Looking for conversation questions to match your topic? Look no further, take a look at our long list of topic based conversation questions. If you don’t see your topic let us know what we are missing and we’ll add it!
ESL Questions: Jobs What are some of the worst jobs you can think of? What are some of the best jobs you can think of? How long do you want to work? Is it better to be a boss or an employee? Why? What would be the most satisfying job for you? What is …
ESL Questions: Intelligence Can intelligence be measured? If so, what is the best way to measure it? If not, why not? What is the most intelligent animal? Do you think that intelligence is only based on genetics or can things in a child’s environment boost intelligence? How intelligent do you think you are? Why …
ESL Questions: Individuality What makes you unique? Is it okay to look different from other people or should you look the same as other people? What do you think when you see someone who looks very different? If you went to a job interview with green hair, what do you think would happen? If …
ESL Questions: Immigration When is immigration helpful to a country and when is harmful? Do you think your country needs more or less immigrants? What nationalities are most immigrants who come to your country? What would happen if we erased all country borders and let people live wherever they wanted? Would it be a …
ESL Questions: Human Wonders How many of the seven ancient wonders can you name? How many are left? 100 million votes were cast for the new human wonders of the world, the new seven wonders are: Chichén Itzá, Mexico Christ the Redeemer, Brazil The Great Wall, China Machu Picchu, Peru Petra, Jordan The Roman …
ESL Questions: Hotels Which do you prefer to stay in when you travel: hotels, hostels, or another type of place? Why? What are the best and worst things about staying in hotels? Have you ever been to a really disgusting hotel? Did you stay or leave? Couch surfing is staying for free at people’s …
ESL Questions: Homes Is your home clean? Are you a very organized person? Do you have a lot of decorations in your home or is it bare? Are you happy with the size of your home? What is your favorite appliance, electronic device, or piece of furniture in your home? If you had $3,000 …
ESL Questions: Holidays What is your favorite holiday? Has your favorite holiday changed since you were a kid? On what holiday do people in your country eat a lot of food? Do you give gifts on any holidays? What foreign holidays do you know about? What is the strangest holiday or festival you have …
ESL Questions: Health What is the best thing to do to stay healthy? What do you think the worst disease to have would be? Do you consider yourself to be healthy? Why? How often do you exercise? What is your diet like? Do you eat mostly fruits and vegetables? What do you think about …
ESL Questions: Having Children How does having children change someone’s life? What kinds of things do people have to give up when they have children? What are some of the benefits of having children? Do you think it is better to have children when you are older or younger? What is the best number …
ESL Questions: Habits What are some things you do every day? What are some good habits you have? Do you have any bad habits? Can your group give you any advice for your bad habits? What is something you should do every day but don’t? What are some activities you like to do? How …
ESL Questions: Golf Have you ever played golf on a real golf course? Have you ever been to a driving range? Does your country have putt putt / miniature golf? What do you think about golf being in the Olympics? Have you ever watched golf on TV? What did you think of it? (e.g. …
ESL Questions: Getting a Job What is the best way to find a job? What do you think are the five most common questions asked at a job interview? What are some things you should do for a job interview? How about things you shouldn’t do? How is the job market in your country, …
ESL Questions: Games How many genres of video games can you name? How are some of these genres unique and different from the others? What are some more examples of games? Choose one or two examples of games or video games. What are their rules? What kinds of games are popular now? What were …
ESL Questions: Future What kind of neighborhood will you live in when you get older? What will cities be like 50 years from now? Think about how these will change (make two or three predictions for each): Transportation Pollution Crime Advertising Buildings Work Shopping Nightlife When will you graduate? How will you use English …
ESL Questions: Friendship Do you prefer to have many friends or just a few that you are close to? What are the benefits of having just a few close friends? How about the benefits of having many friends? Describe your best friend. Are you close friends with anyone who you knew in elementary school? …
ESL Questions: Free Time What are some things you like to do in your free time? Do you have more free time now than when you were a kid? What would you do if you had more free time? Is there such a thing as too much free time? How do free time activities …
ESL Questions: Food What is your favorite snack? What unhealthy food do you love? What food did your mother always tell you to eat and not to eat? What food helps with which health problem? What is the future of food in your country? What kinds of food did you eat when you were …
ESL Questions: First Impressions When you look at someone, what makes you think they are… Dangerous Greedy Intelligent Kind Not smart Crazy Generous Do you like to meet new people or do you prefer to hang out with people you already know? When and where did you meet most of your friends for the …
ESL Questions: Fast Food What is your least favorite fast food restaurant and why? Does fast food taste good or bad? Why? Why is fast food so popular? How often do you eat fast food? What do you usually eat? Where? What is a food that people think is healthy but really isn’t? Do …
ESL Questions: Fashion Would you like to be a fashion model? What are their lives like? Could you date someone if they had a terrible sense of fashion? Which country or city is the most fashionable in the world? Is fashion important or not important? Why or why not? Do you prefer functional or …
ESL Questions: Family Values What values will you pass on to your children? Do you think society is losing its values? How have values changed in society? What is a value other people think is very important which you don’t think is important? What values did you parents pass on to you? Are there …
ESL Questions: Family How do members of a family support each other? Who do you think has the most power in the family? Why? Do you agree with the saying “Children should be seen and not heard”? Why do you agree or disagree? Are good family members or good friends more important? Why? What …
ESL Questions: Facts and Statistics What do you think about these facts and statistics? In a lifetime, the average driver will honk 15,250 times. An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet. 10 percent of all human beings ever born are alive at this very moment. Most lipstick contains fish scales. …
ESL Questions: Ethics Do you consider yourself to be an ethical person? Have you ever found a smart phone? What did you do? If you haven’t, what do you think you would do? Would you risk your life to save another person? Would you jump into a deep river to save a drowning animal? …
ESL Questions: Environmental Problems What are some of the most serious environmental problems? What are ten things individuals can do to help the environment? What are five things governments can do to help the environment? What is your opinion on climate change? Which countries cause the most pollution? How will our children be affected …
ESL Questions: Entrepreneurs What are 4 pros and 4 cons of being an entrepreneur? Do you know any entrepreneurs? Does your country have a lot of entrepreneurs? Why do you think so? What is the most profitable type of business to open in your country? Should a restaurant open where there are no restaurants …
ESL Questions: Empathy How much empathy do you feel towards other people? Do you think it is possible to be too empathetic? Why might it be bad/good for a doctor to have a lot of empathy? In what other jobs is empathy very important? Who is the most empathetic person you know? In what …
ESL Questions: Email How often do you send emails? How many email accounts do you have/need? What email provider do you use? (i.e. Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc.) How much of the email that you receive is spam? Have you hand-written a letter and sent it to someone? If no, why not? If yes, how …
ESL Questions: Electric Cars Would you ever drive an electric car? What are some of the benefits and disadvantages of electric cars? When do you think the first electric car was made? What technology needs to be improved to make electric cars more popular? Are electric cars really environmentally friendly if the electricity to charge them …
ESL Questions: Eating Habits Talk about what you have eaten today. What is the most unhealthy food you can think of? What do people need to eat more of? Do you usually eat healthy food? What are some different types of diets you have heard of? Do you think your parents ate healthier food …
ESL Questions: Dreaming How often do you dream? Do you dream in color or black and white? Have you ever had a flying dream? Have you ever been falling in a dream and just when you are about to hit the ground you wake up? Do you think dreams have meanings? Do you think …
ESL Questions: Disabilities How does the government in your country help disabled people? What are some common disabilities? How do you think disabled people feel when people pity them? Are you comfortable around disabled people? What is the best thing we can do to help disabled people? Do you know anyone who is disabled? …
ESL Questions: Dating Where is the best place in your city to take a date? What can you do if you want to save money and go on a date? How common are blind dates in your country? Do most blind dates go well? If not, why not? What is the best way to …
ESL Questions: Customs Have you ever traveled abroad? If yes, where did you go and what was it like? What customs were different from your country’s customs? If no, would you like to go to abroad? Where would you like to go and what do you think it will be like? Do you think …
ESL Questions: Crime What do you think the most common crime in your country is? Should police in your country be stricter or less strict? Is your country a safe country? Have you ever seen a crime? (Don’t talk about it if it’s too upsetting for you.) Do you think criminals can change? Is …
ESL Questions: Corruption Is there a lot of corruption in your country? What businesses have the most corruption in your country? What are some problems with corruption in the political system of your country? Do you think corruption will always be a part of business and politics? What recent corruption scandal was in the …
ESL Questions: Cooking How often do you cook? How good are you at cooking? What are some things that you can cook? What dish or food are you best at cooking? Do you think you can cook better than your mother? Who is a better cook, your mother or your grandmother? Are cooking shows …
ESL Questions: Conspiracies and Cover Ups What are some famous real conspiracies or cover ups? What are some common conspiracy theories? Do you think they will be proven or proven wrong? Do you think that newspapers sometimes cover up events? How often do politicians in your country get in trouble because of cover ups? …
ESL Questions: Computers Do you know anything about the history of the computer? Do you own a computer? What do you use it for? Think about smart phones, like the iPhone. Do you consider them computers? Why or why not? Do you think the desktop computer is going to become less popular in the …
ESL Questions: Communication How is communication changing between people? It used to be common to talk to strangers. Do you think it’s okay to talk to people you don’t know? How often do you start up a conversation with people you don’t know? Think about how your Grandmother talks with people. Is it the …
ESL Questions: Color What is your favorite color? Is color important to you? Does color affect your emotions? Imagine being in a room where everything is dark blue how would you feel? What if the room was red? Black? Yellow? Pink? Why do you think colors affect humans so much? Do you think that …
ESL Questions: Cloning Do you know how scientists clone animals? What is the process? Do you think scientists should be allowed to clone people? Would you want to have a clone of yourself? What problems could cloning people solve? Could cloning people lead to problems? What kinds of problems? If we could clone dinosaurs …
ESL Questions: Cities Do you like cities or the country side? Which is better and why? You can make one change to your country’s capital city, what will you change? What are some of most famous cities in the world? What makes them famous? Why do you think that humans started living in cities? …
ESL Questions: Cleanliness How clean is too clean? How dirty is too dirty? How can bacteria help humans? If you drop food on the floor, will you pick it up, blow it off/dust it off and eat it? What is the dirtiest job? How often do you wash your hands with soap? What is …
ESL Questions: Choices Would you rather live in your home country or live abroad? Would you rather be smart or beautiful / handsome? Would you rather be poor and happy or rich and unhappy? Would you rather marry someone plain with a good personality or someone beautiful without much personality? If war broke out …
ESL Questions: Childhood What was the best thing about your childhood? What do you miss most about being a child? Do you think that children these days have a better or worse childhood than your generation? Why? What do you think is most important for a happy childhood? What about your childhood do you …
ESL Questions: Charity Do you give to charity or volunteer? What do you think are some important charities people should give to? Do you know of any bizarre charities? Do you give money to homeless people? Do you think people should give money to homeless people? Who do you think needs charity the most? …
ESL Questions: Change Are you someone who likes change? In what ways have you changed since you were in junior high school? How do you think you will change in the future? Which political party in your country is most likely to make big changes? Is that a good or bad thing? “The only …
ESL Questions: Challenges What is a challenge you faced? There are many amazing challenges to try: Visiting all continents Swimming in all of the oceans of the world Climbing Everest Can you think of some more interesting challenges that a person can do? What kind of challenge would you like to try? Do you …
ESL Questions: Cars and Driving If you were going to get a new car, what kind of car would you get? A luxurious car? A sports car? A hybrid or electric car? What kind of cars do you think look the best? Can you drive? If yes, are you a good driver? When did …
ESL Questions: Camping What is the best activity to do while camping? How many times have you gone camping? Did you enjoy it? Where have you gone camping? What are the 4 most important things to bring when you go camping? Is camping with lots of amenities (solar panels, fans, stove, etc.) still camping? …
ESL Questions: Brains What is the most amazing thing about the brain? What is the most mysterious? What are some extraordinary things some people can do with their brains? Will we ever be able to augment our brain with technology? Would you? What do you wish your brain was better at? Do you think …
ESL Questions: Birthdays When is your birthday ? What was your most memorable birthday? What do you usually do to celebrate your birthday? Do you think that the person having the birthday should pay for the birthday party or should their friends and family pay for the party? Why? Where is the best place …
ESL Questions: Books Do you read many books? How often do you read books? Did your parents read to you when you were a child? What are some of the advantages of books vs. movies? How about the disadvantages of books vs. movies? What was the last book you read about? Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction …
ESL Questions: Beauty Do you think beauty is the same for every person? Do you think that different cultures think about beauty differently? What do you think of plastic surgery? What is the most common plastic surgery in your country? What does “Beauty is only skin deep.” mean? What kind of beauty contests are …
ESL Questions: Art How often do you go to art museums? Do you consider yourself to be artistic? What do you think about modern art paintings? How many forms of art can you name? What is your favorite form of art? Is graffiti art? Why or why not? What is the most famous statue …
ESL Questions: Architecture/Building Design What kinds of materials are buildings made from? Is there one type of building material you prefer in buildings? What kind of style of buildings do you like? (Traditional, Modern, Crazy, Functional, etc.) What do you think of your country’s (modern/traditional) architecture? What are some buildings around where you live …
ESL Questions: Appearance What is the first thing you notice about a person? What do the clothes someone wears say about that person? Is there a part of your appearance that you are very proud of? (i.e. eyes, fashion sense, hair etc.) What is the most interesting haircut you have seen? Have you every …
ESL Questions: Animals What animal best represents you? Why? What creature scares you? Why? Except for food, do humans need other animals? Why or why not? What is the most effective way to save endangered species? What are some examples of useful traits that help animals survive? (i.e. a giraffe’s long neck) What is Darwin …
ESL Questions: Aliens Do you believe there is other life in the universe? How about intelligent life? What do you think aliens might look like? Do you think aliens have ever visited earth? What does UFO mean? Have you seen a UFO or do you know someone who has seen a UFO? What is your …
ESL Questions: Advice What three pieces of advice will you give your children? Whose advice do you follow more, your parents’ or your friends’ advice? If you could give the leader of your country some advice, what would it be? If you could go back in time and give yourself some advice, what would youtell …
What are some of the benefits of getting older? Do you think humans will ever be able to stop aging? Is aging more difficult for men or women? Why? Which celebrities have aged well? Are older people actually wiser? What kind of support should children give their aging parents? How long do you want to …
Conversation Starters List The title would have you believe that there are 250 questions, but there are actually more. I’m sure you don’t mind a few more questions, right? Dig in and start having some great conversation questions! You can start with the random conversation questions below, or you can skip to questions about a certain …
