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.

How to ask

You only need to remember one of these two options:

• "Könnten Sie die Frage bitte anders formulieren?"
(Could you formulate the question differently, please?)

• "Ich habe das nicht ganz verstanden. Können Sie das anders erklären?"
(I didn't quite understand that. Can you explain that differently?)

Asking to reformulate is a smart move — it shows the examiner you want to understand and keep the conversation going.