Small talk & breaking the ice

Small talk is the social glue of English. The goal isn't deep content — it's showing warmth and keeping the conversation flowing.

• Safe topics: weekend, weather, work, travel, food. Avoid money, age and politics with strangers.
• Answer with a little extra, then bounce it back: “Good, busy week! How about you?”
• “How are you?” is often just a greeting — a short positive reply is enough.

Phrase 1 / 6

How's it going?

¿Cómo te va?

💡 Suena como 'hows-it-going', todo unido.

¿Cómo te va?

Say it in English, then check yourself.

You started on Monday. A colleague you have met once is waiting for the same coffee machine.

1. 1Open with something you can both see, and end on a question.
2. 2Answer with one extra detail, then hand the question straight back.
3. 3Leave first: give a reason and name when you will talk again.

Nothing here is listening or marking you — this is your own rehearsal, and you tick a move when you have said it out loud. For live correction, take the same situation to Rumi, your AI Tutor, in the role-play step below.

Rehearse the full conversation with Rumi, your AI Tutor — live, in-character role-play with gentle grammar & word-choice corrections as you go.