English is my... third language, and I do have trouble understanding certain accents over the phone, natives or not. I usually ask them to repeat their stateme

English is my... third language, and I do have trouble understanding certain accents over the phone, natives or not. I usually ask them to repeat their statement a second time. If that doesn't work I politely blame the line/sound quality and suggest to them to bear with me and slow down for the remaining of the call. Then repeat what they say as I understand it, to ensure I'm getting it right (active listening). If it still doesn't work out, I suggest that perhaps an email follow up or some other method would be best (e.g. Skype).