A British friend tastes your cooking and says, "It's not bad." You smile, but they meant "It's fine, but not great." Or your neighbour says, "I like it," and you miss the "but" hiding in the voice. The message was in the tune. Learners also sound too direct when they refuse or correct someone, because they translate the words of a polite phrase but not the melody. In this episode: • What the fall-rise is • Softening requests and refusals • Polite corrections and "sorry?" • Polite tone versus flat tone • An invented scene: saturday afternoon • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: It's NOT bad — it's fine, but not great I LIKE it — I like it, but there's a problem Well, MAYbe — perhaps, but I'm not sure It's QUITE nice — it's okay, nothing special SOMEtimes — not always I'll TRY — I'll try, but I can't promise That's one WAY of doing it — I would do it differently (polite) I'd LOVE to, but... — a soft no to an invitation It's quite a long WAY — so maybe we shouldn't walk (polite) I'm a bit BUSy at the moment — not now, please I'm not SURE about that — I don't really agree (polite) It's a bit EXpensive — I don't want to buy it Not toNIGHT, maybe — another night might work If you've got a MINute — please help me, when you can (polite) When you're FREE — no rush I THINK it was Tuesday — I'm correcting you gently I'm not sure it's the RED one — I think it's another one ACTually, it's at four — I'm correcting the time (polite) Weren't we meeting at TEN? — checking, not attacking Sorry? — with a rise or fall-rise on the word: please say that again Real British English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — modern British accent, everyday grammar, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang, he/she/it for things, and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.