First Meet
Give your name, say where you're from and what you do, then swap contacts — a first meeting, out loud.
A first meeting in Spanish is three quick moves: your name, where you're from, and what you do. Lead with hola, me llamo… and soy de…, then hand it straight back — ¿y tú? ¿cómo te llamas? — so it's a conversation, not a monologue. Ask what someone does with ¿a qué te dedicas? and answer with soy…, trabajo en… or estudio…. Use tú for casual first meets and usted for older people or formal settings. The classic slip is forgetting the preposition: it's always soy de, never soy from.
Below: the phrases for each stage, why a Colombian might stay on usted where a Mexican switches to tú, and a way to run a first meeting out loud before you're at the actual party.
Say this
Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Colombia |
|---|---|---|
| what do you do? | ¿en qué chambeas? | ¿usted en qué trabaja? |
| where are you from? | ¿de dónde eres? | ¿usted de dónde es? |
| where do you live? | ¿en qué parte de la ciudad vives? | ¿usted dónde vive? |
| let's stay in touch | ¿me pasas tu WhatsApp? | nos hablamos por WhatsApp |
Watch out
The part no phrase list can do
Isabella
Your conversation teacher for this pack
In First Meet, you've just walked into a language exchange and you're meeting Isabella by the drinks table for the first time. She's warm and curious, asks her questions in pairs, and always wants to know how long you've been here. Give your name, where you're from, what you do — then swap contacts before the night moves on. And she talks back:
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 4 lessons and First Meet is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Keep it to three beats: hola, me llamo… (name), soy de… (where you're from), and one detail about what you do. Then hand it back with ¿y tú? so it becomes a conversation.
Always soy de — soy de México, soy de Irlanda. The preposition de carries the 'from', so there's no separate word for it. It's one of the most common early slips, and an easy one to fix.
Tú is safe for casual first meets with people around your age. Use usted for older people or formal contexts. Note the regional habit: in Colombia many people stay on usted even when they're being friendly.
The natural phrase is ¿a qué te dedicas? — broader and warmer than 'what's your job?'. Answer with soy… (a profession), trabajo en… (a place) or estudio….
¿Tienes WhatsApp? or ¿me pasas tu número? both work. Close the meeting warmly with fue un placer conocerte and nos vemos pronto.
