Most students have strong opinions on whether luck is real or just a story we tell ourselves, which makes this topic great for sparking debate at every level. Questions range from personal superstitions and lucky moments to bigger discussions about fate, fairness, and how much control we actually have over our lives.
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)
- Do you have a lucky charm or lucky object? What is it?
- Have you ever found money on the street or in an old coat? What happened?
- What games of chance do people play in your country? (For example: lottery, card games, bingo.) Have you ever played?
- What is the best prize you have ever won? How did you win it?
- What do people in your country say or do to wish someone good luck?
- What is the unluckiest day of the week for you? What usually goes wrong?
- Do you ever flip a coin or pick a number to make a decision? When do you do that?
- Have you ever been in the right place at the right time? Tell me about it.
- Do you have any lucky habits or rituals before something important, like a test or a sports game? What do you do?
- Have you ever taken a big chance, like trying something new or making a big change, and it went well? What did you do?
Elementary (A2)
- What is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to you? What made it feel so lucky?
- What things do people say bring bad luck? (For example: a black cat, the number 13, walking under a ladder.) Do you believe any of them?
- Have you ever bought a lottery ticket? Why did you buy it, and what happened?
- What numbers do people in your country consider lucky or unlucky? Why those numbers?
- Have you ever been jealous of someone else’s good luck? Tell me about it.
- Is there a story in your country about a very lucky or very unlucky person, real or fictional? What is the story?
- Do you ever read your horoscope or check your zodiac sign? Why or why not?
- Has something unlucky ever turned into something good for you? What happened?
- Are there any lucky colors, foods, or things people use for good luck in your country? Why are they considered lucky?
- Have you ever won something by chance, like a raffle, a random drawing, or a giveaway? What did you win?
- Do you know someone who seems very lucky? What lucky things happen to them?
Intermediate (B1)
- Do you prefer games where skill matters or games that are mostly based on luck? Why?
- Would you rather be lucky or smart? Why?
- Do you think successful people are mostly lucky, or do they mostly create their own success? Why or why not?
- Should people rely on luck when making big decisions, like choosing a job or a partner? Why or why not?
- Do you think believing in luck changes the way you make decisions? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
- Do you think gambling is a harmless form of entertainment or a serious social problem? Why or why not?
- Some people say that the harder you work, the luckier you get. Do you agree? Give me some examples.
- Do you think luck plays a bigger role in sports than most fans want to admit? How so?
- Do you think luck is real, or do people just notice the good things that happen and forget the rest? Why do you think so?
- If you could choose between guaranteed good health or guaranteed good luck for the rest of your life, which would you choose? What makes you think so?
Upper-Intermediate (B2)
- Is taking risks an important part of a successful life, or is it better to play it safe? What are the downsides of each?
- How do superstitions differ between generations in your country? Do younger people still believe in the same things as their grandparents?
- How does where you are born (your country, city, and family) shape your opportunities in life? To what extent is that luck?
- Some studies suggest that luck plays a larger role in career success than talent or effort. How do you think most people would react to that idea? Do you think it’s true?
- How do different religions and philosophies view the concept of luck versus fate or destiny? How do those views affect how people live?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of random selection, like a lottery, for deciding who gets something valuable, such as a university place or housing?
- How do financial markets and investing involve chance and risk? Do you think most investors understand how much of their success is luck? Why do you think so?
- In competitive fields like music, sports, and art, how do you separate someone’s talent from their timing (being in the right place at the right time)? Is that even possible?
- Studies show that people who consider themselves lucky tend to be more open to new experiences and notice opportunities that others miss. How is being ‘lucky’ different from being ‘observant’?
- In many countries, governments run national lotteries and use the profits to fund schools, parks, and hospitals. Is it right for governments to profit from people’s hope of getting lucky? What can be done to make it fairer?
- Insurance is basically a way of protecting yourself against bad luck. How do people decide which risks are worth paying to protect against, and which ones they just accept?
- Casinos, lotteries, and betting apps are designed to make people feel like a big win is just around the corner. How do these systems use psychology to keep people playing, and at what point does entertainment become a problem?
Advanced (C1)
- Luck is often described as random, yet people across every culture and era have developed rituals to control it. What does that contradiction reveal about how humans deal with uncertainty?
- When a self-made billionaire says they earned everything through hard work, what role does survivorship bias play in that story, and why is that story so appealing to so many people?
- How do people’s beliefs about luck and fate shape their willingness to take responsibility for their failures, and does it differ by culture?
- Gambling is legal in many places, heavily taxed, and often government-run, yet it disproportionately harms the poorest players. How do governments justify running an industry that profits from false hope?
- When we look back at history, certain moments (a general getting sick before a battle, a scientist making an accidental discovery, etc.) seem to hinge on pure chance. Does that mean history is mostly random, or do deeper forces make certain outcomes inevitable?
- Modern life is full of systems designed to reward merit such as test scores, job applications, promotions. But research consistently shows that luck (timing, who you know, where you went to school, etc.) plays a huge role. How do meritocratic systems survive when the evidence against pure merit is so strong?
- People often credit hard work when they succeed but blame bad luck when they fail. How does this pattern affect the way we judge ourselves and others, and what does it reveal about human nature?
- In criminal justice, the difference between a minor accident and a serious crime sometimes comes down to luck. For example, a drunk driver who makes it home safely faces very different consequences from one who hits someone. Should the role of luck affect how we punish people, or should the punishment be based only on the decision they made?
- Dating apps, job applications, and even social media algorithms all involve an element of chance: who sees your profile, which resume lands on top, which post goes viral. How does the role of luck in these digital systems affect people’s sense of control over their own lives?
- Many people believe the world is fundamentally fair, that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to those who somehow deserve it. Why is this ‘just-world’ belief so widespread, and how does it change the way lucky people treat those who are less fortunate?
- When someone survives a disaster or narrowly escapes danger while others don’t, they often feel guilty rather than grateful. Why does being lucky sometimes feel like a burden, and what does ‘survivor’s guilt’ tell us about how people think fairness should work?