Singing

Singing is something nearly everyone has an opinion about, whether they love it or avoid it completely. These questions cover everything from karaoke experiences to cultural attitudes about singing in public.

Questions are organized by level from beginner to advanced. A printable PDF of all the questions is available at the bottom of the page.

Beginner (A1-A2)

1. How good are you at singing? Do you enjoy it?
2. Where do you sing most (e.g. shower, car, while doing housework, etc.)? What do you usually sing?
3. How often do you do karaoke? What songs do you like to sing?
4. What song are you best at singing? What makes it a good one for you?
5. What song do you have to sing along with when you hear it? Why that one?
6. Can you sing your country’s national anthem? How much of it do you know?
7. Who is the best singer you personally know? How about the worst? What makes them so good or bad?
8. Do you sing lullabies or children’s songs to kids in your life? What do you usually sing?
9. Do you sing when you’re happy or when you’re sad? What kind of songs?
10. Do people in your country sing happy birthday, or do they have a different song? What is it?
11. Have you ever taken singing lessons? Was it fun?
12. Do your parents or grandparents like to sing? What songs do they sing?

Elementary (A2)

1. Whose singing do you hate? What is so bad about it?
2. When was the last time you sang in front of someone? Tell me about it.
3. What was the first song you learned to sing? Why that one?
4. What language do you like to sing in? Why that language?
5. Do you like listening to live singing or recorded music more? What’s good about each?
6. Who is your favorite singer? What makes them your favorite?
7. What is the most annoying song you have heard recently? What makes it so annoying?
8. What is the hardest song you’ve ever tried to sing? Why was it so hard?
9. When was the last time you heard someone sing live (not on a recording)? Tell me about it.
10. What kinds of songs do children in your country learn in school? Why do they teach those songs?
11. Have you ever sung in a choir or group? What was it like?
12. What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you while singing?
13. What kind of singing voice do you like best (deep, high, soft, powerful, etc.)? Why?
14. Have you ever tried to sing a song in a language you don’t speak? How did it go?
15. Do you think your voice sounds different when you hear a recording of yourself singing? Why?

Intermediate (B1)

1. Can singing be learned or are people born with the ability to sing?
2. Do you prefer to sing alone or in front of people? Why?
3. Should parents make their children take singing lessons? Why or why not?
4. What makes a singer’s voice sound good or bad to you? How do you decide if you like it?
5. Is karaoke more about having fun or about singing well? Why do you think so?
6. Should singers be allowed to lip-sync at live concerts? Why or why not?
7. Do you think singing is a good way to improve your language skills? How so?
8. Do you think singing competitions like talent shows help or hurt singers’ careers? How so?
9. If you could have any singer’s voice for one day, whose voice would you choose and what would you do with it?
10. Some people say singing together brings people closer. Do you agree? Give me some examples.
11. Do you think singing in public should feel embarrassing? Why do so many people feel nervous about it?
12. How important are lyrics compared to the melody in a song? What matters more to you?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. How has the rise of auto-tune and vocal editing changed what people expect from singers? What do you think about those changes?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning to sing online versus with a teacher in person?
3. How do different cultures view singing in public? Compare your culture to others you know about.
4. Compare singing as a career 50 years ago to singing as a career today. What has changed and what has stayed the same?
5. How do national anthems and patriotic songs shape people’s feelings about their country? How much do they affect you?
6. Singing competitions like American Idol and The Voice have been popular for decades. What makes them so appealing to audiences, and how have they changed what it means to be a ‘singer’?
7. In many cultures, singing is a part of religious or spiritual practice. Why do you think singing plays such a big role in these settings?
8. Many traditional songs from around the world are being forgotten as younger generations listen to more global pop music. What is lost when these songs disappear, and what can be done about it?
9. How do singing and music in movies or TV shows affect the way we feel about what we are watching? Can you think of examples where the singing made a scene much more powerful?
10. Compare how people use singing in celebrations (weddings, birthdays, national holidays) across different cultures you know about. What do these traditions have in common?
11. To what extent does a country’s dominant language shape the global success of its singers? What other factors matter as much or more?

Advanced (C1)

1. What tensions exist between preserving traditional singing styles and allowing musical innovation in a culture? How do communities navigate that?
2. Why do certain singing styles become associated with social class or education level? How do those associations affect who feels comfortable singing in different settings?
3. Protest songs have played a role in almost every major social movement. How does singing together create a sense of unity and power that simply chanting or speaking cannot? What is it about music that makes a political message harder to ignore?
4. Lullabies exist in virtually every culture on earth. What does this tell us about the relationship between singing, human connection, and early development? Why do you think we sing to babies rather than just talk to them?
5. When a song from one culture becomes a worldwide hit, it often gets changed or simplified along the way. How does the globalization of music both spread cultural appreciation and strip away the original meaning of songs?
6. AI can now generate singing voices that are nearly indistinguishable from real human voices. How might this change the music industry, and what does it mean for the emotional connection we feel when we hear someone sing?
7. In many societies, men who sing or pursue singing careers face different expectations and stereotypes than women who do the same. How do gender roles shape who feels free to sing, what they sing, and how their singing is judged?
8. Singing has been used in medicine, from music therapy for stroke patients to choirs for people with dementia. Why might singing affect our brains and bodies in ways that other activities do not?
9. Streaming platforms and social media algorithms now decide which singers most people discover. How does this change who gets to have a singing career, and what kinds of voices and styles are we losing because they don’t perform well in a 15-second clip?
10. People often say they can’t sing, even when no one has ever told them that. Where does this belief come from, and how do schools, families, and the music industry each play a role in convincing people they are not ‘good enough’ to sing?
11. As people age, many stop singing, even those who sang often when they were younger. Why does this happen, and what does it reveal about how societies treat playfulness, self-expression, and vulnerability in adults versus children?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions