you like to talk about?

❏ Iʼd rather not express my opinion on this issue.

Thatʼs okay. / Thatʼs absolutely fine.

❏ I donʼt think that this is something we see eye to eye on - and thatʼs okay! But Iʼd rather change the
subject now if you donʼt mind.
Of course I donʼt mind. Let me ask you this…

❏ This is complicated. I find it hard to express my feelings on this topic (in English).
I understand. What else should we talk about?