I. Conversation Starters Life can sometimes be rather boring. We need more adventure, whether real or in our imaginations!

Discuss adventures using the English questions below. You might need to use conditional verbs for questions 4 or 5. 1. Do you like to watch adventure movies? 2. Do you consider yourself to be an adventurous person? 3. What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done? 4. Would you say that learning English is a kind of adventure? 5. Could you say that life is a kind of adventure? Discussion Questions Use the questions below to have deeper conversations on the topic. Be sure to use conditional verb tenses in English when you are talking about things that are not quite real! 1. If you had a great adventure, who would you like to have it with? 2. Do you think your idea of adventure is the same as your parents ideas and your grandparents ideas? 3. Which of these things should be part of an adventure - danger, romance, travel, discovery, or treasure? Can you think of any other things? 4. Where would you like to go for an adventure a jungle, a desert, a small island or a city? II. Conversation Starters Choose some questions below that interest you and ask your friends. If you are studying by yourself, think about how you would answer these questions, using full sentences as much as possible. 1. Why are there so many advertisements on TV, radio, in magazines, etc.? 2. Do you ever enjoy watching advertisements on TV? (If yes, what do you enjoy about them?) 3. What kinds of advertisements attract your attention? 4. What is the most memorable advertisement you have ever seen? 5. What is one funny advertisement you have seen? (Describe it.) 6. What products in your country use very serious TV advertisements? 7. What products in your country use funny TV advertisements? 8. Which celebrities have you seen in advertisements? 9. Do any advertisements in your country try to shock viewers? 10. How are radio ads, magazine ads and TV ads different from each other? Discussion Questions Ask these questions to your friends and be ready to continue the conversation by asking follow up questions.

1. What makes an advertisement effective? 2. Have you ever bought a product because of advertising? (If so, why?) 3. What do you think of ads that are aimed at children? 4. Can famous celebrities in ads make people want to buy a product? 5. Do you think beer and cigarette companies should be allowed to advertise? Why or why not? 6. Why do some companies use celebrities in their ads? III. Conversation Starters Choose some questions below that interest you and ask your friends. If you are studying by yourself, think about how you would answer these questions, using full sentences as much as possible. 1. Do you ever travel by plane? 2. Do you enjoy travelling by airplane? Why or why not? 3. How old were you the first time you flew? 4. Were you afraid the first time you were on an airplane? 5. What was the longest flight you have taken? 6. Do you prefer window seats or aisle seats? 7. What do you like to do during long flights? 8. Can you sleep on an airplane? Discussion Questions Ask these questions to your friends and be ready to continue the conversation by asking follow up questions. 1. What are the advantages of traveling by airplane? What are the disadvantages? 2. Do you know someone who is afraid of flying in an airplane? 3. What advice can you give to someone who is afraid of flying? 4. Would you like to be a pilot? What might be some of the requirements for the job? 5. Would you like to be a flight attendant? Why might it be a good job? Why might it be a challenging job? 6. What are some ways that airlines could improve the flying experience for passengers? IV. Conversation Starters Alcohol is the most common "drug" in the world. It comes in many forms beer, wine, along with whiskey and other "hard" liquors. Some people drink alcohol every day, others never drink it even once in their whole lives. Discuss drinking (or not drinking) alcohol with your partner, starting with the questions below. If you

are studying by yourself, think about how you would answer these questions, using full sentences as much as possible. 1. Do you like to drink alcohol? Why or why not? 2. Do you think alcohol is addictive? 3. Do you know how much alcohol is in beer? 4. Do you know how much alcohol is in whiskey? 5. Do you know anyone who is an alcoholic? (a person who drinks too much) Discussion Questions Here are more challenging questions on the topic of alcohol. Ask these questions to your friends and be ready to continue the conversation by asking follow up questions. 1. How can someone stop being an alcoholic? 2. Do you think we should try to make alcohol illegal? What might be the result if we did? 3. Why do some people drink too much alcohol? 4. Do you think alcohol is the same as a drug? 5. At what age should it be legal to drink alcohol? V. Conversation Starters Humans are a kind of "animal". We share this world with many other animals. Use the English questions below to discuss the animal world. Start with the questions below. If you are studying by yourself, think about how you would answer these questions, using full sentences as much as possible. 1. Do you consider yourself an animal lover? 2. Are you afraid of snakes or spiders? 3. Is there a zoo near your home? How often do you go there? 4. Have you ever been to a farm? What animals can you see on a farm? 5. Is there an animal that is the symbol of your country? 6. Do you eat meat? Why are some people vegetarians who never eat meat? 7. Is there any kind of meat you would not eat? Why not? 8. Are there animal rights groups in your country? What do you think of them? Discussion Questions Here are more challenging questions on the topic of animals. Ask these questions to your friends and be ready to continue the conversation by asking follow up questions. 1. What do you think is the most interesting animal in the world?

2. Do you think it is acceptable to keep wild animals in a zoo? Why might some people be against zoos? 3. Do you think it is okay to test cosmetics on animals? 4. How do you feel about the use of animals for medical research? 5. What do you think of people who wear fur coats? 6. Do you think animals have "souls" (spirits)? VI. Conversation Starters In today's world there are so many things that might annoy us. There's so much traffic, so many people in our cities, so much noise all around us. In addition, we are busy with our work and with our families. Have a discussion in English using the questions below as a starting point. If you are studying by yourself, think about how you would answer these questions, using full sentences as much as possible. 1. What are some things that can annoy you? 2. Are you annoyed more by noisy things or by inconvenient things? 3. Do people who are impolite bother you? 4. Does it annoy you when shop assistants try to sell you something that you don't need? 5. How do you feel when someone cuts in front of you in a line (a queue)? 6. Are you annoyed when someone interrupts you while you are speaking? Discussion Questions Here are more challenging questions on the topic of annoyances. Ask these questions to your friends and be ready to continue the conversation by asking follow up questions. 1. Do you think we are so busy in today's world that small things annoy us more than in the past? 2. What can we do to deal with so many annoyances in today's world? 3. What is the most annoying thing you have to deal with at work? What can you do about it? 4. What annoys you most about learning English? Is it verb tenses, or articles, or something else? 5. Do you know anyone who is annoyed quite often? What advice could you give such a person? VII. Conversation Starters Arguing in any language can be necessary but it can also be unpleasant. Discuss various aspects of arguing in English, using the questions below to get started. 1. Do you enjoy arguing? 2. What kind of people enjoy arguing? 3. What kind of people hate arguing? 4. Do you get along with people who are argumentative? (people who argue a lot)

5. Are you good at persuading other people? 6. Are you easily persuaded by other people? 7. Have you ever participated in a debate at school? If so, describe your experience. Discussion Questions Use the questions below to have deeper conversations about arguing in English. 1. What are some controversial topics that people like to argue about. Why do people argue about these topics? 2. What suggestions can you give to help people win an argument? 3. What suggestions can you give to someone who wants to avoid an argument? 4. How can we cool someone off if they are arguing too violently? 5. What are some good strategies to use in a formal debate? VIII. Conversation Starters Use the questions below to have basic English conversations about art and artistic ability. 1. Do you have any artistic talent? 2. Can you draw or paint pictures well? 3. Do you know anyone who is a good artist? What kind of art can they produce? 4. Do you enjoy going to museums and looking at paintings or sculptures (shapes cut from stone)? 5. What kind of art do you like most? 6. Who are some famous artists that you have heard of? 7. Do you have a favorite painting? If so, describe it and explain why you like it. Discussion Questions Have more serious English conversations about art by using the open-ended questions below. 1. Do you think music and dancing are forms of art? Explain why or why not. 2. Do you think of cartoons and comics as art? Again, explain! 3. Do you think graffiti (writing on city walls) is art? Why or why not? 4. Do you think website design is a serious art? 5. What do you think our world would be like without art? 6. Do you think governments should spend money on art and museums, or should art only be promoted by private citizens?

IX. Conversation Starters Talk with your partner about cities and living in cities, using the questions below. If you don't have a conversation partner, try to come up with your own answers using complete English sentences. 1. How big is your hometown? Would you call it a city, a town, or a village? 2. What are some cities you have visited? 3. What is the biggest city in your country? 4. Why do some people like to live in big cities? 5. Why do some people hate living in big cities? 6. In your opinion, what are some of the best cities in the world to live in? Discussion Questions Use the English questions below to have longer conversations about cities and city life. 1. What are the two most important cities in your country? How are they different from each other? 2. If you had to move to another city in the world, which city would you choose? 3. Describe the best part of your city (or a city you have visited). Why do you like that neighborhood? 4. How can we make cities better places to live? 5. Which would you rather live in, an old, historical city or a modern, convenient city? X. Conversation Starters Education is one of my favorite topics because I'm a teacher! I hope you can have many interesting and useful English conversations starting with the questions below. If you don't have a partner, think about how you would answer these questions using complete sentences. 1. At what age do children start to go to school in your country? 2. Is education mandatory (children MUST go to school) in your country? If so, until what age? 3. Are most schools coeducational (boys and girls study together) in your country? 4. What did you like to study most in your school days? Why? 5. Did you have to do a lot of homework when you were a student? 6. What makes a "good student"? 7. What makes a "good teacher"? 8. Do you think your education was helpful to you? Why or why not?

Discussion Questions Now have deeper discussion using the questions below. Maybe you can even solve some of the world's education problems. Good luck! 1. How do you think education could be improved in your country? 2. Do you think education should be free? Why or why not? 3. In your opinion, what is the most important aspect of education? 4. Why do some children have trouble doing schoolwork? How can we help them? 5. Do you think teachers get paid enough? How much should they be paid? 6. Do you think language education could be improved? If no, why not? If yes, how could it be improved? 7. Which do you think is more valuable, the experience we get on the job or in society or the theoretical knowledge we learn in schools? XI. Conversation Starters Health is one of the most important things we have. If we have our health, we can do anything. Start some interesting English conversations using the questions below. 1. Do you think you are a healthy person? 2. How often do you get sick in a typical year? 3. Do you usually eat healthy food? Describe it! 4. Do you know anyone who is often sick? Why do you think they are sick? 5. How often do you get headaches or stomachaches? 6. Do you exercise regularly? What kind of exercise do you do? Or what kind do you like? 7. Do you ever take vitamin pills? Why or why not? 8. Do you know anyone who is very overweight? Do you consider that person to be healthy? Discussion Questions Now try to have longer conversations about being healthy using the open-ended questions below. If you do not have a conversation partner, think of your own answers in English, using complete sentences. 1. What are some general tips that we can all follow to keep healthy? 2. How much should we exercise in order to stay healthy? Be specific. 3. How much does stress affect our health? What can we do about stress in order to stay healthy? 4. How important is sleep for our health? Why? 5. Generally speaking, how could health care be improved in your country?