This may be a silly question, but can I ask whether ........

Hello! I agree with the other answers - there is never a stupid question and if you don't ask you will never know... So just be bold and say, "May I ask a question?" and keep asking until you understand the information to your satisfaction! I hope that helps!

Hi the best alternative is to not ask silly or stupid questions;).

I agree that no question is stupid :) Some people say "It is better to seem stupid than to be stupid". "I'm not quite sure, but...?" "Could you explain ... to me?"

Just ask. There's no need to apologise. No question is stupid. We all start off knowing absolutely nothing about absolutely everything. If you really want to, you could try something like "So let me check the basics here. My question is ... " Or you could use "Could you run that by me again, please. Are you saying that ..."