Topic-Based Discussions
These topics are generally familiar and relevant to the B1 level, focusing on everyday life, past experiences,
and future plans.
• Travel and Holidays:
• What is the best place you have ever visited, and why?
• What are your future travel plans?
• Pro/Con: Is it better to travel with a group tour or alone?
• Food and Eating Habits:
• Describe your favorite dish and how to make it.
• Are people's eating habits healthier or unhealthier than 50 years ago?
• Discuss a strange food you have tried or would like to try.
• Technology and Social Media:
• What is the most useful app on your phone?
• How often do you use social media? Is it good or bad for you?
• Should children have mobile phones?
Activity-Based Discussion Formats
These formats change how the students discuss, which can keep things fresh and focus on specific language
functions (like agreeing/disagreeing, comparing, or justifying).
1. Desert Island Survival (Prioritizing/Justifying)
• Activity: Tell students they are stranded on a desert island and can only take five items from a list of
ten (e.g., a knife, a book, a blanket, a packet of seeds, a mirror, a solar radio, etc.).
• Focus: Students must agree as a group on the five items and justify why they chose each one. (Uses
conditionals: "If we take the seeds, we will be able to grow food.")
2. Agree or Disagree (Opinion/Persuasion)
• Activity: Present a controversial or debatable statement (a "prompt" or "anchor statement") and
have students move to one side of the room marked "Agree" or the other marked "Disagree."
• Prompts:
• "Money can buy happiness."
• "The internet is a waste of time."
• "It is more important to be happy than to be rich."
• Focus: Students must defend their position and try to convince students on the other side.
3. The 'Would You Rather...?' Game (Comparing/Explaining Choices)
• Activity: Present two equally appealing or unappealing options and have students choose one and
explain their reason.
• Examples:
• "Would you rather have the ability to fly or be able to speak every language?"
• "Would you rather live in a very big city or live in a small village?"
• "Would you rather never watch TV again or never use the internet again?"