200 ESL Conversation Questions by CEFR Level (A1–C2)
Every question below is sorted into a real CEFR band, from A1 small talk to C2 abstract debate. Jump to a level, pick a handful, and start talking — no printing required, though a printable version is linked below if you'd rather have paper in hand.
Get the printable PDF →Most conversation-question lists online are a single undifferentiated pile — the same 50 questions whether your class is a beginner or nearly fluent. That mismatch is why a 'good' question so often falls flat: a genuinely interesting B2 question about hypothetical career choices is just confusing at A1, and a simple A1 question about favourite colors bores a C1 class within seconds.
These 200 are split into six CEFR bands — A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 — so the grammar and vocabulary a question demands actually matches what the level can produce. Lower levels ask for facts and simple opinions in present or simple past tense. Higher levels ask for hypotheticals, justified arguments, and nuanced, contestable positions.
Use them as a warm-up, a fill-in for the last five minutes of class, a speaking-exam rehearsal, or a full lesson built around pair or small-group discussion. Each question works standing alone — no printout or prep beyond picking a few that fit today's class.
200 to Use in Class
A1 — 35 questions
- 1
What is your name?
A1Personal info
- 2
Where are you from?
A1Personal info
- 3
How old are you?
A1Personal info
- 4
What is your job?
A1Personal info
- 5
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
A1Family
- 6
Who do you live with?
A1Family
- 7
What is your mother's name?
A1Family
- 8
Do you have a pet?
A1Family & home
- 9
What is your favourite food?
A1Food & drink
- 10
What do you usually eat for breakfast?
A1Food & drink
- 11
Do you like coffee or tea?
A1Food & drink
- 12
What time do you wake up?
A1Daily routine
- 13
What time do you go to bed?
A1Daily routine
- 14
How do you go to work or school?
A1Daily routine
- 15
What day is it today?
A1Daily routine
- 16
What is your favourite colour?
A1Likes & dislikes
- 17
What is your favourite animal?
A1Likes & dislikes
- 18
Do you like music?
A1Likes & dislikes
- 19
What music do you like?
A1Likes & dislikes
- 20
Is it hot or cold today?
A1Weather
- 21
Do you like rain?
A1Weather
- 22
How many people are in your family?
A1Family
- 23
What is your phone number?
A1Personal info
- 24
Where do you live?
A1Personal info
- 25
What is your favourite subject at school?
A1Daily routine
- 26
Can you drive a car?
A1Abilities
- 27
Can you swim?
A1Abilities
- 28
What is your favourite fruit?
A1Food & drink
- 29
Do you drink milk every day?
A1Food & drink
- 30
What is in your bag today?
A1Objects
- 31
What colour is your shirt?
A1Objects
- 32
How many windows are in this room?
A1Objects
- 33
Do you have a bicycle?
A1Objects
- 34
What is your favourite season?
A1Weather
- 35
Is today a school day?
A1Daily routine
A2 — 35 questions
- 1
What do you usually do on weekends?
A2Weekend & free time
- 2
What is your favourite hobby?
A2Hobbies
- 3
Do you play any sports?
A2Hobbies
- 4
How often do you exercise?
A2Hobbies
- 5
What did you do last weekend?
A2Past experiences
- 6
Where did you go on your last holiday?
A2Travel
- 7
Have you ever been on a plane?
A2Travel
- 8
What country would you like to visit?
A2Travel
- 9
What did you have for dinner yesterday?
A2Food & drink
- 10
Can you cook? What can you make?
A2Food & drink
- 11
What was your favourite subject at school?
A2School & work
- 12
What did you want to be when you were a child?
A2School & work
- 13
How did you learn English?
A2School & work
- 14
What do you do at work every day?
A2School & work
- 15
How often do you go shopping?
A2Shopping
- 16
What was the last thing you bought?
A2Shopping
- 17
Do you prefer shopping online or in shops?
A2Shopping
- 18
What do you do when you have a headache?
A2Health
- 19
How often do you go to the doctor?
A2Health
- 20
What did you do yesterday evening?
A2Past experiences
- 21
Have you ever tried a strange food?
A2Past experiences
- 22
What is your favourite film? Why?
A2Entertainment
- 23
Do you prefer watching films at home or at the cinema?
A2Entertainment
- 24
What TV shows do you watch?
A2Entertainment
- 25
How many hours do you sleep every night?
A2Daily routine
- 26
What is your daily routine on a school day?
A2Daily routine
- 27
Who is your best friend? What are they like?
A2Friends
- 28
How did you meet your best friend?
A2Friends
- 29
What do you and your friends usually do together?
A2Friends
- 30
What is the weather like in your hometown?
A2Hometown
- 31
What is famous in your hometown?
A2Hometown
- 32
Would you rather live in a city or a small town?
A2Hometown
- 33
What was your favourite toy as a child?
A2Childhood
- 34
Did you like school when you were young?
A2Childhood
- 35
What languages can you speak?
A2Skills
B1 — 35 questions
- 1
What is your opinion of social media?
B1Opinions
- 2
Do you think it's important to learn a second language? Why?
B1Opinions
- 3
What kind of music do you think is the best? Why?
B1Opinions
- 4
Do you think homework helps students learn?
B1Opinions
- 5
What are your plans for next weekend?
B1Future plans
- 6
Where do you see yourself in five years?
B1Future plans
- 7
What job would you like to have in the future?
B1Future plans
- 8
Is there a skill you'd like to learn one day?
B1Future plans
- 9
How has your hometown changed in the last ten years?
B1Then vs now
- 10
Was life better before smartphones? Why or why not?
B1Then vs now
- 11
How is your life different now compared to five years ago?
B1Then vs now
- 12
What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?
B1Experiences
- 13
Have you ever done something you regret? What happened?
B1Experiences
- 14
What is the best gift you have ever received?
B1Experiences
- 15
Have you ever changed your mind about something important?
B1Experiences
- 16
How many hours a day do you spend on your phone?
B1Technology
- 17
Do you think technology makes people more or less social?
B1Technology
- 18
What app could you not live without?
B1Technology
- 19
Do you prefer texting or calling people? Why?
B1Technology
- 20
What do you do to protect the environment?
B1Environment
- 21
Do you recycle at home? Why or why not?
B1Environment
- 22
What is one environmental problem in your country?
B1Environment
- 23
What is a tradition from your country you like?
B1Culture
- 24
How do people celebrate birthdays in your culture?
B1Culture
- 25
What is something a foreigner might find strange about your country?
B1Culture
- 26
What is the most important quality in a friend?
B1Relationships
- 27
Do you find it easy or hard to make new friends?
B1Relationships
- 28
What makes someone a good teacher?
B1Education
- 29
Should students wear school uniforms? Why or why not?
B1Education
- 30
Is it better to study alone or in a group?
B1Education
- 31
What is a healthy habit you have?
B1Health & lifestyle
- 32
How do you deal with stress?
B1Health & lifestyle
- 33
Is it important to have a work-life balance? Why?
B1Health & lifestyle
- 34
What is your favourite way to spend a free day?
B1Free time
- 35
Do you think it's important to travel? Why or why not?
B1Travel
B2 — 35 questions
- 1
If you won a large amount of money, what would you do with it?
B2Hypotheticals
- 2
If you could change one law in your country, what would it be?
B2Hypotheticals
- 3
If you could live in any period of history, when would you choose?
B2Hypotheticals
- 4
If you had to give up your phone for a month, how would your life change?
B2Hypotheticals
- 5
Should university education be free for everyone? Why or why not?
B2Debate
- 6
Is it ever acceptable to lie to protect someone's feelings?
B2Debate
- 7
Should children be given smartphones before the age of 12?
B2Debate
- 8
Is remote work better than working in an office? Argue both sides.
B2Debate
- 9
Do social media platforms have too much influence on public opinion?
B2Technology & society
- 10
Should there be an age limit on using social media?
B2Technology & society
- 11
How is artificial intelligence likely to change the job market?
B2Technology & society
- 12
Do you think privacy still exists in the digital age?
B2Technology & society
- 13
Do you trust the news you read online? Why or why not?
B2Media
- 14
How has the internet changed the way people get their news?
B2Media
- 15
Should celebrities be role models? Why or why not?
B2Media
- 16
What makes a job satisfying beyond the salary?
B2Work & career
- 17
Is it better to have one long career or several different careers?
B2Work & career
- 18
Should companies allow employees to work a 4-day week?
B2Work & career
- 19
What responsibilities come with a close friendship?
B2Relationships
- 20
Can people from very different backgrounds truly understand each other?
B2Relationships
- 21
Is competition healthy in relationships between friends?
B2Relationships
- 22
Should wealthy countries be responsible for helping poorer ones?
B2Ethics
- 23
Is it fair that some people are born into more advantages than others?
B2Ethics
- 24
Should animal testing be banned, even if it slows medical research?
B2Ethics
- 25
What is one law you disagree with, and why?
B2Ethics
- 26
How important is it to preserve traditional customs in a modern world?
B2Culture & society
- 27
Do you think globalisation has been good or bad overall?
B2Culture & society
- 28
Should schools teach more practical life skills instead of theory?
B2Education
- 29
Is standardized testing a fair way to measure a student's ability?
B2Education
- 30
What is the biggest challenge facing your generation?
B2Society
- 31
Should voting be mandatory in a democracy?
B2Society
- 32
Is it possible to be truly happy without financial security?
B2Society
- 33
Do you think advertising manipulates people more than it informs them?
B2Media
- 34
What would you change about the education system in your country?
B2Education
- 35
Should there be limits on how much a company's CEO can earn?
B2Ethics
C1 — 30 questions
- 1
To what extent should individual freedom be limited for the greater good?
C1Society & ethics
- 2
Is meritocracy a realistic goal, or is it fundamentally flawed?
C1Society & ethics
- 3
How much responsibility do individuals bear for problems caused by systems they didn't create?
C1Society & ethics
- 4
Can a society be genuinely free if total equality is enforced?
C1Society & ethics
- 5
Does exposure to other cultures make people more tolerant, or does it sometimes deepen divisions?
C1Culture & identity
- 6
Is national identity becoming less relevant in an increasingly globalised world?
C1Culture & identity
- 7
How much of a person's identity is shaped by choice versus circumstance?
C1Culture & identity
- 8
Should cultural traditions be allowed to change, or is preserving them more important than adapting them?
C1Culture & identity
- 9
Is it ever justifiable to break a law you believe is unjust?
C1Ethics
- 10
Does the end ever truly justify the means?
C1Ethics
- 11
Are humans naturally cooperative or naturally self-interested?
C1Ethics
- 12
How should society balance freedom of speech with protection from harm?
C1Ethics
- 13
Can art or literature that expresses harmful ideas still have value?
C1Ethics
- 14
Does language shape the way people think, or simply describe thoughts they already have?
C1Language & communication
- 15
Is it possible to fully understand a culture without speaking its language fluently?
C1Language & communication
- 16
How much meaning is lost in translation between languages, and does it matter?
C1Language & communication
- 17
Should endangered languages be actively preserved, even at significant cost?
C1Language & communication
- 18
Is technological progress always a form of human progress?
C1Technology & progress
- 19
Should there be limits on scientific research even if it could save lives?
C1Technology & progress
- 20
Does convenience technology ultimately make people more capable or more dependent?
C1Technology & progress
- 21
How should societies weigh economic growth against environmental protection?
C1Technology & progress
- 22
Is objectivity in journalism achievable, or is all reporting inherently biased?
C1Media & society
- 23
Does constant exposure to global crises through media change how people respond to them?
C1Media & society
- 24
Is public opinion a reliable guide for political decision-making?
C1Media & society
- 25
Should algorithms be allowed to decide what information people see?
C1Media & society
- 26
Is ambition ultimately a positive or a corrosive force in a person's life?
C1Personal philosophy
- 27
Can a person change fundamentally, or do people mostly stay who they always were?
C1Personal philosophy
- 28
Is it possible to make a fully rational decision, or is emotion always involved?
C1Personal philosophy
- 29
Does having more choices make people happier, or does it create anxiety?
C1Personal philosophy
- 30
Should future generations' interests outweigh the interests of people living today?
C1Society & ethics
C2 — 30 questions
- 1
Is the concept of objective truth still meaningful in an age of competing narratives?
C2Epistemology
- 2
Can knowledge exist independently of the language used to express it?
C2Epistemology
- 3
Is certainty ever fully justified, or is all belief provisional?
C2Epistemology
- 4
How do we distinguish genuine understanding from the sophisticated appearance of it?
C2Epistemology
- 5
Does moral progress actually exist, or does each era simply redefine morality to suit itself?
C2Moral philosophy
- 6
Is it coherent to hold people morally responsible for actions shaped by circumstances beyond their control?
C2Moral philosophy
- 7
Can a genuinely selfless act exist, or is self-interest always present in some form?
C2Moral philosophy
- 8
Should moral judgments ever be considered universal, or are they inevitably culturally relative?
C2Moral philosophy
- 9
Is democracy the best system of governance, or merely the least bad one so far devised?
C2Political philosophy
- 10
Does the pursuit of equality inevitably come into conflict with the pursuit of liberty?
C2Political philosophy
- 11
Can a truly just society exist while significant economic inequality persists within it?
C2Political philosophy
- 12
Is national sovereignty compatible with solving genuinely global problems?
C2Political philosophy
- 13
Does the acceleration of technological change outpace society's capacity to govern it wisely?
C2Technology & civilisation
- 14
Is there a meaningful distinction between augmenting human ability and replacing it?
C2Technology & civilisation
- 15
Should the rights of future, not-yet-existing generations constrain what the present generation may do?
C2Technology & civilisation
- 16
Can a civilisation be considered advanced if its progress is unevenly distributed among its members?
C2Technology & civilisation
- 17
Is identity something discovered within a person or constructed through their choices and relationships?
C2Identity & self
- 18
Does complete self-knowledge exist, or is a degree of self-deception inherent to functioning as a person?
C2Identity & self
- 19
To what extent is the self a continuous entity over time, rather than a series of related but distinct selves?
C2Identity & self
- 20
Is authenticity a coherent goal, given how much of the self is shaped by external influence?
C2Identity & self
- 21
Is ambiguity in language a flaw to be eliminated or a feature that enables nuance and art?
C2Language & meaning
- 22
Can meaning be fixed by an author's intention, or does it inevitably shift with each reader's interpretation?
C2Language & meaning
- 23
Is untranslatability evidence of genuinely different worldviews, or just a gap that a longer explanation could close?
C2Language & meaning
- 24
Does the way an argument is framed change its validity, or only its persuasiveness?
C2Language & meaning
- 25
Is disagreement a sign of a healthy society or evidence of its fragmentation?
C2Society & discourse
- 26
Can genuine consensus be reached on deeply value-laden questions, or only negotiated compromise?
C2Society & discourse
- 27
Does exposure to opposing views tend to change people's minds, or entrench their existing positions?
C2Society & discourse
- 28
Is it possible to critique a system fairly while still participating in it?
C2Society & discourse
- 29
Does the paradox of choice suggest that more options can reduce, rather than increase, human freedom?
C2Paradox & ambiguity
- 30
Can a statement be simultaneously true in one context and false in another without being incoherent?
C2Paradox & ambiguity
Step-by-Step in Class
Match the level to the class, not the topic
Pick from the CEFR band your class is actually working at, not the level whose topic sounds more fun. A C1 class asked an A1 question will answer it in four seconds and go quiet; an A2 class asked a C1 question will freeze. When in doubt, start one level down — students speak more when a question feels easy to start.
Pair students first, then open to the group
Give a pair 60–90 seconds each on the same question before asking anyone to share with the whole class. This gets every student talking, not just the two or three who'd volunteer first — and it means whoever does share aloud has already rehearsed an answer once.
Follow up before moving on
The single best conversation extender at any level is 'why?' or 'can you give an example?' A list of 200 questions is a starting point, not a script — the real conversation usually happens in the follow-up, not the first answer.
Rotate — don't reuse the same 10 every week
With 200 questions across six levels, a class can go a full term without hearing the same one twice. Note which ones land well with a particular group and skip the ones that consistently produce one-word answers.
Want a fresh batch every time?
200 ESL Conversation Questions by CEFR Level (A1–C2) is a fixed set. Ask, Tell, Reveal generates new ones on demand, calibrated to your class's exact CEFR level — free to start, no printing required.