{ "id": "small-talk", "title": "Small talk with someone new", "group": "social", "partner": { "name": "Leo", "role": "guest at a friend's party" }, "topic": [ "party", "anna", "friend*", "meet", "met", "name", "city", "country", "live", "lived", "living", "job", "hobby", "hobbies", "free time", "weekend", "music", "playlist", "guest*" ], "levels": { "A2": { "goal": "Say hello, say where you're from and what you do, and ask one question back.", "phrases": [ { "text": "Nice to meet you too.", "re": "\\bnice to meet you\\b" }, { "text": "I'm from…", "re": "\\b(i'm|i am) from\\b" }, { "text": "I work as…", "re": "\\bi work (as|in|at)\\b" }, { "text": "What about you?", "re": "\\b(what|how) about you\\b|\\band you\\b" }, { "text": "I really like it.", "re": "\\b(like|love|enjoy) it\\b" } ], "words": [ { "w": "How do you know…?", "m": "how did you meet this person?" }, { "w": "What do you do?", "m": "what is your job?" }, { "w": "that's a shame", "m": "that's a bit sad" } ], "steps": [ { "id": "anna", "task": "Say how you know Anna", "say": "Hi, I'm Leo. How do you know Anna?", "hint": "Is Anna your friend? Or do you work with her?", "model": "Nice to meet you too. Anna is my friend from school.", "options": [ { "id": "work", "any": [ "work*", "colleague*", "office", "same company", "same team", "job", "boss" ], "reply": "Oh, you work with her? Me too!" }, { "id": "friend", "any": [ "friend*", "school", "university", "uni", "college", "class*", "neighbo*", "gym", "club", "sister", "cousin", "family", "flatmate*", "roommate*", "boyfriend", "girlfriend", "husband", "wife", "partner", "know her", "known her", "met her", "childhood", "together", "course", "years" ], "reply": "@nice" } ], "tests": { "on": [ "She's my friend from school => friend", "we work together => work", "I'm her neighbour => friend", "Anna is my colleague => work", "she's my friend from work => work" ], "partly": [ "nice to meet you", "hello Leo, I'm Deniz" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ], "unclear": [ "hmm" ] } }, { "id": "from", "task": "Say where you're from", "say": "Where are you from?", "hint": "What country are you from? Or what city?", "model": "I'm from Turkey. What about you?", "options": [ { "id": "ask", "any": [ "what about you", "how about you", "and you", "where are you from", "are you from" ], "reply": "I'm from Dublin. It's colder there!" }, { "id": "from", "any": [ "i'm from", "i am from", "come from", "born in", "grew up", "originally", "/^from (?!work|school|university|uni|college|the |my |our |her |his |class|a )[a-z]+/", "turkey", "istanbul", "ankara", "izmir", "spain", "madrid", "barcelona", "mexico", "brazil", "argentina", "colombia", "italy", "germany", "france", "poland", "ukraine", "russia", "china", "japan", "korea", "india", "iran", "egypt", "syria", "morocco", "saudi arabia", "iraq", "greece", "portugal", "romania", "vietnam", "indonesia", "pakistan", "nigeria", "kazakhstan", "azerbaijan", "england", "london", "ireland", "america", "usa", "canada", "australia" ], "none": [ "what about you", "how about you", "and you", "are you from" ] } ], "tests": { "on": [ "I'm from Turkey => from", "I am from Istanbul. What about you? => ask", "from Madrid => from", "I was born in Brazil => from", "Turkey, and you? => ask" ], "partly": [ "I live here now", "nice party" ], "off": [ "the printer is out of paper" ] } }, { "id": "job", "task": "Say what you do", "say": "And what do you do?", "hint": "What's your job? Or are you a student?", "model": "I work as a nurse in a big hospital.", "options": [ { "id": "nojob", "any": [ "unemployed", "looking for", "don't work", "do not work", "not working", "between jobs", "retired", "stay at home", "housewife", "no job" ], "reply": "@i-see" }, { "id": "job", "any": [ "work*", "job", "student", "study*", "teacher", "engineer", "doctor", "nurse", "developer", "designer", "manager", "accountant", "lawyer", "programmer", "waiter", "waitress", "chef", "cook", "driver", "artist", "writer", "dentist", "pharmacist", "translator", "architect", "journalist", "photographer", "musician", "secretary", "assistant", "cashier", "receptionist", "consultant", "analyst", "mechanic", "electrician", "scientist", "researcher", "freelance*", "office", "bank", "hospital", "shop", "company", "business", "factory", "restaurant", "hotel", "sales", "marketing", "i'm a", "i am a", "i'm an", "i am an" ], "reply": "Oh, cool. Do you like it?", "next": "like" } ], "tests": { "on": [ "I work in a bank => job", "I'm a student => job", "I am a teacher => job", "I'm looking for a job right now => nojob", "I'm retired => nojob" ], "partly": [ "I'm from Ankara" ], "off": [ "the printer is out of paper" ] } }, { "id": "like", "jump": true, "task": "Say if you like it", "hint": "Is it fun? Or is it hard?", "model": "Yes, I really like it. It's very interesting.", "options": [ { "id": "yes", "any": [ "yes", "yeah", "love", "like*", "enjoy*", "fun", "interesting", "great", "amazing", "nice", "good", "i do", "of course", "very much", "it's okay", "it's ok", "it's fine", "not bad" ], "reply": "@great" }, { "id": "no", "any": [ "no", "nope", "not really", "don't like", "do not like", "hate", "boring", "hard", "difficult", "tired*", "stress*", "so so", "not much", "not very", "too much" ], "reply": "Oh, that's a shame." } ], "tests": { "on": [ "Yes, I love it => yes", "not really, it's boring => no", "it's okay => yes", "I don't like it => no", "it's hard but I like it => yes" ], "partly": [ "my office is in the city" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } }, { "id": "weekend", "ahead": false, "task": "Say what you do at the weekend", "say": "What do you do at the weekend?", "hint": "Do you see friends? Do sports? Watch films?", "model": "I usually see my friends. What about you?", "options": [ { "id": "activity", "any": [ "friends", "family", "sport*", "football", "basketball", "tennis", "volleyball", "gym", "run", "running", "walk*", "swim*", "cycl*", "bike", "hik*", "read", "reading", "books", "film*", "movie*", "tv", "netflix", "series", "music", "concert*", "cook*", "bake", "baking", "shopping", "travel*", "trip*", "game*", "play*", "draw*", "paint*", "danc*", "party", "parties", "visit*", "beach", "sea", "nature", "garden*", "yoga", "guitar", "piano", "sing*", "photo*", "park", "cafe*", "restaurant*" ], "reply": "That sounds fun!" }, { "id": "rest", "any": [ "nothing much", "not much", "nothing", "sleep*", "relax*", "rest", "stay home", "stay at home", "chill*", "lazy", "clean*", "work*", "study*" ] } ], "tests": { "on": [ "I play football with my friends => activity", "I usually watch films at home => activity", "nothing much, I sleep a lot => rest", "I study for my exams => rest" ], "partly": [ "I'm from Spain" ], "off": [ "the printer is out of paper" ] } } ], "close": "Well, I need a drink. Nice to meet you!", "watch": [ { "re": "\\bme too (like|love|live|work|study|play|have|go|speak)\\b", "better": "I also $1", "note": "Say “I also $1…” or “I $1… too”.", "tests": { "yes": [ "Me too like football", "me too work in a bank" ], "no": [ "I like football too", "me too, I like it" ] } }, { "re": "\\b(?:i am|i'm) from (turkish|spanish|italian|german|french|polish|russian|chinese|japanese|korean|brazilian|mexican|iranian|egyptian|syrian|moroccan|ukrainian|greek|portuguese|indian|pakistani|english|american)\\b", "better": "I'm $1", "note": "Use “from” with the country: from Turkey. Or say “I’m Turkish”.", "tests": { "yes": [ "I am from Turkish", "I'm from Spanish" ], "no": [ "I'm from Turkey", "I'm Turkish" ] } }, { "re": "\\b(i am|i'm|i work as) (student|teacher|doctor|nurse|developer|designer|manager|lawyer|programmer|waiter|waitress|chef|cook|driver|journalist|dentist|pharmacist|translator|photographer|musician|secretary|cashier|receptionist|consultant|mechanic|scientist|researcher|software developer|software engineer)\\b", "better": "$1 a $2", "note": "Jobs need “a” or “an”: I’m a teacher.", "tests": { "yes": [ "I am student", "I work as teacher", "I'm nurse" ], "no": [ "I'm a student", "I work as a teacher", "I am studying", "I'm cooking" ] } }, { "re": "\\b(i am|i'm|i work as) (engineer|accountant|architect|artist|analyst|economist|electrician|editor|interpreter|engineering student|english teacher|office worker)\\b", "better": "$1 an $2", "note": "Jobs need “a” or “an”: I’m an engineer.", "tests": { "yes": [ "I am engineer", "I'm accountant", "I'm architect" ], "no": [ "I'm an engineer", "I am an architect" ] } } ] }, "B1": { "goal": "Keep a light chat going: find something in common and ask follow-up questions.", "phrases": [ { "text": "Actually, I…", "re": "\\bactually\\b" }, { "text": "How about you?", "re": "\\b(how|what) about you\\b" }, { "text": "That sounds fun.", "re": "\\bsounds (fun|great|amazing|cool|interesting|hard|scary)\\b" }, { "text": "How did you get into…?", "re": "\\bget into\\b" }, { "text": "I'd love to.", "re": "\\b(i'd|i would) love to\\b" } ], "words": [ { "w": "get into something", "m": "start doing it and begin to like it" }, { "w": "Have you lived here long?", "m": "how long have you lived here?" }, { "w": "terrible at it", "m": "very bad at it" } ], "steps": [ { "id": "anna", "task": "Say how you know Anna", "say": "Hi, I'm Leo, Anna's colleague. How do you know her?", "hint": "Are you friends from school? Or from work?", "model": "Actually, we met at university. We're old friends.", "options": [ { "id": "know", "any": [ "friend*", "school", "university", "uni", "college", "class*", "neighbo*", "gym", "club", "sister", "cousin", "family", "flatmate*", "roommate*", "boyfriend", "girlfriend", "husband", "wife", "partner", "know her", "known her", "met her", "childhood", "together", "course", "met", "years", "work*", "colleague*", "office", "job", "online", "through" ], "reply": "@nice" } ], "tests": { "on": [ "Actually we went to university together", "she's my neighbour", "we met at a yoga class", "we work together" ], "partly": [ "nice to meet you, Leo", "great party" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } }, { "id": "city", "ahead": false, "task": "Say how long you've lived here", "say": "Have you lived here long?", "hint": "Did you just move here? Or years ago?", "model": "Not long, actually. I moved here six months ago.", "options": [ { "id": "new", "any": [ "just moved", "recently", "not long", "month*", "week*", "a year", "one year", "last year", "this year", "new here", "i'm new", "i am new", "few days", "arrived" ], "reply": "Oh, still new! Do you like it?", "next": "like" }, { "id": "long", "any": [ "years", "long time", "all my life", "whole life", "born here", "grew up", "ages", "forever", "decade*", "always", "since" ], "reply": "So you know the good places!" } ], "tests": { "on": [ "Not long, I moved here six months ago => new", "I've lived here for ten years => long", "I was born here => long", "I just moved here => new", "about a year => new" ], "partly": [ "I live in the city centre" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } }, { "id": "like", "jump": true, "task": "Say what you think of the city", "hint": "What's good about it? Or what's hard?", "model": "I love the food, but it's a bit expensive.", "options": [ { "id": "hard", "any": [ "expensive", "hard", "difficult", "miss*", "weather", "rain*", "cold", "crowded", "traffic", "noisy", "lonely", "homesick", "rent", "not really", "don't like", "do not like", "not easy", "stress*" ], "reply": "Yeah, it takes time." }, { "id": "good", "any": [ "love", "like", "enjoy*", "people", "food", "friendly", "nice", "beautiful", "sea", "view*", "cheap", "culture", "museum*", "nightlife", "cafe*", "restaurant*", "park*", "interesting", "great", "amazing", "yes", "yeah", "fun", "lively", "safe", "green" ], "reply": "@nice" } ], "tests": { "on": [ "I love the food and the people => good", "it's very expensive => hard", "yes, but I miss my family => hard", "I like it a lot => good" ], "partly": [ "I moved here for my job" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } }, { "id": "hobby", "ahead": false, "task": "Talk about your free time", "say": "What do you do when you're not working?", "hint": "Any hobbies? Sport, music, cooking?", "model": "I play the guitar, and I go running at the weekend.", "options": [ { "id": "activity", "any": [ "friends", "family", "sport*", "football", "basketball", "tennis", "volleyball", "gym", "run", "running", "walk*", "swim*", "cycl*", "bike", "hik*", "read", "reading", "books", "film*", "movie*", "tv", "netflix", "series", "music", "concert*", "cook*", "bake", "baking", "shopping", "travel*", "trip*", "game*", "play*", "draw*", "paint*", "danc*", "party", "parties", "visit*", "beach", "sea", "nature", "garden*", "yoga", "guitar", "piano", "sing*", "photo*", "park", "cafe*", "restaurant*", "nothing much", "not much", "sleep*", "relax*", "chill*", "at home", "stay home", "learn*", "study*", "language*", "english", "climb*" ], "reply": "@nice" } ], "tests": { "on": [ "I play the guitar and I go running", "I love cooking", "mostly I watch films at home", "I relax at home" ], "partly": [ "my job is very busy" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } }, { "id": "climb", "ahead": false, "task": "Ask Leo about his hobby", "say": "I've just started climbing. I'm terrible at it!", "hint": "Have you ever tried it?", "model": "That sounds fun! How did you get into it?", "options": [ { "id": "ask", "any": [ "how did you", "how do you", "why did you", "where do you", "where is", "how often", "is it hard", "is it difficult", "is it scary", "is it dangerous", "get into", "what made you", "when did you", "how long", "do you like", "do you enjoy", "who taught" ], "reply": "A friend took me. It's really hard!" }, { "id": "tried", "any": [ "i've tried", "i have tried", "i tried", "i climb", "i do it", "me too", "i love climbing", "i go climbing", "i used to", "i did it", "yes i have", "once", "a few times", "can i come", "take me", "with you", "i'd love to", "i would love to", "join you" ], "reply": "No way! Let's go together sometime." }, { "id": "react", "any": [ "sounds fun", "sounds great", "sounds cool", "sounds hard", "sounds scary", "that's cool", "cool", "amazing", "wow", "interesting", "brave", "never", "haven't", "have not", "not really", "no", "scary", "fun", "nice", "good for you", "don't worry", "practice", "practise" ], "none": [ "how", "why", "where", "when", "what", "who", "is it", "do you", "did you", "can i", "can you" ] } ], "tests": { "on": [ "That sounds fun! How did you get into it? => ask", "I tried it once, it was hard => tried", "No, never. Is it scary? => ask", "Wow, sounds hard => react", "Me too, I love climbing => tried", "wow fun, how did you start => ask", "no, I haven't => react" ], "partly": [ "I like football" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } } ], "close": "Anyway, I'll grab a drink. Talk later!", "watch": [ { "re": "\\b(it'?s|it is|it was|that'?s|that is|that was) (?:very |so |really )?funny\\b", "better": "$1 really fun", "note": "“Funny” makes you laugh. “Fun” means you enjoy it.", "tests": { "yes": [ "climbing is hard but it's very funny", "it was so funny to play" ], "no": [ "it's really fun", "that's fun" ] } }, { "re": "\\bbefore (\\d+|a|an|one|two|three|four|five|six|seven|eight|nine|ten|a few|few|several) (years?|months?|weeks?|days?)\\b", "better": "$1 $2 ago", "note": "For the past, put “ago” after the time: two years ago.", "tests": { "yes": [ "I moved here before two years", "before 6 months", "before a few weeks" ], "no": [ "I moved here two years ago", "before I moved here" ] } }, { "re": "\\bwhen i was (child|kid|teenager|student|boy|girl)\\b", "better": "when I was a $1", "note": "Say “when I was a child”, with “a”.", "tests": { "yes": [ "I started when I was child", "when I was student" ], "no": [ "when I was a child", "when I was young", "when I was little" ] } } ] }, "B2": { "goal": "Hold a relaxed conversation, share an opinion and close the chat politely.", "phrases": [ { "text": "To be honest, …", "re": "\\bto be honest\\b|\\bhonestly\\b" }, { "text": "I see what you mean.", "re": "\\bsee what you mean\\b" }, { "text": "It's been ages since…", "re": "\\b(it'?s|it has) been ages\\b" }, { "text": "Anyway, it was really nice to meet you.", "re": "\\b(nice|lovely|great|good) (to meet|meeting|chatting|talking)\\b" }, { "text": "Let's keep in touch.", "re": "\\b(keep|stay) in touch\\b" } ], "words": [ { "w": "overrated", "m": "not as good as people say" }, { "w": "What's keeping you busy?", "m": "what are you doing a lot of these days?" }, { "w": "swap numbers", "m": "give each other your phone numbers" } ], "steps": [ { "id": "busy", "task": "Say what keeps you busy", "say": "I'm Leo, by the way. What's keeping you busy these days?", "hint": "Mostly work, or something more fun?", "model": "To be honest, mostly work. We're launching a new app.", "options": [ { "id": "busy", "any": [ "work*", "job", "project*", "deadline*", "office", "client*", "study*", "exam*", "thesis", "course*", "class*", "busy", "report*", "meeting*", "interview*", "career", "moving", "new flat", "renovat*", "kids", "baby", "family", "launch*", "startup", "business", "overtime", "crazy", "hectic", "stress*" ], "reply": "@i-see" }, { "id": "fun", "any": [ "travel*", "trip*", "hobby", "hobbies", "sport*", "gym", "training", "running", "climbing", "music", "band", "paint*", "cook*", "wedding", "holiday*", "learning", "danc*", "football", "tennis", "yoga", "guitar", "piano", "photo*", "reading", "writing", "garden*", "volunteer*", "friends", "nothing much", "not much", "relax*", "chill*", "fun", "festival*" ], "reply": "@nice" } ], "tests": { "on": [ "To be honest, mostly work. We're launching a new app => busy", "I'm learning to play the guitar => fun", "exams, exams, exams => busy", "not much, just relaxing => fun" ], "partly": [ "great party, by the way" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } }, { "id": "trip", "ahead": false, "task": "Talk about a recent trip", "say": "Have you been anywhere good recently?", "hint": "Any trips lately? Somewhere new?", "model": "Yes, I went to Lisbon last month. It was amazing.", "options": [ { "id": "nowhere", "any": [ "not really", "nowhere", "haven't", "have not", "not recently", "no time", "too busy", "stayed home", "stayed at home", "not yet", "no", "nope", "not for a while", "it's been ages", "ages" ], "reply": "Me neither. Work's been crazy." }, { "id": "place", "any": [ "went", "been to", "go to", "visited", "visit*", "trip", "travel*", "weekend in", "holiday", "vacation", "beach", "mountain*", "island", "abroad", "festival", "lake", "coast", "seaside", "village", "countryside", "last week", "last month", "last weekend", "last summer", "last year", "yes", "yeah", "actually", "paris", "london", "rome", "barcelona", "lisbon", "istanbul", "berlin", "amsterdam", "prague", "new york" ], "reply": "Oh, I hear it's overrated. Was it worth it?", "next": "worth" } ], "tests": { "on": [ "Yes, I went to Lisbon last month => place", "not really, I've been too busy => nowhere", "yes, a weekend in Rome => place", "no, it's been ages => nowhere", "I haven't been to many places => nowhere", "no, but I went to Rome last year => place" ], "partly": [ "I love this music" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } }, { "id": "worth", "jump": true, "task": "Give your opinion on the place", "hint": "Did you enjoy it, or was it overrated?", "model": "To be honest, it was a bit crowded, but the food was amazing.", "options": [ { "id": "over", "any": [ "overrated", "touristy", "crowded", "expensive", "disappoint*", "not worth", "wasn't worth", "was not worth", "too busy", "see what you mean", "you're right", "you are right", "a bit", "not great", "not that", "not amazing", "boring", "pricey" ], "reply": "@fair-enough" }, { "id": "worth", "any": [ "worth", "loved", "love", "amazing", "beautiful", "definitely", "recommend", "great", "fantastic", "wonderful", "incredible", "absolutely", "yes", "yeah", "really nice", "should go" ], "reply": "Okay, you've sold it to me." } ], "tests": { "on": [ "To be honest, it was a bit crowded, but the food was amazing => over", "definitely worth it => worth", "I see what you mean, it was very touristy => over", "I loved it => worth", "it wasn't worth it => over" ], "partly": [ "it was last summer" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } }, { "id": "stay", "ahead": false, "task": "Share your view on city life", "say": "Will you stay in the city, or move somewhere quieter?", "hint": "City life, or somewhere smaller?", "model": "I see what you mean, but I'd stay. I love the energy here.", "options": [ { "id": "move", "any": [ "move*", "quieter", "countryside", "village", "small town", "smaller", "seaside", "by the sea", "coast", "nature", "abroad", "somewhere else", "leave", "leaving", "get out", "mountains", "garden", "quiet", "peace*", "calm*" ], "reply": "@fair-enough" }, { "id": "stay", "any": [ "stay*", "love it here", "love the city", "here for good", "not leaving", "never leave", "energy", "everything is here", "can't imagine", "my job is here", "friends are here", "love living here", "for now" ], "reply": "@nice" }, { "id": "depends", "any": [ "depend*", "hard to say", "maybe", "both", "who knows", "one day", "eventually", "someday", "sooner or later", "we'll see", "not sure", "in a few years" ], "reply": "@fair-enough" } ], "tests": { "on": [ "I see what you mean, but I'd stay. I love the energy here => stay", "one day I'll move to the countryside => move", "it depends on my job => depends", "honestly, I'd stay here for now => stay", "I'm not sure, it depends => depends", "I'd never leave => stay" ], "partly": [ "this music is great" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } }, { "id": "bye", "ahead": false, "task": "End the chat politely", "say": "Anyway, I should go and say hi to Anna.", "hint": "I'm off for now. Shall we keep in touch?", "model": "Sure. It was really nice to meet you. Let's keep in touch.", "options": [ { "id": "keep", "any": [ "keep in touch", "stay in touch", "get in touch", "number*", "swap", "instagram", "insta", "whatsapp", "linkedin", "add you", "add me", "follow", "message me", "text me", "call me", "catch up", "meet again", "coffee sometime", "drink sometime", "next time", "let's meet", "phone" ], "reply": "@sounds-good" }, { "id": "bye", "any": [ "nice to meet you", "nice meeting you", "good to meet", "great to meet", "lovely to meet", "nice chatting", "nice talking", "lovely chatting", "great talking", "see you", "bye", "goodbye", "take care", "enjoy", "catch you", "have fun", "have a good", "go ahead", "of course", "sure", "no problem", "say hi" ], "none": [ "keep in touch", "stay in touch", "number*", "swap", "instagram", "whatsapp", "linkedin", "catch up", "meet again" ] } ], "tests": { "on": [ "Sure. It was really nice to meet you. Let's keep in touch => keep", "of course, see you later => bye", "shall we swap numbers => keep", "nice chatting, enjoy the party => bye" ], "partly": [ "where is Anna" ], "off": [ "can you pass me the salt" ] } } ], "close": "It was lovely chatting. Enjoy the party!", "watch": [ { "re": "\\b(?:i am|i'm) (working|living|studying|staying|learning|playing|teaching|doing|dancing|running|painting|writing|training|climbing|volunteering|practising|practicing)\\b((?: \\w+){0,4}?) since\\b", "better": "I've been $1$2 since", "note": "With “since”, use “I’ve been”: I’ve been working here since 2022.", "tests": { "yes": [ "I'm working here since 2022", "I am living in Berlin since last year" ], "no": [ "I've been working here since 2022", "I'm working on a new project" ] } }, { "re": "\\baccording to me\\b", "better": "in my opinion", "note": "“According to” is for other people’s views. For yours, say “I think”.", "tests": { "yes": [ "according to me, it's overrated" ], "no": [ "according to my friend, it's great", "in my opinion it's overrated" ] } }, { "re": "\\b(?:can|could) you give me your (?:phone )?number\\b", "better": "shall we swap numbers", "note": "It sounds lighter, and it works both ways.", "tests": { "yes": [ "can you give me your number", "Could you give me your phone number?" ], "no": [ "shall we swap numbers", "can you give me a minute" ] } } ] } } }