Television
77 conversation questions and prompts
Choose a question or prompt. Share your experience or opinion, and explain it when you can.
Use the level groups as a guide when choosing prompts for your students.
A1
Beginner (A1)
9 questions
- About how many hours of TV do you watch every day?
- What are some of your favorite shows?
- Do you like a short break between TV shows?
- Do you like TV game shows?
- Do you watch the same TV show every week?
- Do you watch a lot of sports on TV?
- Do you usually watch TV with the lights off or on?
- Do you like singing competition shows on TV?
- What do you do during TV ads?
A2
Elementary (A2)
28 questions
- Do you like any foreign TV shows?
- What is the funniest show on television?
- Would you like to be on TV?
- Do you have a favorite channel?
- Do you watch shows through streaming services, cable, satellite TV, or another way?
- Can you recommend a TV show to your classmates?
- What is the best drama on TV now?
- What are some of the best TV commercials you've seen?
- What do you do during the opening song of a TV show?
- Do you like TV episodes that finish the story or leave you waiting for the next one?
- Which TV quiz subject is easiest for you?
- Tell me about a TV show you watched after school.
- What do you think when a different actor plays the same person in a TV series?
- Do you watch sports games on TV when you already know who wins?
- What makes you change channels in the middle of a TV show?
- Do you usually guess how a TV story will end?
- What kind of person makes a good TV host?
- Do you watch a TV show from the beginning if you miss the start?
- In a TV series, do you want to follow one person's life or several people's lives?
- How much of a TV show do you watch before deciding to stop?
- What TV shows did the adults in your home watch when you were little?
- Do you like TV cartoons about real life or impossible adventures?
- Do you watch TV interviews to hear about people's work or their lives?
- What makes a good nature documentary?
- Have you ever missed a TV character after a series ended? What did you miss?
- What TV event would you stay up late to watch?
- How do you feel when a TV show pauses just before announcing the winner?
- Do you like TV interviews that stay on one subject or jump between subjects?
B1
Intermediate (B1)
28 questions
- Do you think people watch too much television?
- Are TV shows getting better or worse?
- What has made you give a TV series a second chance?
- Tell me about a TV character you disliked at first but later understood.
- Do you enjoy TV contests more when the players help each other or compete alone?
- What has made you stop caring about a TV character you used to like?
- In a TV quiz, would you stop with a small prize or risk it all for a bigger one?
- How do you catch up with a TV series after a long break?
- Have you ever changed your opinion of someone after watching a TV interview?
- Tell me about a TV moment you were glad you saw live.
- Do you prefer a talent show that finds beginners or one with people who already perform well?
- How do you decide which TV episode will be your last for the evening?
- Do you enjoy knowing something that a TV character has not found out yet?
- What have you noticed in an old TV show that you missed when you were younger?
- What is a TV scene you can still picture even though you have forgotten most of the episode?
- Tell me about a time the audience's reaction made a TV moment more exciting.
- Tell me about a TV program you stayed with even though you didn't understand much at first.
- Should viewers or judges choose the winner of a TV talent show?
- What TV show belongs to a particular time in your life, even if you don't watch it now?
- How do you feel about TV episodes built around a holiday that you do not celebrate?
- Would a reality show hold your attention if the people got along all the time?
- What changes when you watch several episodes of a TV series in one sitting?
- When you watch a TV documentary, do you prefer to hear people tell their own stories or hear one person explain everything?
- How much should TV judges explain their scores to viewers?
- How does knowing a TV episode is the last one change the way you watch it?
- Have you ever cared more about who lost a TV competition than who won? What made that person stand out?
- What makes a TV show feel like company when you're alone?
- Does hearing laughter in a TV comedy change which jokes you find funny?
B2
Upper Intermediate (B2)
9 questions
- When does watching a TV series start to feel like a task?
- How long can a TV series keep one big question unanswered before you lose interest?
- When is a surprise rule change in a TV contest entertaining, and when is it unfair?
- When does bringing back a TV character improve a series, and when does it undo a good goodbye?
- Can a TV series make you understand a character without wanting that person to succeed? Give an example if you can.
- Have you ever disagreed with the conclusion of a TV documentary? What led you to a different view?
- Can a TV series feel close to real life even when its setting is impossible? What makes that work for you?
- When a TV competition spends more time on a contestant's life than on their performance, how does that affect your judgment?
- Should a TV series give a small role more time when viewers like that person, even if it changes the original story?
C1
Advanced (C1)
3 questions
- When viewers demand a different ending to a TV series, what, if anything, do the writers owe them?
- If a long TV series changes what an earlier episode meant, when does that deepen the story, and when does it damage your trust in it?
- A TV documentary leaves out facts to tell a clear story. When does that become misleading?