Video calls with family are full of tiny problems: no sound, a frozen face, a camera pointing at the ceiling. Learners often translate directly and say "Your voice is not coming" or "Your picture has stopped." Americans have short, fixed phrases for these moments, and also for the warm parts: catching up, asking about everyone, and saying goodbye. Today you learn both, so your calls feel easy and natural. In this episode: • Starting the call and tech trouble • Greetings and catching up • Family news and caring questions • Ending the call • Invented scene: sunday call with grandma • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: Can you hear me? — the first check on almost every call (neutral) Can you see me okay? — is the video working? (neutral) You're on mute. — your microphone is off (neutral) Unmute yourself. — turn your microphone on (neutral) You're frozen. — your picture stopped moving (casual) You're breaking up. — your sound keeps cutting out (casual) The connection's bad. — the internet signal is weak (neutral) Let me call you back. — I'll hang up and call again (neutral) I can only see your forehead. — move the camera (casual) Hi, Mom! How are you guys? — a warm hello to the family (casual) How's everyone? — how is the whole family? (casual) What's new? — any news? (casual) How have you been? — after some time apart (neutral) Long time no see! — it's been a while (casual) It's so good to see you. — a warm opener (neutral) Let's catch up. — let's share our news (casual) Did you get my message? — a check on a text or photo (neutral) Season 2 · Real American English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — accent, everyday grammar, prepositions, articles, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.