# Small talk

### Phrase bank

#### Your day

| **Phrases to start small talk** | **Phrases to respond**                                                                                                                                                |
| ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| How're you doing today?         | <p>●  Pretty good (informal), thank you. How're you doing?<br>●  Pretty well, thank you.<br>●  Doing good (informal). How are you?<br>●  Doing well. How are you?</p> |
| How's it going?                 | ●  Fine/great, thanks. Having a good week. How're you doing?                                                                                                          |
| How's your day going?           | ●  Great, thanks for asking. I’m very excited about the interview. And how's your day?                                                                                |
| How's your day been so far?     | ●  So far, so good. I’ve been rather busy lately. And how's your day going?                                                                                           |

#### Weather

| **Phrases to start small talk**                                                       | **Phrases to respond**                                                                                                                                                                            |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <p>How's the weather over there?<br>What's the weather like in \[location] today?</p> | <p>●  Unfortunately, it's raining/snowing. What’s the weather like in \[location]?<br>●  It's stopped raining/snowing, luckily.<br>●  It's quite hot today. It's normally much cooler in May.</p> |
| I hear the weather's been bad in \[location] recently.                                | ●  That's right. It's been raining for three days in a row. Does it often rain where you are?                                                                                                     |
| Are you enjoying the weather today?                                                   | ●  Yes, I love summer and just hope it lasts a bit longer. How about you?                                                                                                                         |

#### Weekend

| **Phrases to start small talk**      | **Phrases to respond**                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| ------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <p>So, how was your weekend?<br></p> | <p>●  Oh, you know, it was nothing special. I just did some housework and met up with some friends. How was your weekend?<br>●  It was a pretty quiet weekend. I can’t say that I did anything special. How about your weekend?</p> |
