Starting a convo/basic survival

Q ¡Perdona! / ¡Oye! — Excuse me! / Hey!

They'll say Dime. / ¿Sí? — Tell me. / Yes?

Used to get someone's attention.

Q ¿De dónde eres? — Where are you from?

• A Soy de Estados Unidos. — I'm from the US.

They'll say ¿Y tú? — And you?

"Y tú?" is your natural follow-up here, not their reply.

Q ¿Hablas inglés? — Do you speak English?

• A Un poco. — A little.
• A No, lo siento. — No, sorry.

They'll say Pero te entiendo. — But I understand you.

This exchange flips — the local answers this one.

Q ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas aquí? — How long have you been here?

• A Llevo __ días/semanas. — I've been here __ days/weeks.
• A Acabo de llegar. — I just arrived.

They'll say ¿Y qué te parece? — What do you think of it?

Q Perdona, no te he entendido. — Sorry, I didn't catch that.

• A Te lo repito. — I'll say it again.
• A ¿Te lo digo más despacio? — Shall I say it slower?

They'll say ¿Ahora mejor? — Better now?

"No te he entendido" blames the moment rather than your Spanish — softer than "no entiendo".

Q ¿Cómo se dice __ en español? — How do you say __ in Spanish?

• A Se dice __. — It's said __.

They'll say ¿Lo pillas? / ¿Lo entiendes? — Got it?

The local answers first here with "Se dice __", then checks your understanding.

Q Hasta luego. — See you later!

Closing line to end the conversation.

Q Perdona, ¿me lo repites? — Sorry, could you say that again?

• A Claro, más despacio. — Of course — more slowly.

Q ¿De qué equipo eres? — What team do you support?

• A No entiendo mucho, pero me gusta el ambiente. — I don't know much, but I love the vibe.
• A Del Madrid. / Del Barça. — Real Madrid. / Barça.

They'll say ¡Ese es rival! Es broma. — That's the rival! Just kidding.

"El Madrid" and "el Barça" are the big two; fútbol is instant small talk.

Q ¿Viste el partido? — Did you watch the game?

• A No, ¿cómo quedó? — No, how'd it end?

They'll say Ganamos dos a cero. — We won two-nil.

Q Me tengo que ir, pero encantado/a. — I've got to go, but nice meeting you.

They'll say ¡Igualmente! A ver si nos vemos. — Likewise! Hope we run into each other again.

A warm, standard way to wrap up a chat.

Q Se me hace tarde, otro día seguimos. — It's getting late, let's pick this up another day.

They'll say ¡Claro! Cuídate. — Of course! Take care.

"Otro día" is a soft, polite way to bail.

Q ¿Quién va ganando? — Who's winning?

• A Van empatados. — They're level.
• A Ni idea, acabo de llegar. — No idea, I've just got here.

They'll say El árbitro está fatal. — The referee's having a shocker.

Q Menudo robo. — What a robbery — that was never a foul.

• A ¡Eso digo yo! — That's what I said!

The all-purpose Spanish complaint about a referee. Said out loud in a bar, it buys you agreement from strangers.

Q Yo del fútbol no entiendo, pero me apunto. — I know nothing about football, but I'm in.

• A Da igual, tú anima. — Doesn't matter — just cheer.

Q ¿Nos tomamos la última? — Shall we have one last one?

• A Venga, la última. — Go on then — the last one.
• A Yo lo dejo ya. — I'm going to call it there.

They'll say La última siempre es mentira. — The last one is always a lie.