Category: Conversation Questions to practice English

Photo: Ella Olsson, Unsplash

These ESL conversation questions are a resource for both teachers and students. They can be used in class, or with a study buddy, or with somebody you do a language exchange with.

Tips for learners

• In those in-between times when you can’t find somebody to practise with I recommending trying to write down your answers, or even talking out loud to yourself!
• Ensure you make notes of useful words and phrases that you either couldn’t remember or didn’t know when you were trying to explain something. This will really help you to move forward with your English.
• I also highly recommend going through the questions a second or third time at a later date with somebody else, as a way of revision, and you are sure to notice that you are able to explain things faster and more effectively.
• Where possible, expand on your answers, give more details.
• If you’re asking the questions, remember to use follow-up questions too. If the conversation goes off on a tangent that’s totally fine – as long as you’re practising, you’re learning. 

1. What are your favourite fruits?

2. What are your favourite vegetables?

3. What are your favourite herbs and spices?

4. Do you prefer sweet or savoury foods?
   

5. Do you eat meat or are you a vegetarian?

6. What are your favourite pizza toppings?

7. What foods can’t you stand?

8. When was the last time you ate out? Would you go back to that restaurant?

9. Do you have any favourite restaurants? What kind of food do they serve?

10. Which is your favourite foreign cuisine? And how often do you eat it?  Do you ever prepare it yourself?

11. What are the advantages and disadvantages of fast food?

12. Do you enjoy cooking? What dishes do you typically make?
    

13. What’s your best dish? What are the ingredients and how do you make it?
    

14. What’s your favourite dessert?

15. What are your favourite cakes or biscuits?
    

16. Do you like baking? If so, what do you usually bake?

17. Do you batch cook? (= prepare several meals at the same time)

18. What do you usually have for breakfast?

19. What do you tend to drink with your meals?

20. If someone visited your country what three foods or dishes would you recommend that they try?
    

21. Are you a fussy eater or do you eat most things?
    

22. Is there something you eat too much of?

23. Do you like trying new recipes or do you tend to eat the same things every day?

24. What foods or dishes do people eat when celebrating holy or special days in your country?

25. What’s the strangest thing you have ever eaten?
    

26. How much water do you drink every day?
    

27. Do you ever make smoothies?

28. How much tea or coffee do you drink?
    

29. What’s your favourite drink in the summer?
    

30. Do you drink alcohol? If so, what do you usually drink?

31. How often do you meet a friend for a coffee or for a meal?

32. What was one of your favourite meals when you were a child?

33. What snacks do you eat?

34. Do you make an effort to eat healthy every day?

35. Do you pay much attention to food labels?
    

36. How often do you get take-out?
    

37. Tell us about the last time you ate out.
    

38. If you could have a dinner party and invite three famous people (dead or alive), who would you choose and why?
    

39. If you had your own restaurant….
    a) what kind of food would you serve?
    b) what would the decor be like?
    c) where would it be located?
    d) what music would you play? (or wouldn’t you play music?)

    
     

MORE CONVERSATION TOPICS

Animals and Nature

Books and Reading

Films and Cinema

Social Media

The Weather

These ESL conversation questions are a resource for both teachers and students. They can be used in class, or with a study buddy, or with somebody you do a language exchange with.

Tips for learners

• In those in-between times when you can’t find somebody to practise with I recommending trying to write down your answers, or even talking out loud to yourself!
• Ensure you make notes of useful words and phrases that you either couldn’t remember or didn’t know when you were trying to explain something. This will really help you to move forward with your English.
• I also highly recommend going through the questions a second or third time at a later date with somebody else, as a way of revision, and you are sure to notice that you are able to explain things faster and more effectively.
• Where possible, expand on your answers, give more details.
• If you’re asking the questions, remember to use follow-up questions too. If the conversation goes off on a tangent that’s totally fine – as long as you’re practising, you’re learning!
  
  Conversation Questions

1. What are three of your all-time favourite films? Who’s in them? What are they about? Why do you like them so much?
2. Who are your top 3 actors or actresses?
3. Who is your favourite director? What is so special about his/her films?
4. How often do you go to the cinema? And how often do you watch films at home? Where do you prefer to see films and why?
5. Which films are showing at the cinema right now? Are you keen to see any of them.?
6. What kind of movies do you like? eg. romantic comedies, sci-fi, horror, thriller, animated etc.
7. What was your favourite film as a child?
8. What’s the scariest film you have ever seen?
9. What’s one of the worst films you’ve seen?
10. Which actor or actress is in your opinion overrated?
11. Do you ever watch really old movies, perhaps ones from the 1940s?
12. Do you have a favourite decade of movies?
13. Have you ever left a cinema before a film ended because the film was so awful?
14. Have you ever cried at a film?
15. What’s your favourite movie soundtrack?
16. Have you ever seen a film being made?
17. Has a film been made near where you live?
18. Tell me about two films from your country that you would love people to see.
19. Tell me one of your favourite lines from a movie.
20. Describe one of your favourite movie scenes.
21. The number of cinema-goers has dropped dramatically over the past couple of decades – what would you do to entice people back to movie theaters?

     

    More Conversation Questions:

    Books and Reading
    Food, Cooking and Eating Out
    Nature, Animals and Conservation

    150 Very Common Phrasal Verbs: A reference list with clear examples. Learn and review the phrasal verbs you REALLY need to give you a solid foundation for speaking English.