So I've been struggling with a lot this lately. I'm(25M) a relatively good looking guy(or so it seems), because when I go out I'll have women looking at me, smiling, sometimes even coming up to initiate conversation. This happens a lot in bars that have a reputation as a "hookup place", which I frequent as I'm not looking for anything serious right now.

What usually happens is that I make eye contact, smile, and if the girl smiles back I'll approach. Usually the girl will lose interest very quickly, so I assume my conversation skills need work.

I keep it casual, I'll usually compliment the girl either on her clothes/vibe or just say shes cute. Then onto stuff like where she's from, what she's drinking, work/school, her plans for the night etc.

For context, English isn't my first langauge, and I live in a foreign country where most people can't speak English well, so any kind of complicated opener or clever wordplay kinda falls flat. I do speak the local language, but I have also experimented with sticking to just English, because some people are really into foreigners and think English is cool by default.

So my question is, how do you guys initiate/keep a conversation in a crowded bar where people come to meet/hookup and they could move onto the next person in a minute?