slideshow Archives

20 Fun Discussion Questions for (Not Only) the ESL Classroom

I don’t know about your corner of the world, but here in Central Europe summer has arrived with full force. It’s scorching hot. I finally understand the 3-hour siesta they have in some countries. Who would want to move, or think in this heat? So I cut my students some slack, we play scrabble and have fun. The testing is over, the school term ends in a few days, field trips have been canceled because of Covid-19, there is not much left to do. And did I mention it’s boiling hot and our building doesn’t have AC? Right, so let’s have som fun.

This speaking activity contains 25 fun ESL discussion questions for teenagers and adult learners. (16+, B1+). It is best for small groups or as a pair-work.

The slideshow can be used as a resource for online teaching, just share your screen on Zoom or other app when teaching online. Click on the full screen option in the top right corner of the slideshow and your whole group can discuss or if you want to use the activity in smaller groups, assign your students into breakout rooms and send them the PDF with the discussion questions before your lesson. During the lesson, pop into the breakout rooms to listen in and observe.

Slideshow

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1. What’s the closest thing to real magic?

2 .Who is the messiest person you know?

3. What will finally break the internet?

4. What’s the most useless talent you have?

5. Where is the worst smelling place you’ve been?

6. What celebrity would you rate as a perfect 10?

7. What’s a body part that you wouldn’t mind losing?

8. What is the dumbest way you’ve been injured?

9. Which fictional character would be the most boring to meet in real life?

10. What are the best and worst purchases you’ve ever made?

1. If you had to change your name, what would your new name be, and why would you choose that name?

2. What are some things that sound like compliments but are actually insults?

3. What’s your biggest screw up in the kitchen?

4. What’s the worst commercial you’ve recently seen? Why is it so bad?

5. What is the craziest thing one of your teachers has done?

6. When did you screw everything up, but no one ever found out it was you?

7. What elements of pop culture will be forever tied in your mind to your childhood?

8. If you could know the absolute and total truth to one question, what question would you ask?

9. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week?

10 .What ridiculous thing has someone tricked you into doing or believing?

20 Fun Questions to Discuss in the ESL ClassroomDownload

The questions for this activity are used with the kind permission of C.B. Daniels of Conversation Starters World.

Other ESL resources:

Conversation Starters: 30 Interesting Conversation Questions Not Only For ESL Students

Conversation Questions Gerunds and Infinitives: ESL Speaking Activity

30 Hypothetical Conversation Questions for ESL Students

Conversation Questions Gerunds and Infinitives: ESL Speaking Activity

ESL Exam Speaking Picture Description and Questions

30 Hypothetical Conversation Questions for ESL Students

Here is another set of conversation questions, this some for more advanced students as the questions are hypothetical, so it requires a knowledge of conditionals and a certain level of creativity. I’d recommend it for 16+ (B1, B2, C1). The questions for this activity are used with the kind permission of C.B. Daniels of Conversation Starters World.

As usual it this conversation activity consists of a slideshow for remote teaching and a downloadable PDF for easy printing.

The slideshow can be used as a resource for online teaching: share your screen on Zoom or other app when teaching online. Click on the full screen option in the top right corner of the slideshow and your whole group can discuss or if you want to use the activity in smaller groups, assign your students into breakout rooms and send them the PDF with the conversation questions before your lesson. During the lesson, pop into the breakout rooms to listen in and observe.

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1. If you were a transformer, what vehicle would you turn into?

2. What laws would you abolish if you could? What laws would you create?

3. If extra lives were a thing in the real world, how would you get them?

4. If you were a food, what food would you be?

5. What animal would be way better if it was covered in scales?

6. If you could design a planet, what would your perfect planet look like?

7. What would be your strategy for a zombie apocalypse?

8. If you could be the CEO of any company, what company would you choose?

9. What two animals would you like to switch the sounds they make?

10. Would you want to permanently feel zero pain if given the chance?

11. What cartoon world do you wish you could live in for a week?

12. What do you wish grew on trees?

13. What weird thing would you make socially acceptable if you could?

14. If every time you snapped your fingers, you would instantly be transported to a random point in humanity’s timeline, would you snap your fingers? If so, how often?

15. If you were perpetually surrounded by one aroma (besides your natural smell) which you and everyone around you could smell, what would it be?

16. If you could level up any aspect of yourself (i.e., strength, intelligence, charisma, etc.) but you had to decrease another aspect of yourself by the same amount, what aspects would you increase, and which would you decrease?

17. If humans lost the ability to see all colors except one, which color would you want to survive?

18. If you were a dictator of a small country, what crazy dictator stuff would you do?

19. If you could put wings on any species of animal, what animal would you choose?

20. How would the world be different if zeppelins had caught on and were the dominant form of air travel?

21. Every day 12 things appear in your backyard, they are random, but all start with a letter of your choosing. What letter do you choose?

22. If when you died, you could cease to exist or wander the earth forever, never being able to interact with anything, which would you choose?

23. If you could move anywhere and still have a livable wage, where would you like to move?

24. If you could get a ticket to any show or event, what would you want a ticket to?

25. If you could go back in time and give your parents advice before you were born, what advice would you give them?

26. If everyone was mentally incapable of lying, how would that change the world?

27. If you could be invisible, but it would mean being permanently invisible, would you want to be?

28. If you had to do a dance that had never been done in the history of mankind or be killed, what kind of dance would you do?

29. If you could erase one thing from existence, even the memory of the thing, what would it be?

30. If you were required by law to get a full body tattoo, what would you get tattooed over your entire body?

30 Hypothetical Conversation QuestionsDownload

Other resources to practice speaking:

ESL Vocabulary Activity. Forbidden Words: Health

ESL Vocabulary Activity Based on Taboo: Food

ESL Travel Vocabulary Taboo Cards

12 ESL Negotiation Role-plays: Real-life situations

ESL Speaking Activity: Conversation Cards

50 ESL Conversation Questions for Teens and Adults

This speaking activity contains 50 ESL conversation questions for teens and adult learners. (16+, B1+). It is best for small groups or as a pair-work.

This activity contains 50 questions and a YouTube video, so students can practice listening to real language and you can also play the game from the video with your students in your classroom. Scroll down for the ESL conversation questions activity, and the video.

The slideshow can be used as a resource for online teaching, just share your screen on Zoom or another app when teaching online. Click on the full-screen option in the top right corner of the slideshow and your whole group can discuss or if you want to use the activity in smaller groups, assign your students into breakout rooms and send them the PDF with the conversation questions before your lesson. During the lesson, pop into the breakout rooms to listen in and observe.

Slideshow

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50 ESL Conversation Questions for Teens and Adults

1. You have to save the world tomorrow, who’s in your team?

2. What is your favorite summertime memory? Why?

3. Who do you think impacted your personality the most? Why?

4. What is your go-to skill in a talent show?

5. When was the last time you did something new?

6. What are you passionate about?

7. What makes you laugh the most?

8. What is best about being an adult?

9. What is best about being a teenager?

10. What is your favorite smell?

11. When was the last time you cried because you laughed too hard?

12. What are you most self-conscious about?

13. If you had 24 hours to live what would you do?

14. What have you started that you didn’t finish? Why?

15. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

16. Road trip or flying?

17. What is your favorite childhood memory?

18. Who is the one person you can always count on?

19. Sunset or Sunrise?

20. What quote would you tattoo on yourself and where?

**Want more speaking resources? Try these role-play activities.**

21. What inspires you?

22. What always makes you smile?

23. If you could be any character (book/movie/TV) who would it be?

24. What accomplishment of yours are you most proud of?

25. Where would you live for a year if money were no object?

26. What is your go-to karaoke song?

27. Star Wars or Star Trek…or neither?

28. What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

29. If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?

30. Do you believe people can truly change?

31. What problem are you currently grappling with?

32. What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

33. What is the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?

34. Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up?

35. Name something that is completely overrated.

36. Is it better to be loved or to love?

37. If you had to choose only one, love or money?

38. What do you miss the most about being a kid?

39. Who do you wish you could get back into contact with?

40. What is the kindest thing you’ve ever done for someone else?

41. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

42. What makes you feel really alive?

43. What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

44. What are you thankful for at this very moment?

45. Would you rather be in space or under the sea?

46. What is your favorite family tradition?

47. Where do you want to be in 10 years?

48. What would your friends be surprised you like to do?

49. When was the last time you gazed at the stars?

50. What is the one meal you never get tired of eating?

50 ESL Conversation Questions for Teenagers and AdultsDownload

Watch a video where teens agree/disagree with various statements

In this video, teens express how strongly they agree/disagree with different statements. The statement appears on screen and students indicate their responses by stepping into lanes representing how they feel about the questions. Some of the students are then asked to explain their answers.

You can pause the video after every question and ask your students to answer it one by one, or you can play the variation of the game in your classroom.