ESL ConversationQuestions
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Smoking and Vaping

61 conversation questions and prompts

By Updated

Share your ideas, reasons, or a story. You can talk about things you have seen or heard; you do not need to share personal habits.

Use the level groups as a guide. These questions cover smoking and vaping, from everyday experiences to changing attitudes.

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A1

Beginner (A1)

11 questions

  1. What do you dislike about cigarette smoke?
  2. Which famous people smoke?
  3. Where do people go to smoke at work or school?
  4. Where do you see ads for cigarettes or vapes?
  5. Where do you see people using vapes?
  6. What do you do when other people go outside to smoke?
  7. What do cigarette packs look like in your country?
  8. What do you think of colorful vapes?
  9. What do you like or dislike about the smell of vapes?
  10. How do you feel when a singer smokes on stage?
  11. What smoking rules do you have in your home?

A2

Elementary (A2)

17 questions

  1. How popular is smoking in your country?
  2. What did you think about smoking when you were a child?
  3. Would you date someone who smokes?
  4. What do you think of people smoking in family photos?
  5. What do you think about vaping?
  6. What do you remember about your first time seeing someone vape?
  7. What do you think when you see someone vaping indoors?
  8. What kind of person do you imagine smoking a cigar?
  9. What did adults tell you about cigarettes when you were young?
  10. Which do you notice first on a cigarette pack: the brand name or the warning?
  11. What surprised you about smoking when you visited another place?
  12. What smoking or vaping habits do you find strange?
  13. What do you think of giving someone an expensive lighter as a gift?
  14. What smoking scene do you remember from a movie or TV show?
  15. What is different about vape shops and stores that sell cigarettes?
  16. What objects remind you of smoking in the past?
  17. How would you feel about your favorite actor advertising vapes?

B1

Intermediate (B1)

14 questions

  1. What makes smoking look cool to some people?
  2. Tell me about a person who changed the way you think about smoking.
  3. What would you want to know before sharing an apartment with a smoker?
  4. Which would surprise you more: a doctor who smokes or a fitness coach who vapes?
  5. Should people be allowed to smoke in public?
  6. What did you misunderstand about cigarettes or vapes before you learned more about them?
  7. How would you feel about buying a used car that smelled of cigarettes?
  8. How do your generation and your parents’ generation talk differently about smoking?
  9. How would traveling with someone who takes frequent smoking breaks affect your trip?
  10. How differently do people react to a man smoking and a woman smoking?
  11. What do you make of someone who smokes only at parties?
  12. What do you think of celebrities who hide their smoking from their fans?
  13. What smoking habits have you seen disappear during your lifetime?
  14. How have people you know reacted when someone stopped smoking?

B2

Upper Intermediate (B2)

13 questions

  1. Should smoking be banned in movies?
  2. What have you noticed about the way people hide or show their vaping?
  3. How much say should someone have in whether their partner smokes?
  4. How much difference do higher cigarette prices make to people’s smoking habits?
  5. What would seem strangest to someone from your grandparents' generation about vaping today?
  6. What can people miss out on by staying inside when coworkers take a smoking break?
  7. How would you feel about a museum accepting money from a tobacco company?
  8. Should selling cigarettes be illegal?
  9. When does commenting on someone’s smoking feel caring, and when does it feel intrusive?
  10. What would make you accept or turn down a job designing cigarette packaging?
  11. What judgments do people make about smokers that you think are unfair?
  12. What makes a cigarette seem rebellious in one setting and ordinary in another?
  13. How would you judge a landlord who rejects tenants because they smoke, even if they agree to smoke elsewhere?

C1

Advanced (C1)

6 questions

  1. When people describe themselves as former smokers, what are they saying beyond the fact that they stopped?
  2. How fair is it to judge someone's past smoking by today's attitudes?
  3. How much should someone’s reasons for smoking affect how tolerant others are of it?
  4. How much responsibility does a designer carry for making a nicotine product desirable?
  5. How does vaping complicate the distinction people make between being a smoker and being a nonsmoker?
  6. How can a campaign challenge smoking without inviting people to look down on smokers?

PDF: Smoking and vaping conversation questions (PDF)

Beginner (A1)

Smoking and Vaping

01

What do you dislike about cigarette smoke?