When a friend tells you a story, you listen carefully and quietly. That feels polite. But on an American phone call, long silence can sound like "Are you still there?" or "You're not interested." Americans expect small sounds and words from the listener every few seconds. In this episode: • The basic listener sounds • Reaction words and their melody • Reply questions and follow-ups • Why this differs across languages • Listening scene: a phone story • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: uh-huh (uh-HUH) — yes, I'm following (casual) mm-hmm (mm-HMM) — yes, go on (casual) yeah — I'm with you (casual) right — I understand, that makes sense (neutral) okay — I got that, continue (neutral) oh — new information (neutral) wow — that's surprising or impressive (casual) sure — of course (casual) uh-huh (uh-HUH) — yes, with the voice going up at the end uh-uh (UH-uh) — no, with a stop in the middle and the stress on the first part mm-hmm (mm-HMM) — yes mm-mm (MM-mm) — no Really? — voice goes up: I'm surprised (neutral) No way! — high and strong: I can't believe it (casual) Oh no. — voice falls low: that's bad news (neutral) That's awesome! — high and bright: great news (casual) Nice! — good for you (casual) Seriously? — are you sure? (casual) That's too bad. — I'm sorry that happened (neutral) Oh, I'm so sorry. — for sad news (polite) Good for you! — I'm happy you did that (neutral) Ugh, that's annoying. — I understand the frustration (casual) And then what? — what happened next? (casual) What happened? — tell me (neutral) Season 2 · Real American English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — accent, everyday grammar, prepositions, articles, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang 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.