IELTS Speaking Part 3 Topics & Questions

7 Common Question Types

The seven common question types that appear in IELTS speaking part 3 are:

1. Opinion– What do you think about ‘this’? Remember to say why you
think that way and give examples.
2. Evaluate– What do you think about someone else’s opinion?
3. Future– What do you think will happen in the future?
4. Cause and Effect– What caused ‘this’ and/or what effects has ‘it’ had?
5. Hypothetical– Talk about imaginary or unreal situations.
6. Compare and Contrast– Talk about the difference and/or similarities
between two things.
7. Past– How were things different in the past and how have they
changed?

Grammatical Structures

Opinion

One thing you should not do is start every sentence with ‘I think…’ or ‘In my
opinion…’ The IELTS examiner will be looking for how you vary your
language. Below are a number of ways you could do that:

 As I see it,
 Personally,
 For me,

If you feel very strongly about something you could use:

 I’m convinced that….

 I’m certain that….
 I’m sure that….

If you are less sure about your opinion you could give a weaker opinion by
using:

 I guess that…
  I suppose that….
 I’d say that…..

Please have a look at my IELTS speaking part 3 guide for more information

on how to extend your answers.

Example Question

What are some of the ways people can help others in the community?

As I see it, there are many ways one can help the needy, but the best way is
by making charitable donations. People can choose a charity and simply
donate a sum of money and leave it to them to help others in need. For
instance, I recently gave money to an orphanage. I don’t have time to help
them personally, so I’ll leave it up to them to use the money as they see fit.

Evaluate

In these kinds of questions you will be asked what you think about someone
else’s opinion. We will therefore need to use expressions that allow us to
agree or disagree.

For agreement we can use:

 I couldn’t agree with you more.

 That’s so true.
 That’s for sure.
 That’s exactly how I feel.
 No doubt about it.
 I suppose so./I guess so.
 You/they have a point there.

For disagreement we can use:

 I don’t think so.

 I’m afraid I disagree.
 I totally disagree.
 I beg to differ.
  I’d say the exact opposite.
 Not necessarily.
 That’s not always true.
 That’s not always the case.

Remember that you will have to extend your answers with explanations and
examples.

Example Question

Some people say that people helped others more in the past than they do
now. Do you agree or disagree?

I don’t think so. When it comes to my parent’s generation I think they are quite
sceptical about helping other people in the community, but my generation are
regularly doing things to improve it, such as volunteering for various
environmental and charitable organisations. Young people are actively
encouraged to help out in the community and I don’t think this happened in
the past, so I’m afraid I’d disagree.

Future

You are often asked to predict how a certain topic will change in the future.

For making future predictions we normally use ‘will + verb’, however this is
quite simple and the examiner will be looking for your ability to use more
complex structures to predict the future. More complex structures could
include:

 X plans to…..
 It is predicted that….
 X intends to….
 I foresee…..
 It is foreseeable….
 Conditionals- If X + verb…..
 It is likely that…
 It is probable that….
 It is unforeseeable that….
  I envisage….

As always you will have to explain why you think this will occur in the future.
You may also want to use future conditionals to extend your answer.

Example Question

Some people say that working from home will be quite common in the future.
Do you agree?

It is foreseeable that more people will work from home in the future. If the
internet becomes faster and there are more programs, such as Skype, that
allow people to work from home more easily, I’d predictthat more people will
stay at home. If you think about it, most people don’t need to be physically
present to do their jobs and I envisage that face to face meetings will be a
thing of the past.

Cause and Effect  

You may also be asked to discuss what has caused a certain situation and
what effects this has. This language will also help you in IELTS writing task 2.

To talk about cause and effect you can use:

 …because…
 …as a result….
 …resulted in…
 …as a consequence…
 …due to….
 …caused…
 …led to….
 …means that….

These are just some examples and the form of the words may change
depending on the words around them in the sentence. Only use them if you
are sure your sentences are grammatically correct.

Example Question
How does advertising influence what people choose to buy?

I think advertising has a big influence on what people purchase and

often leads to them always sticking with the same brand. For example, I
always drink Coca Cola and I believe this is because I grew up watching all
those ads on TV and I instinctively buy it as a result. I mean, why would
companies spend so much money on adverts, unless it led to more sales?

Hypothetical

The second conditional is used to talk about ‘unreal’, ‘unlikely’ or ‘impossible’

situations. You might get asked a question about an ‘unreal’ situation, for
example ‘If you were mayor of your city, what would you do to improve it?’

The grammar we use for this is:

If + (subject 1) + past participle, then (subject 2) + would + verb

Example Question

If you could choose any country to live in, where would you choose?

If I could live in any country, I would probably choose Australia. The weather

is great; the people are super friendly and just imagine living beside all those
beaches. If I could choose another country, it would have to be Italy, for the
architecture, the culture and its fascinating history.

Compare and Contrast  

To compare two things, use a comparative adjective + than e.g. He’s taller
than his sister.

Some comparative adjectives are irregular:

Good- better

Bad- worse
Far- further

For short adjectives, add –(e)r. If they end in –y change to –ier. For example:

Hard- harder

Cheap- cheaper

Easy- easier

Lazy- lazier

For longer adjectives, use more. For example:

More interesting

More difficult

Example Question

Do you think primary school children should learn a second language or

should they wait until secondary school?

It’s obvious that the earlier children start a language the easier it becomes in
later life. However, some parents might think that subjects like maths
are more important than languages at primary level. They may also think that
a foreign language is less important than their first language and this should
be prioritised.

Past

 We may use the present perfect continuous to talk about something

that started in the past and continues up until the present. Example: They
have been developing the city centre for the past five years. For this
tense we use the structure has/have + been + present participle (verb-
ing).
  Used to + infinitive to talk about past habits or states that are now
finished.

 Would + infinitive to describe past habits.

 Past simple to talk about things you did in the past that you no longer do
or are no longer true.

 Past continuous to talk about the background of a story or how you felt
at a particular time.

 Past perfect to say something happened before something else in the

past.

Example Question

How has teaching changed in your country over the past few decades?

In the past, teachers simply lectured students and the students just listened to

what they said. We were given lots of facts to learn and there was no room for
creativity or freedom of expression. I remember learning lots of things without
thinking about the theory behind it. Now, there’s been a movement
towards students thinking for themselves.

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Family.

1. Is family important in your country?
2. How has the size of the family changed in the last few decades in your country?
3. How do you think the family will change in the future?
4. What role do grandparents play in the family in your country?
5. Who do you think should be responsible for the care of the elderly, the family or the government?
6. Why is the number of joint families decreasing in modern time?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Sports and competition.

1. Why are some sports fans so passionate?
2. Is there any violence at sporting events in your country?
3. Should athletes be better role models?
4. What benefits do international sporting events bring?
5. Is it important for a country to win lots of medals?
6. The money professional sportsmen earn is significantly higher than that the earning of other
professionals. Is it justified?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Historic Place.

1. How do people in your country feel about protecting historic buildings?
2. Do you think an area can benefit from having an interesting historic place locally? In what way?
3. What do you think will happen to historic places or buildings in the future? Why?
4. How were you taught history when you were at school?
5. Are there other ways people can learn about history, apart from at school? How?
6. Do you think history will still be a school subject in the future? Why?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Films/ Cinema.

1. Do you think the cinema has increased or decreased in popularity in recent years?
2. In your opinion, will this trend continue into the future?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of making films of real-life events?
4. How important do you think it is for a filmmaker to remain true to the original story?
5. Should films and television be censored or should we be free to choose what we see?
6. How do you think censorship laws will change in the next 20 years?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Humour.

1.  What types of programmes do you find funny on TV? 
Answer: Personally, I do not watch TV that much though once this has been a great source of
entertainment for me. On an average, I watch TV 5-10 hours in a week. I find reality TV shows,
comedy TV series and celebrity talk show quite funny and entertaining. TV series like ‘How I met
your mother’, and ‘The big bang theory’ are very funny.
2.  What types of programmes are most popular in your country? Why do you think this is the
case?
Answer: Talk shows, news, and TV series are very popular among the TV viewers in my country.
Based on a recent survey published online, talk shows and news analysis are rapidly gaining
popularity. I believe that watching the news is quite popular in the whole world. It’s easy to watch,
provides updates around us, informs us about the current events and entertain us. Unlike other
programmes, we can start watching a news programme anytime and we do not need to pay a great
deal of attention to grab the information or the theme of it. Similarly, talk shows give us insights of an
event and let us know what experts have to say about an event. Sometimes people with opposite
opinions and views sit together and analyse something from their viewpoints. Those sorts of
programmes are both entertaining and informative and I guess this is the main reasons people in my
country watch these programmes more than other programmes.
3.  What kind of things make you laugh? Why? 
Answer: I guess this is a tough question to answer as I had to think really hard to come with an
answer to this question. I think a good sense of humour, a funny joke, a funny activity of a child, a
comedy movie, a serious attitude of a child, an activity or a pet or a funny childhood or adolescent
memory make me laugh.  I love children, especially for their innocence. Sometimes the acts like
adults and this is an enjoyable thing for most of the people. A good movie that has a funny storyline
or funny characters makes me laugh as I seriously enjoy these types of movies. A sense of humour,
an enjoyable and funny joke is also very refreshing and helps me laugh for a while.
4.   Do you like to make people laugh? How? 
Answer: Definitely, I love to make people laugh. But that does not mean that I act like a joker or a
clown or I try to make others laugh all the time. I sometimes tell a funny joke or story which often
make others laugh. Besides, I sometimes mimic someone and that makes my friends laugh. For
instance, we had a very funny neighbour and whenever I act like him in front of my friends, they all
find it very funny and they laugh quite loudly. I am not sure if I have an acute sense of humour but I
believe that this is an important quality to make others enjoy someone’s company and laugh a lot
with his story and way of presenting a story or event. 
5.   Do you think it is important to have a sense of humour? 
Answer: As I have just said, a sense of humour is a great quality for anyone and it attracts others to
become friends with the person who has a great sense of humour. Having a sense of humour is a
great skill and this quality puts someone stands out of the crowd. A good sense of humour also
represents someone’s intelligence and wit.

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Travel and transport.

1. How easy is it to travel around your country?
2. Which method of travel do you consider safest? Why?
3. Has travel become safer in recent years than that was in the past?
4. What are the pros and cons of low-cost air travel?
5. How do you think people will travel in the future?
6. Should the government in a country focus more on rail transports or road transports? Why?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Universities.

1. Is higher education too expensive in your country?
2. Should all students pay for their university education? Why?
3. What advantages do universities bring to the society? Is it same in your country?
4. Which is more important, research or teaching? Why?
5. How should students spend their summer vacations? How do/did you spend it?
6. What are the advantages of private universities than public universities? 

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Reading Books.

1. Do you generally read a lot of books or do you prefer watching TV? Why?
2. What kind of books are considered good reads in your opinion?
3. Do you think that people read nowadays as they did in the past?
4. Do you regard famous writers as good role models?
5. If a movie is based on a book, would you prefer to read the book or to watch the film? Why?
6. How our reading habit changes as we grow up? Why does it happen?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Media & News.

1. How do most people get their news in your country?
2. How do you think people will get their news in the future?
3. Do you believe everything you read in the newspapers?
4. How has TV changed people's life?
5. What do you think of children watching TV?
6. How has social media changed the way we get and share the news?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Internet.

1. Do most people have a computer at home in your country? What do most people use it for?
2. Do you think all information on the internet is true?
3. How can people find reliable information on the internet?
4. How has the internet changed the way we live?
5. How has the internet changed the way we work?
6. Do you think the internet is safe for children to use unsupervised?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Natural environment.

1. Why is it important to protect the natural environment?
2. What environmental problems are common in your country?
3. What can the government in your country do to deal with those problems?
4. What technological innovations should the world develop to protect the environment?
5. Do you think the youth these days care about the environment? Why?
6. Environmental problems are too big to be dealt at the individual level? Do you agree? Why/ Why
not?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Leadership and politics.

1. Do you think people are born to be leaders?
2. Can leadership skills be taught?
3. Why are elected politicians often so unpopular?
4. What should a leader do to remain popular?
5. Do you think unelected heads of state are a good idea?
6. In your opinion what qualities a political leader should have?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Life experience.

1. Do you agree that we learn best from our mistakes?
2. What’s the best way to gain experience in life?
3. Can we gain life experience from books and movies?
4. Which is more important, experience or potential?
5. What experience do you wish you had gained?
6. Why do some people fail to learn from their experience?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Influence of television.

1. How popular is watching television in your country?
2. Tell me about the types of programmes that are generally on television in your country.
3. Why do people like watching television?
4. Which one do you is better - state or private television? Why?
5. What effects can watching television have on children?
6. How the TV programmes differ now than that of 10 years ago?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Retirement and old age.

1. At what age should people retire from work?
2. What problems can people face after their retirement?
3. How important are retirees to your country’s economy?
4. When should you start saving for retirement?
5. Why do some companies encourage early retirement?
6. Do you think the state should take responsibility of retirees who worked in private companies
rather than government organisation?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Photography.

1. Is it easy to take good photographs?
2. What are the pros and cons of digital photography?
3. Should people share their photographs online?
4. When can an image be worth a thousand words?
5. Is a photograph a reliable form of identification?
6. Is it necessary to take a course to become a good photographer?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Gift.

1. What is the purpose of gift giving?
2. How has gift giving changed since your grandparents’ time?
3. How important is gift giving in a relationship?
4. What is more important when it comes to giving a gift, cost or effort?
5. Do you think that people have become more materialistic when it comes to giving gifts, as
compared to your grandparents’ time?
6. How has modern technology changed the nature of gift giving?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: The internet and social media.

1. What types of websites are popular among your generation?
2. Is using the internet a social or solitary activity?
3. How has the internet changed social behaviour?
4. Should companies check job applicants’ online profiles?
5. What will be the next big development online?
6. How has the internet changed the way we communicate with others?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Influences on the young.

1. What type of people influence the young in your country?
2. Why is it important to have role models?
3. Do you think the education system in your country influences young people’s behaviour?
4. What type of person (parents, teachers, friends etc) are best to influence young people’s
behaviour?
5. What do you think young people will be most influenced by it the future?
6. Who do you believe have more influence on young children - parents or teachers? Why?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Nature.

1. What are the main environmental problems in your country?
2. Why should people be concerned about the environment?
3. How can people protect the environment?
4. Do you think money should be spent on protecting animals?
5. Do you think more should be done to protect natural beauty spots in your country?
6. What can a government do to encourage people not to harm the environment?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Clothes.

 
1. Can clothing tell you much about a person?
2. Why do some companies ask their staff to wear uniforms?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having uniforms at work?
4. When do people wear traditional clothing in your country?
5. How have clothes fashions change in your country over the last few decades?
6. What is the difference between clothes that young people and old people like to wear?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Sports.

1. What types of sports are popular in your country? Why?
2. What are the benefits of playing a sport?
3. Do you often play a sport? Why/ why not?
4. Do you think the types of sport that are popular will change in the future?
5. How can sports bring people from different countries closer together?
6. Why are some international sports more popular than others?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Advertising.

1. What makes an advertisement effective?
2. What is the purpose of advertising?
3. How have advertisements changed since you were a child?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of advertising?
5. Do you think that advertisements should be strictly regulated?
6. How important is it for advertisers to tell the whole truth in advertisements?
IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Childhood Memory.
1. Is it important to have pleasant childhood memories?
2. Do you think that people are permanently affected by negative childhood memories?
3. What do you think it means to ‘live in the past’?
4. Nowadays many parents try to make their children happy by buying them many toys. How do you
feel about this?
5. Is it important for a child to have a lot of toys in order to be happy?
6. What is more important for a child’s happiness, many toys or many friends?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Photography.

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking photographs?
2. How has modern technology changed the way we take photographs?
3. How has sharing photographs changed since your grandparents’ time?
4. How well do photographs capture special moments?
5. Do you think that people nowadays spend too much time taking photographs?
6. Why do you think people photograph themselves?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Inventions and copyright.

1. Which invention has transformed your country most?
2. Would you like to be an inventor? Why/ why not?
3. How long should someone be able to profit from an idea?
4. Do you think intellectual property laws are too strict?
5. What is your opinion about the copyright of an intellectual property and idea?
6. Can you cite one example when you noticed a copyright violation? Wha was it?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Leisure Activities.

1. What type of leisure activities are popular in your country.
2.  Why it is important for people to have leisure activities?
3.  Why are some leisure activities more popular than others?

1.  What type of leisure activities are popular in your country.

Answer: Well, the leisure and recreational activities in my country greatly vary based on the age
group, economic and employment status, gender and location of people. However, watching TV,
surfing the internet, walking in the park, reading daily newspapers and participating in sports like
cricket and football are some very common past time activities of the people in my country.
To be more specific, teenagers and young people mostly like to watch TV programmes, use the
internet and social networking sites like Facebook, play online games, sometimes collect stamps,
and play outdoor games and sports while adults most of the time Watch TV, walk in the park and
read newspapers. The choice of hobbies and leisure activities are quite different among the city-
dwellers and villagers. For instance, a teenage boy in a city would mostly play a video game or chat
with friends online in his free time, a teenager in a rural area, on the contrary, would be busy fishing
or playing outdoor games.

How these activities vary are quite prominent in our country. Even I can feel that by just looking at
the different members of my family.  While my younger brother loves to travel, my elder brother plays
cricket. Two of my cousins collect stamps and coins while I mostly read books and magazines. My
parents walk in the park and other family members mostly enjoy movies and other TV programmes.  

2.  Why it is important for people to have leisure activities?

Answer: I believe that leisure activities are quite important for us as these activities often define who
we are, what we like and how we chose to spend our time. Furthermore, these activities refresh our
mind, motivate us and help us reinvent ourselves. For instance, one of my cousins started taking
painting classes as his hobby a few years back. Initially, it was a simple past time activity has was
passionate about. Later on, he found that he had a great potential in painting and now he is a full-
time artist. This is a real-life example how a simple leisure activity can help us re-explore our hidden
talent and passion.

Human, physically and psychologically, is not prepared to work stay idle all day long. They need a
perfect schedule for working, relaxing, and enjoying their free time. Thus leisure activities help us
enjoy our time, get refreshed, relax, and get recharged for working more. Interestingly, people who
work very hard need more enjoyable free time activities. Otherwise, they will suffer from fatigue and
get distracted soon. 
3.  Why are some leisure activities more popular than others?
Answer: It is quite natural that people would prefer some sort of leisure activities than others. The
preference and choice depend on the way someone has spent his childhood and how he was
influenced by the other family members. Besides, it varies from country to country and sometimes
even cities to cities. The history and socio-cultural background of a nation also influence the type of
leisure activities people have. To cite an example, teenagers in some Asian countries often make
kites and fly them while this is not the case in many western countries.
Personally, I believe that the leisure activities of people are often determined by the society they live
in and their socio-economic status. Finally, some leisure activities are more common and popular
due to their attractions and engagements.

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Studies.

1. What are you studying?
2. Why did you choose this particular course?
3. What job would you like when you have completed all your studies?
4. What are the differences between a private university and a public university? Which one do you
prefer?

1.  What are you studying?

Answer: I am studying Business Administration and my major is economics. I am in my fifth
semester and now I am planning to transfer my credits to an Australian university.
2.  Why did you choose this particular course? 
Answer: Honestly speaking, I did not have much choice about picking up a particular course in my
university. I had always been a commerce major student and taking business administration as my
bachelor course might have been a great decision, but that was not an open option for me. I took the
admission test and the university authority offered this course to me. I was also offered to study
finance but I chose business administration over this course.

However, if you ask me if the business administration was a good choice for me, I would say ‘yes’
without any slight hesitation.
3.  What job would you like when you have completed all your studies?
Answer: To be honest, I have not given any serious thought regarding my future career. I still need
to complete my graduation and post-graduation degrees. However, my preference would be to work
in an international NGO for the first 2-3 years after my studies and then move on to work in any large
organisation where I’ll be able to use my knowledge and experience to further enhance my career.
My ultimate objective would be to become an entrepreneur someday and besides own a charity
organisation which will work for the less privileged children.  
4.  What are the differences between a private university and a public university? Which one
do you prefer?
Answer: Well, as the name suggests, private universities are privately owned universities contrary
to the government or state-owned public universities. Private universities are quite expensive and in
many cases, offer a few selected courses. On the other hand, public universities are funded by the
state and do not require a high tuition for the students. From my personal experience I can say that,
public universities large campuses and a great number of students while the opposite is the case for
private universities.

Which one do I prefer? Well, as a public university student I personally prefer a public university over
a private university. However, I am quite broad-minded in terms of accepting some advantages of
studying in a private university. For example, a student from a private university can complete his
course in due time while this is not possible at many public universities.
IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Environmental Problem.
1. Tell me, what do you think are the greatest environmental problems facing your country at
present?
2. And what has been done so far to solve these problems?
3. How successful would you say these measures have been?
4. Do you think things are likely to get better or worse in the future?
5. Is what you are going to study likely to be of any use to solve these problems?
6. Should countries try to solve the climate change problems together or individually? Why?

IELTS Speaking Part 3 topic: Ceremony.

1. How important are ceremonies in our lives?
2. Do you see the role of private and public ceremonies changing in the future?
3. Have attitudes to marriage changed in recent years?
4. In what ways do men and women feel differently about marriage, in your opinion?
5. What sort of national events make headlines in your country?
6. Does the media in your country pay more attention to global or national events?

Art

 What kind of art do you enjoy?

 What are the tradition art forms in your country?
 What makes a good painting?
 Do you think children should study art at school?
 How can children benefit from learning art?
 How has art changed in the last few decades in your country?

Clothes
  Can clothing tell you much about a person?
 Why do some companies ask their staff to wear uniforms?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of having uniforms at work?
 When do people wear traditional clothing in your country?
 How have clothes fashions change in your country over the last few decades?
 What is the difference between clothes that young people and old people like to
wear?

Education

 What makes a good student?

 What role should the teacher have in the classroom?
 Do you think computers will one day replace teachers in the classroom?
 How has teaching changed in your country in the last few decades?
 What is the difference between the way children learn and the way adults learn?
 How can a teacher make lessons for children more interesting?

Family

 Is family important in your country?

 How has the size of the family changed in the last few decades in your country?
 How do you think the family will change in the future?
 What role do grandparents play in the family in your country?
 Who do you think should be responsible for the care of the elderly, the family or
the government?

Food

 Do you think diet is important?

 What is a balanced diet?
 What is the typical diet of people in your country?
 Do many people eat in restaurants in your country?
 Why do some people enjoy eating out?
 What’s the difference between restaurant food and home cooked food?
 

Health

 How can people improve their health?

 Do elderly people do much exercise in your country?
 Do you think all illness can be prevented?
 Do you think there will be less illness in the future?
 Do you think health care should be free?
 What makes a good doctor?

Internet

 Do most people have a computer at home in your country?

 Do you think all information on the internet is true?
 How can people find reliable information on the internet?
 How has the internet changed the way we live?
 How has the internet changed the way we work?
 Do you think the internet is safe for children to use unsupervised?

Media & News

 Do you believe everything you read in the newspapers?

 How do most people get their news in your country?
 How do you think people will get their news in the future?
 How has TV changed our lives?
 Do you think TV influences the way we think?
 Should children be allowed to watch a lot of TV?
 Are all people on TV famous?
 Do you think famous people have a responsibility to act as role models for the
younger generation?

Nature
  What are the main environmental problems in your country?
 Why should people be concerned about the environment?
 How can people protect the environment?
 Do you think money should be spent on protecting animals?
 Do you think more should be done to protect natural beauty spots in your
country?

Society

 What social problems are there in your country?

 What can be done to alleviate poverty?
 Are there many charities in your country?
 What is the difference between major crime and minor crime?
 Do you think all criminals should go to prison?
 Why do so many people move to live in cities?
 What problems does over population cause?

Travel

 Why do some people prefer to travel abroad rather than in their own country?
 Do you think traveling to another country can change the way people think?
 Do you think it is good for children to experience life in a foreign country?
 How have holidays changed over the past few decades?
 Do you think it is safer to travel now than in the past?

Work

 Do you think job satisfaction is more important than salary when choosing a job?
 What skills do you think are needed to get a good job these days?
 Do you think women should be able to do all the same jobs that men do?
 How has technology changed the way we work?
 What is the difference between white collar and blue-collar jobs?

Eating habits
1. Tell me about the types of food that people eat in your country.
2. How are the eating habits now in your country different from eating habits in the
past?
3. How healthy is your country’s food?
4. Why do you think different cultures have different table manners?
5. How may eating habits change in coming decades?
Education

1. How are education priorities today different from those in the past?
2. What is your opinion on the way languages are taught in schools?
3. How can the type of school you go to affect career success?
4. What changes do you think will happen in the classroom in the near future?
Environment

1. Is water pollution a problem in your country?

2. What are some of the causes of water pollution?
3. What can individuals do to try and ensure water is kept clean?
4. Do you think problems with the cleanliness of water will improve in the future?
Influence of television

1. How popular is watching television in your country?

2. Tell me about the types of programme that are generally on television in your
country.
3. Why do people like watching television?
4. Do you think state or private television is better?
5. What effects can watching television have on children?
Influences on the young

1. What type of people influence the young in your country?

2. Why it is important to have role models?
3. Do you think the education system in your country influences young people’s
behavior?
4. What type of person (parents, teachers, friends etc) are best to influence young
people’s behavior?
5. What do you think young people will be most influenced by it the future?
Leisure activities

1. What types of leisure activities are popular in your country?

2. Why it is important for people to have time for leisure activities?
3. Why are some activities more popular than others?
4. Are the types of leisure activities that are popular today the same as those that
were popular when your parents were young?
5. What types of leisure activities may become more popular in the future?
Shopping
1. Is shopping a popular activity in your country
2. How have shopping habits changed over recent years?
3. To what extent do you think advertising affects the way people shop?
4. Do you think shopping habits are likely to change in the future?
Sports

1. What types of sports are popular in your country?

2. What are the benefits of playing a sport?
3. Do you think the types of sport that are popular will change in the future?
4. how can sports bring people from different countries closer together?
Transport

1. How do most people travel long distances in your country?

2. Have the types of transport people use changed much over the last few
decades?
3. What kinds of improvement have there been in transport in your country in recent
years?
4. Do you think transport is likely to continue to improve in the future?