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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 you
tell your younger self?

Who was the wisest person in your country’s history? What kind of advice did they
give?

Where do you go to get good advice?

Now it’s your turn to give some advice:

What are some things students should do to improve their English?

What should I do to make more money?

How can I get more free time?

What should people do when first meeting their boyfriend/girlfriend’s parents?

What should someone do to be happy?

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 famous for?

What traits have made humans a successful species?

What are some animals you don’t know much about?

What is the cutest animal you can think of? How about the ugliest?

Why do humans have pets? Do you have a pet? Why or why not?
Are there any animals that we should try to kill off completely?

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 ever gone through the entire day without noticing something was wrong
with your appearance? (i.e. missing button, food in your teeth)

What kinds of things do you do to improve/maintain your appearance?

Are there any fashion trends in the past you followed but think are silly looking
now?

How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

Have you ever been intimidated by someone’s appearance?

Do people in your country talk a lot about other people’s appearance?

Is it rude to tell the person that they need to improve their appearance?

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 favorite alien from a movie?

What is the scariest alien movie?

If aliens did come to a country and met with the government of that country, what
do you think would happen?

Why are humans so fascinated by aliens?

How many planets do you think are in our galaxy? How about the universe?
Do you think humans will travel to another planet in your lifetime?

How do you think we or aliens will get to other star systems like our own? (If we
traveled at the speed of light, the nearest star with planets that we know of is 10.5
years away.)

BUILDING DESIGN

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 that you like?

Is it better to build concrete block buildings that are cheap, easy to build and all
look the same or more expensive buildings that have varied design?

Talk about the construction industry and real estate industry in your country.

There are many types of houses (underground, eco-friendly, rural, apartment) What
kind of house would be your ideal house?

How much does architecture affect people’s moods?

Have you ever been interested in architecture?

What makes a good interior for a restaurant? Office? Home? Classroom?

Smart buildings are being built now that can do lots of things. What would you like
to see buildings be able to do in the future?

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 popular in your country? Do they have beauty
contests for men too?

What celebrities do you know of that have gotten plastic surgery?

What makes someone beautiful?

Do you think science can measure beauty?

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 same as how you talk
to people?

Use your imagination. How will people communicate in the future?

How have smart phones changed communication?

Name at least 10 forms of communication.

Do you think people can communicate with ghosts and spirits?

How has communication changed through human history?

What is the most basic form of communication?

BOOKS

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 books?

Do you think people don’t read enough books these days?

If you could only read one more book for your entire life, what would it be?

Can a book change the world?

Who is an author that you like? Why do you like their books?

What is one example of traditional literature in your country? Did you have to read it
in school?
Do you like reading the traditional literature of your country?

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? How
much luxury is too much?

Where is the best place to go camping in your country?

What is the longest time you have spent camping?

Tell a story about a camping trip (it doesn’t have to be your story).

What is the best thing about camping? How about the worst thing?

What is the best food to bring on a camping trip?

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 have any heroes that have done something amazing?

Challenges don’t have to be amazing. What are some normal challenges people
face?

Some people think that facing challenges improves a person. Do you agree or
disagree?

Think of some tragic events that happened. Do you remember what you were you
doing when you found out about them?
Do you think someone is a better person after they have been through a challenge?

What are some challenges you think the next generation will face?

Should people make their children have easy lives with few challenges or make sure
their children face challenges?

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 thing constant is change.” Do you agree with this statement? Explain.

What are the biggest changes in the world you have seen since you were a child?

What is the biggest change most people experience in their lives?

Is change good or bad for a person’s mental health?

What is the most positive change you have experienced in your life?

“You are the same person you were 5 years ago except for the books you have read,
the people you have met, and the places you have traveled.” Do you think
this quote is accurate?
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 by climate change?

What kinds of technologies do you know of that might help stop environmental
problems?

Are corporations responsible for helping the environment?

What are some things that corporations can do to help the environment?

What are some local environmental problems you have noticed?

Do you think houses will be more environmentally friendly in the future?

Where will we get our energy when we run out of oil?

How will India and China affect the environment in the future?

What will happen if we keep polluting the environment?

Will the climate keep changing or go back to normal?

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 heard of?

Do you think that all countries have similar holidays?

Talk about your best memory from a holiday.

Are there any holidays that you really don’t like?

Does your country have parades during holidays? Have you ever been to a parade?

What is the most important holiday?

Remedies
What do you do when you have a cold?

What ailments is western medicine better at curing?

What ailments is eastern medicine better at curing?

What do you do when you have a hangover?

What are some old remedies that you know of to help with ailments?

What should you do to stop the bleeding if someone is hurt badly?

What are some strange remedies you know of?

Have you tried any strange remedy or cure before?

Do hospitals make you nervous?

What do you think the idiom “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
means?

What is the best cure for a bad day?

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 certain colors are only for boys or only for girls?

Which colors do guys usually like more? How about girls?

Why do you think there is a difference?

If you HAD to change your hair color, what color would you change it to?
Most electronics are either black, silver or white. Why do you think this is? Do you
think we will have more colorful electronics in the future?

Colorful tattoos are becoming more popular in places like America. Do you think
they will become as popular in your country? Why or why not? Would you ever get
a tattoo? Why or why not?

Pink and purple are rarely worn by men in western cultures, why do you think this
is?

If you bought a car, what color would it be?

Can you think of some examples of camouflage in daily life?

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?

Do you think that we will still live in cities 100 years from now?

How do you think cities will change in the future?

What city would you like to visit?

What city is best known for:

fashion?

technology?

art?

industry?

travel?

What makes a city great to live in?

Are cities good for the environment or bad for the environment?

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 the grossest thing you have seen someone do?

Did your mom let you get dirty when you were a child?

What is the dirtiest you have ever been?

How often do you clean your house or room?

Do you do the dishes right after eating? How long do you let the dirty dishes sit
without washing them?

Do you know anyone who is REALLY concerned about germs and cleanliness?

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 popular in your country? Do you watch any cooking shows?

What is the hardest thing to cook?

What are some of the advantages of cooking your meals at home? How about the
disadvantages?

Is it important for husbands to know how to cook?

Does your father cook?

Who is the best cook you know?

Would you like to be a chef? Why?

How hard is it to become a chef? What do you have to do to become a chef?

Cars and Driving

What kind of cars do you think look the best?

Can you drive?

If yes, are you a good driver? When did you get your license?

If no, do you want to get a driver’s license? Why or why not?

What is the fastest you have gone in a car?

Do you think cars are safe?

What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of driving versus public
transportation?

What do you think cars will be like in the future?

Do people drive well in your country?

Would you like to drive an F-1 race car?

Do you think the use of cars will increase or decrease in the future? Why?

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 it is important to follow a country’s customs when you visit there?

What are some of the most important customs of your country? How about Japan or
China? How about America or Australia?

Do you follow all of your country’s traditional customs?

What are some strange foreign customs that you have heard of?

Are there any customs in your country visitors might find strange?
How do people greet each other in your country? Has it changed from the past?

Do you enjoy learning about other countries’ customs?

What are some customs in your country that people should follow when they are
eating? Do you think other countries have the same custom?

What are some strange wedding customs in your country?

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 dreams can tell the future?

Have you ever been dreaming and woken up and couldn’t move?

What was the best or worst dream you can remember? Don’t share your dream if it’s
too personal or too intense.

Why do we forget dreams so quickly?

Have you ever kept a dream journal?

Why do we dream? What is the purpose of them?

Do you think animals dream too? What kind of dreams do you think they have?

What does your country’s culture traditionally believe about dreams?

Have you ever had déjà vue?